Homemade Hot Chocolate Truffles
Plopped in a mug of milk and heated, these truffle hot chocolate balls make for some seriously delicious hot cocoa and great gifts.
I love me some hot chocolate. In a big, obsessive way. I love the stuff and may or may not be known to enjoy it year round.
If someone happened to give me truffle hot chocolate balls as a Christmas gift? Well, I’d seriously consider leaving my entire inheritance to them. (The fact that it consists of legos and wooden spoons is an inconsequential matter, I’d say.)
These truffled balls are a combination of divine chocolate and silky cream. The resulting ganache is chilled and then rolled into balls and wrapped.
The glorious mounds of chocolate can be frozen or refrigerated so they can be enjoyed as you like. Plopped in a mug of milk and heated, this makes for some seriously delicious hot cocoa.
Just in case you might benefit from someone’s valuable inheritance, like mine, I wanted to pass this recipe on for rich, decadent hot chocolate balls that make a wonderful holiday gift (or to hoard and devour yourself).
Pile the wrapped balls in a mug, tie with a ribbon and instructions for the hot cocoa, and you are good to go. Your friends will love you.
But only if you ever make it to their house – I can’t emphasize how decadent and delicious the ganache truffles are. And the resulting hot chocolate is to die for.
FAQs for Homemade Hot Chocolate Truffles
You can keep them at room temperature for a few hours after frozen (like if you’re giving them as gifts), but they really should be kept in the fridge for freezer for the most part.
I wouldn’t recommend using these with water- without milk, it wouldn’t have the rich, chocolate creaminess.
My personal preference is that milk chocolate is too sweet….BUT many people love it, so I would definitely follow your chocolate preference on this one and use milk if that is what you like best.
One Year Ago: Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
Two Years Ago: Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Truffle Hot Chocolate Balls
Ingredients
- 12 ounces (340 g) semisweet chocolate chips, about 2 cups
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar, optional – I liked the richness of the chocolate without but in another batch, my kids and husband liked the extra sweetness
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Microwave for one minute intervals, stirring often, until the mixture is combined and very smooth and silky. When you first start stirring, after the first minute or so, you’ll wonder if this mixture will ever come together. It will look grainy and messy but after it heats thoroughly and is whisked to combine, it will magically become beautifully smooth. Be careful not to overheat as the chocolate can seize. The trick is to stir often since the mixture will blend together even when it looks like the chocolate chips haven’t melted completely.
- Let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes at room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until the ganache mixture is firm and scoopable, about 2-3 hours. Scoop out about 1/4-cup spoonfuls of the mixture and place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. My cookie scoop is about 1 1/2 tablespoons. I mounded two of the heaping cookie scoops full of ganache on top of each other to form one ball. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator and let the mounds harden slightly, about 15-20 minutes. Roll the chilled mounds into balls and place on squares of plastic wrap (about 4 inches by 4 inches). Pull the sides of the plastic wrap over to cover the ball and place the balls in the freezer until ready to use.
- To make the hot chocolate: pour 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (depending on how rich you like your cocoa) milk into a microwave-safe mug. Carefully drop one truffle hot chocolate ball that has been unwrapped from the plastic in the milk. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir well until the chocolate is combined with the milk. Serve warm!
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Recipe Source: my version of a recipe seen in Cook’s Country
Do you really put the unwrapped truffle ball in the milk or do you unwrap it first?
Mel, I won recipe group last night with this recipe! That’s three wins that are all from you. The theme was recipes inspired from a book (not a cookbook). I saw this recipe and really wanted to try it and remembered a line from Polar Express that said, “We drank cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars,” so it was perfect. I served it with three different flavored whipped creams to choose from — vanilla bean, almond, and peppermint. I did add quite a bit of sugar to the whipped cream because I thought the cocoa could be sweeter. I will try a different brand of chocolate chips next time (didn’t see the “Nestle Toll House NOT recommended” comment until it was too late) and maybe 2 T. of sugar. Did I mention I have quite a sweet tooth?
Anyway, thanks for another win! I always give you credit! You can see our blog at http://www.hrrecipeladies.blogspot.com
Elise – probably a couple of months in the freezer.
I love this idea! It will be great for my coworkers. How long do they stay good for once they are made?
yumm!! I love hot chocolate… I’m sure I will love these!!
Nichole – sure, you can eat them on their own!
I ate some after making them… don’t see any reason it would hurt!
Can these truffles be eaten on their own, or should they only be use for hot chocolate?! The hot chocolate idea is genius, but I love eating truffles by themselves! 🙂 Thanks!
As so many other commenters have said: thank you for posting this recipe–it looks absolutely delicious! I’m thinking it would make an AWESOME addition to my morning coffee… on rare occasions, of course. 🙂 Blessings!
Thank you Mel, I made these and put them in mugs and gave them as gift, they are so yummy. Merry Christmas!
Lisabeth – I’ve only ever used the heavy cream so I can’t vouch for substituting it. Sorry!
This sounds amazing. I was wondering though, in place of the heavy cream, could you use Irish Cream?! Or even Coffee Liqour? Of course these would be for adults only.
Instead of microwaving I melted the chocolate and cream in a double boiler. They turned out this time!! Thanks for the idea! Great gifts!
Did these in a cute Christmas mug for teacher gifts this year. Thanks for the great recipe.
For anyone wondering how long they’ll last at room temp, not very! They get mushy very quickly. I don’t think it’ll matter as to them being inedible, just not as pretty. I made another batch of them and rolled them in hot cocoa mix powder, this made them look prettier and I could work them easier. I rolled the dark chocolate/mint ones in 10x sugar, it didn’t seem like it was changing the flavor any and it was coating it so I could work them. I attached them to spoons and wrapped them tightly so if they get soft at a party they can stay together.
E,
They were still very soft! I wrapped them anyways and they are still edible just harder to make. I’m definitely going to try them again though!
Kat – I’ve never tried a substitution for the whipping cream. Sorry!
Sophie – if I were you, I’d freeze them – especially if they need to stay at room temperature. Even then, I’d try not to keep them at room temp for longer than a couple of hours. Hope that helps!
These seem so brilliant! Have you ever tried making them with anything other than cream for those that are lactose intolerant… and if so what? Thank you!
These look amazing and I’m really looking forward to making them. Just wondering though, if I make them as a gift are they good to remain in the fridge until I give them and then presumeably room temperature for a period of time until they make it to the recipient’s freezer? I plan to make them a day or two before I give them. Thanks very much, really excited about these!
Tiffany – you are right, the milk wouldn’t work to thicken up the ganache. Cream is the way to go!
Im eager to try this out for gifts but I had a question. I have to use whipping cream right? I was gonna try using just regular milk, but I have a feeling that wouldn’t work lol
Hmmm….
Marissa,
This is the same problem I had, how did you make out? Mine don’t look pretty, and once they are out of the freezer they start to thaw out right away, but they taste good!! I think I will take the advice of someone else and attach them to a spoon and freeze, should help make them look better anyway. Maybe even roll them in cocoa powder (or hot cocoa mix powder) to keep them from sticking to the plastic wrap.
I used the chocolate whipping cream – the ganache is super yummy – it hardened wonderfully – they turned out perfect. Can’t wait to mix it with my milk later!!! I didn’t add the sugar because I figured the extra chocolate would make this sweeter anyway… It did!
Lori – I’ve never seen the chocolate whipping cream nor have I tried it so I can’t weigh in on how it would work/taste in this recipe. Let me know if you try it!
Marissa – I have no idea what could have gone wrong. Hmmm…any way you could have added too much cream? Hopefully the ganache thickened up overnight. Good luck!
I tried making these using the exact recipe and I couldn’t get them to harden, they were kind of runny, so i left them in the refrigerator overnight. What did I do wrong?!
These look amazing! I found them on pinterest and making them for some christmas gift exchanges with your mug idea and some marshmallow stirring sticks 🙂
I just found they have a chocolate whipping cream for the holidays – what do you think of using that? I don’t know that you can really have too much chocolate – but I wasn’t sure if the consistency will be right?
I’m pretty excited about them! I may have to try to get my own gift back….
what’s the chances that after ten minutes in the fridge… we eat these =P
Thank you for posting this, I am going to have to try it, I love dark chocolate so will make mine with drak chips and roll in Andes baking chips for some mint flavor 🙂
tbp – I don’t know, to be honest. I’m not sure the sweetened condensed milk would allow the ganache to set up in the same way but it’s always worth a try, if you don’t mind risking the chocolate (in case it doesn’t work). Sorry I’m not more help – I always stick with the cream.
Do you think sweetened condensed milk would work as a substitute for the heavy cream and sugar?
I am going to mold some of mine right on a plastic spoon, wrap the chocolate with plastic wrap and tie with a pretty ribbon. I can’t wait to make and give these!
Oh my gosh, these look amazing! I love hot chocolate so much that I am going to have to give these a shot soon. I’m thinking a little peppermint extract in half the batch, some cinnamon in the other half, and I’ll be good to go…
It’d be cool to coat/surround these in mini marshmallows. They’d be cleaner to handle too.
Hi Mel!
Thank you SO MUCH for the inspiration! I made three batches of these little morsels of goodness yesterday … a white chocolate, a dark chocolate mint and a semi-sweet. They all turned out fabulous!! I was a little skeptical about the white chocolate, but it turned out great! I also played around with making them cute for gift giving. I thinly shaved white chocolate, andes mints and dark chocolate and rolled the matching truffles in them. They look just like candy truffles in their box! And, since the curls are so tiny, they melted right into the milk! I love your blog – thank you again for such a wonderful idea! I can not wait to give these to all the guys on my list! 🙂 Take care!
Jade C.
How do you suppose you could make these a little bit “lighter.” Do you think you could use evaporated milk in place of cream???
Jennifer – it’s worth a try. I haven’t tried lightening these up because I love the pure decadence of them but if you try it, let me know.
I just made these yesterday. Since the recipe said “the family” preferred the sugar added, and I don’t like semi-sweet, I’m a milk chocolate lover, I just used milk chocolate chips. They’re so good!! Just perfect, makes the hot coco nice and creamy! I also made a batch with dark chocolate/mint chips for a friend for Christmas. I had trouble, esp with the dark chocolate ones, with them getting hard enough to make into balls. They just kept mushing up, so I just dropped them into the plastic wrap and wrapped them up. They aren’t as pretty as the pictures but still taste great =)
Thanks so much for this!!!
OMG – Thank your for giving me the BEST Christmas gift idea ever! MMMMMMMM
can you think of a way these can last a longer trip. I was thinking gifts but all my gifts have to be mailed.
Natasia – I don’t think these would make the greatest mailing gifts. They need to stay refrigerated or frozen and if left at room temperature for too long they can become very, very soft, lose their shape and after too many days, they may even taste rancid. You might need to try a baked good or something that would fare better in the mail.
Fantastic! My friends and I are going to make them and roll it in crushed peppermints for Christmas gifts. Thanks!
Wow, these look great. A bit late fo this gift swap competition that is happening tomorrow but I’m going to try these for the holidays.
Wow, what a CLEVER idea!!! I must try these! Thanks!
Kristin – if you could keep them in a cooler or a insulated bag, they would probably fare just fine for the 6 hour drive. You definitely want to keep them from getting too warm (even staying at direct room temperature for too long) because they’ll lose their shape and get very, very soft.
Mel I was wondering how long they can stay out of the refrigerator? Would they need to be kept there until immediately before giving? I was considering giving them to family members at Christmas, but they have a six hour journey back home. Would they keep safely during this trip?
These look AMAZING and I can’t wait to make lots of them for gifts this holiday season. Question (and sorry if you included this somewhere and I missed it!) – if giving as a gift should you include a note that they’re perishable and should be kept refrigerated or are they okay at room temperature?
Taryn – yes, I think that would be a good idea. When I’ve given them as a gift, I usually package them in a mug and include a tag on the handle with simple instructions on how to make the hot chocolate and to keep the truffle balls frozen or in the refrigerator.
Do these have to stay in the freezer until ready to use or can they stay at room temperature so I can give them as gifts??
Chanel – they definitely need to stay in the freezer or in the refrigerator. They won’t hold their shape very well if they are at room temperature, plus they will more easily spoil.
you just made my holiday season! this is the best gift for my sister whom we are doing home made gifts this year for! curious if i could do white chocolate as she is a white hot chocolate lover??? any advice for someone who is maybe less than handy in the kitchen 🙂
Kim – I’ve never made them with white chocolate but I think it should work by subbing equal parts white chocolate for the bittersweet. Good luck!
Sorry, can you reply here, I accidentally didn’t hit the notify button. Just wanted to know about the freezing! 🙂
You think they can be frozen?? Going to give them as gifts as well. Thanks so much for the idea!
Candice – yes, they are meant to be frozen…the reheating/hot chocolate instructions are for frozen truffle balls. Hope you enjoy them if you make them!
I love hot chocolate and can never find any other than Starbucks that I truly love. This stuff is wonderful! And I must admit that I like to eat the chocolate by itself also!