Hot Chocolate Bomb Recipe

This Hot Chocolate Bomb (or hot cocoa bomb) is a chocolate ball filled with tasty ingredients that make the yummiest (and coolest looking) hot chocolate ever! You simply add these to hot milk (or pour hot milk over them) and wait until they burst open.  And while this super-cool presentation is fun, these hot chocolate bombs also taste SO delicious.  Keep reading for the full recipe.

Hot Chocolate Bomb

These hot cocoa bombs have been taking over the TikTok and IG world!  And while you can buy them at some stores (like here), they are kind of pricey and you know how I love to make all the things myself...so we decided to give these a shot.

You can easily create hot chocolate bombs that don't taste good (sorry but melting chocolate is not the same as real chocolate), but I didn't just want pretty balls of chocolate, I wanted really tasty hot cocoa too!  So I played with proportions and ingredients until I found the right combination to make the prettiest and tastiest hot chocolate ever.

You can watch the video of how to make hot chocolate bombs below:

What is a hot chocolate bomb?

A hot chocolate bomb is a hollow sphere of chocolate filled with hot cocoa mix, marshmallows, or other yummy hot chocolate ingredients.  When you place a hot cocoa bomb into steaming hot milk, the ball will melt, and open and the ingredients will burst out.  If you make it with great ingredients, you will have an absolutely delicious cup of warm hot cocoa to drink. 

How do you make a chocolate bomb?

The key to making delicious hot cocoa bombs is in the ingredients.  I do not use melting chocolate (except for decorations).  I used real, delicious, yummy, Ghirardelli chocolate.  And then I melted it using my method for how to melt chocolate HEREand used a silicone mold to create hollow half-spheres of chocolate.  I added my favorite hot cocoa mix to the spheres, filled my bombs with marshmallows, and sealed the two halves together.  I got a little fancy and added some decoration.  This is easy to do and makes them look so pretty!

But, then I took it a step further and also created Peppermint Hot Chocolate Bombs and Caramel Hot Chocolate Bombs. 

And guess what?  

They are the BOMB!

Teeheehee

See what I did there?  Bwahaha  Ok.  I am done.

Moving on.

They really are so so so yummy though!  Be sure to check them out!

Ingredients needed to make hot chocolate bombs with marshmallows:

1. Good Quality Chocolate - You guys don't skimp here.  If you use ok chocolate, your hot chocolate will only taste ok.  If you want yummy hot cocoa, choose yummy chocolate.  And please, whatever you do, do not use melting chocolate, I beg you, don't do it.  I went with Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet chocolate and they turned out amazingly delicious. This kind is my favorite HERE. 
2. Vegetable Oil - this one sounds weird, I know, but I use a tiny bit of this when melting my chocolate.  This will help you get the perfect melted chocolate consistency while melting your chocolate in the microwave. 
3. Hot Chocolate Mix - choose your favorite hot cocoa mix to use, or make your own.  My family is partial to Swiss Mix milk chocolate so I snagged a ginormous container of it HERE. 
4. Marshmallows -  ok still with me on this one here.  We used dehydrated marshmallows for this.  You can use regular mini-marshmallows, but my kids LOVE dehydrated marshmallows and I didn't have to worry about the fresh ones going back if we made these in bulk and stored them for later. I bought these dehydrated marshmallows HERE.  
5. Decorations - you may want to add sprinkles or colored chocolate decorations to the tops of these.  Feel free to add whatever else you want in here.  I kept these ones fairly simple but added more color to my caramel and peppermint hot chocolate bombs.

Supplies needed to make hot cocoa bombs:

1. Sphere Silicone Mold - I bought this set and it worked so well for these!  I used the largest size, but since it comes with a variety, you can test out making smaller ones too!  Buy it HERE. 
2. Piping Bag - I used these both for sealing the two sides of each sphere together and also for decorating the tops of these so you'll want these for sure.
3. Spoon or decorating brush - I have made these both with the back of a spoon and with a decorating brush, both work great.  But honestly, I think the spoon is the easiest.

How to make hot chocolate bombs

Here is a quick rundown of how you will make these:

1. Melt Chocolate
2. Coat silicone molds with melted chocolate (one or two coats)
3. Let chocolate set completely
4. Remove from silicone molds
5. Fill one side of the molds with hot cocoa mix and marshmallows
6. Place melted chocolate into a piping bag and pipe chocolate onto the edges of the half spheres and stick them together
7. Decorate

How do I melt chocolate for hot cocoa bombs?

Melting your chocolate for your bombs is the most important step of this whole process.  If you don't get the chocolate melted correctly, your cocoa bombs won't work well. 

Thankfully, it is actually really easy to melt chocolate for this type of project.  I even do it in the microwave!  Seriously.  

How to melt chocolate over the stove:

If you'd prefer to melt your chocolate the old-fashioned way (and it really is nearly fool-proof), here is how:

1. Use a double boiler and place water in the bottom portion of it.  Just a few inches though as you do not want the top bowl to come in contact with the water.
2. Place your chocolate into the top bowl and stir it consistently until it is melted all the way. 
3. As soon as the chocolate has melted, remove it from the heat and carefully remove the top pot off of the bottom one.  You do not want your chocolate to overheat as it can cause issues for your chocolate.

How to melt chocolate in the microwave:

This method is easier to mess up (weird I know) but is super fast and once you know how to do it, it is super easy.  

1. Place chocolate into a microwave-safe dish.
2. Add a tiny bit of vegetable oil.  (If I am using a full bag of chocolate chips, I will use about ½ - 1 teaspoon of oil, you really just want a tiny bit.  This adds a little more fat to your chocolate which helps it melt smoothly and not dry out.
3. Using 15-second intervals and 50% power, melt your chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 15 seconds.  Chocolate can and will retain its shape when melted so you need to stir it every time or else you can easily overheat your chocolate.
4. As soon as most of the chocolate is melted, stir until the rest is melted and you are done!

Check out my blog post HERE for more tips about melting chocolate. 

What chocolate is best for making hot chocolate bombs?

You do not want to skimp on your chocolate here.  Do not, I repeat, do not get cheap chocolate and do not get melting chocolate. If you get cheap chocolate or melting chocolate, your hot cocoa will not taste good.  

I prefer using either a bar and chopping it up, or good quality chocolate chips.  Again, good quality is the key here.  

If you don't like how the chocolate tastes on its own, you will not like how the hot cocoa tastes being made with it.  So.  Good.  Quality.  Ok?  Thanks.

I used these Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips HERE.

What mold should I use to make hot cocoa bombs?

There are a lot of options when it comes to which mold to use to make your hot chocolate bombs.  You can use an acrylic mold, but I find them a little more difficult to work with, the chocolate can be more difficult to get out of the mold, and also I couldn't find molds as big as I wanted.  

So I opted to use a large Silicone Mold.  Silicone molds are basically fool-proof because they are so easy to use and even easier to remove chocolate from.  

I found this amazing set so that I would have multiple sizes of molds too!  I ended up using the biggest size for these hot chocolate bombs, but you could play around with the smaller ones too!  

Just remember that if you use a smaller mold. you will want to use less milk.  

Snag the silicone mold HERE.

How do I store hot cocoa bombs?

If you make these in bulk and want to store them for use later, go ahead and put these in an air-tight container and store them in a cool, dry location.  They are chocolate, so if they get warm, they could melt.  

Because we used dehydrated mini marshmallows, you should be able to store these for a long time.

How do I give cocoa bombs for gifts?

Hot cocoa bombs make great gifts!  To give them as gifts, I suggest putting one hot chocolate bomb in a cupcake liner and then place that into a cello bag tied with baker's twine!  It is such a fun, beautiful, delicious gift.

Hot Chocolate Bomb Recipe

Makes about 6 hot chocolate bombs

Ingredients:

• 6 oz Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips, Semi-Sweet
• ½ teaspoon Vegetable Oil
• 6 heaping Tablespoons Hot Chocolate Mix
• 12 Tablespoons Dehydrated Mini Marshmallows
• Silicone Molds
• Decorating Bags

Directions:

1. Melt your chocolate - place chocolate chips and vegetable oil into a microwave-safe dish and melt at 50% power, for 15 seconds at a time, stirring every 15 seconds until the chocolate is almost all melted.  When it is almost all melted, just keep stirring until the rest of the chocolate melts.  You do not want to overheat the chocolate!
2. Spread melted chocolate into silicone molds - using the back of a spoon or a clean decorating brush, spread a thin layer of melted chocolate into each of the molds.  Let the chocolate set and then repeat, adding a second thin layer of chocolate. 
3. Let the chocolate set completely - you can leave these on your countertop or place in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes until your chocolate is completely set.  
4. Remove chocolate from mold - once your chocolate is set, carefully peel back the silicone mold and remove the chocolate half spheres from them.  
5. Add hot cocoa mix and marshmallows - I added one heaping Tablespoon of our favorite hot cocoa mix and 2 Tablespoons of dehydrated mini marshmallows to half of the chocolate sphere.
6. Attach the chocolate into spheres - place a bit of melted chocolate into a piping bag and cut a very small portion off the tip.  Use this to put melted chocolate onto one of the sphere halves and then carefully press the other half onto it.  Hold together for a few seconds into it sets completely. You can also go back and add melted chocolate to the outside where the two parts come together if needed.
7. Decorate them - Using leftover the melted chocolate in the piping bag, decorate the hot chocolate bombs as desired.  Let set completely.
8. Store - store these in a cool, dry, air-tight container until ready to use.  You can also put these in cello bags and give them as gifts!
9. Use hot chocolate bombs - when you are ready to use these, simply heat up 1.5 cups of milk until it is steaming hot!  Pour the milk into your mug and add a hot chocolate bomb.  Wait and watch as it bursts open.  Stir well and enjoy!

Print the recipe below.

If you like these posts, you might also enjoy these too:

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Bombs

Caramel Hot Cocoa Bombs

Hot Cocoa on a Stick

2 Ingredient Orange Hot Chocolate

How to Melt Chocolate for Dipping

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate