This Rich and Thick Hot Chocolate for One is the creamiest, most decadent hot chocolate imaginable.
I have a very important question for you on this gray Monday morning. What is your perfect cup of hot chocolate? Is it lightly sweet? Is it sweetly bitter? Is it, as my sister so helpfully put it trying to describe her perfect hot chocolate, “fluffy,” “not hard,” and “Scottish?” (Sidebar: Whaaaaaat???)
My perfect cup goes a little something like this: thick, creamy, and decadent as hell.
If that sounds like your jam, gather round, friend. That’s what I’m sharing today.
This hot chocolate is not an everyday hot chocolate. If you want something light and chocolatey that you can sip as you go about your every day, try my Three-ingredient Hot Chocolate for One. This recipe here is strictly a special occasion drink. A coldest-day-of-the-year or waiting-for-Santa-on-Christmas-Eve sort of treat, because when I say it’s spectacularly decadent, I am not joking. It’s so rich that you’ll want to sip it slowly and luxuriously, and then probably take a nap afterwards.
I love it so much.
How to make thick hot chocolate
There are a couple ways to get really thick hot chocolate. One of them is to use a bit of cornstarch as a thickener so you get cocoa like a hot drinkable pudding. It’s very good but not what we’re going for today.
To get the smoothest, richest, creamiest drinking chocolate, we’re using real chocolate, and we’re using heavy cream so each sip is a little like drinking a bar of chocolate and a lot like heaven.
You take the chocolate and cream, heat them with some milk, a little sugar and cocoa powder, and a pinch of espresso powder and in less than five minutes time, you’ll be holding a steaming mug of the creamiest, most decadent hot chocolate of your life.
More Cold Weather Drinks
- White Hot Chocolate
- Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate
- White Chocolate Mocha
- Homemade Mocha
- Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha
Rich and Thick Hot Chocolate Recipe Tips
- If you don’t have heavy cream, you *can* substitute half and half or any percentage milk. It will still taste great, it just won’t be as rich and thick.
- If you don’t like your beverages very sweet, you can substitute bittersweet chocolate for the semisweet and cut the sugar in half or remove it completely.
- The espresso powder helps bring out the chocolate flavor and will not make your hot chocolate taste like coffee. If you don’t have any, you can omit it or buy it on Amazon or in the coffee aisle at your grocery store. It’s usually sold in a small glass jar next to the instant coffee.
- This recipe makes 1 cup of hot chocolate, enough to fill a standard 8-ounce mug. If you want to fill an over-sized 12 to 16-ounce mug, one and a half or double the recipe.
Thick and Rich Hot Chocolate for One
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (12g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (7g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2/3 cup milk any percentage
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped, high-quality chips are fine*
- Whipped cream optional for topping
Instructions
- In a small pot, combine sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, and water. Whisk over medium-high heat until smooth. Whisk in milk and cream and heat until steaming.
- Turn heat down to medium and stir in chocolate until melted and smooth.
- Transfer to a cup and serve topped with whipped cream if desired and enjoy!
Notes
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
