Eat your chocolate and drink it too.
This hot chocolate is made in the slow cooker. It’s mega creamy and so undeniably chocolate-y and rich that it should come with a warning label. It honestly tastes like pure melted chocolate with a creamy, frothy texture. Because guess what? It’s made with pure melted chocolate! HEAVENS YES.
Ingredients for you real quick: milk and cream. Use whole milk and heavy cream for the creamiest texture. 1% or 2% milk would be excellent as well, as long as you’ve got that heavy cream in there. That’s where most of the decadence comes from!
Also: cocoa powder and pure chocolate. Just a little cocoa. I used natural unsweetened but you can use dutch-process here. There’s no baking involved, so it can be an easy switch. (Remember the difference between Dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder? Good to know for baking!) Make sure you don’t use chocolate chips. Save those for chocolate chip cookies. They don’t melt down very easily and will separate from the liquid. But pure chocolate melts down beautifully. And tastes better as a drink, too!
Sugar for sweetness and vanilla for a little extra flavor. That’s it.
Just throw it into the slow cooker, whisk every now and then, and it’s done. Takes 5 minutes of prep and either 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Make this decadent slow cooker hot chocolate for a treat while decorating sugar cookies! And have it warming in the slow cooker for all your cookie exchange parties, gift exchange parties, work holiday parties, and cookie baking marathon days.
Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate Video
Required: extra marshmallows. Or even a (BIG) dollop of homemade whipped cream!
Print
Decadent Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours, 5 minutes
- Yield: about 9-10 cups
- Category: Beverage
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Description
Creamy, rich, and decadent slow cooker hot chocolate made in the crockpot!
Ingredients
- 6 cups (1440ml) whole milk (1% or 2% are OK)
- 2 cups (480ml) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 8 ounces (226g) semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup (21g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- toppings: marshmallows, chocolate candies, candy canes, chocolate syrup, salted caramel, etc
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients into a large slow cooker. (Here’s one I own and love!) Vigorously whisk to get the cocoa powder as mixed in as possible– you don’t want it all floating on the top. Keep whisking for a minute or 2 until it’s all combined.
- Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours. Make sure you whisk it every 45 minutes – 1 hour to make sure the chocolate isn’t burning on the bottom.
- Serve warm with marshmallows or other optional toppings. Store leftovers in the refrigerator and warm up on the stove or in the microwave.
Notes
- Special Tools: Large Crock Pot | Clear Glass Mugs (I love these mugs!)
- No slow cooker? No problem! Cook in a large dutch oven or pot until warmed through and chocolate is melted, about 20 minutes. Keep the heat on low/simmer and whisk every now and then to make sure that chocolate does not burn.
Keywords: slow cooker hot chocolate, hot chocolate
Hi Sally, I plan on making this yummy recipe for our New Year’s Eve party this year. One hack I use to prevent cocoa powder from clumping/making dry powdery pockets is to put the cocoa powder in a separate cup with a small amount of the liquid used in the recipe(in this recipe, milk). I use a mini whisk and stir the cocoa and liquid used until getting a smooth homogenous mixture. Then, all I have to do is add the smooth mixture to the liquid (milk/cream). It really works and creates a very creamy texture.
I started making this an hour ago. I came back to the kitchen and the slow cooker had bubbled over and made a mess in the kitchen. There is still a lot left in the slow cooker but I am wondering if I did something wrong. I dont know why it bubble over. What would cause such a mess?
Hi Todd, how odd! The only reason I can think of is that your slow cooker is much too hot. Was it boiling? Is your slow cooker large enough?
This is the slow cooker I am using.
https://www.amazon.com/Aroma-Professional-ARC-5000SB-Stainless-Exterior/dp/B01N8RAZB1
I thought maybe it had to do with heavy whipping cream vs regular whipping cream but then I read someplace they are the same thing.
Hi Todd, yes, they are the same thing. Your 4 qt slow cooker is likely too small and that’s what caused the issue. Did you have it on the slow cook setting? 6 or 8 quart would be best for this recipe.
I did have it on the slow cook setting. So I would need to cut the recipe in half to use this slow cooker?
That should be about right.
Can I Lake Champlain Hot Chocolate mix in place of dutch process cocoa? If so, amount?
I can’t see why not. If it’s sweetened, I would reduce the sugar in this recipe.
My boyfriend and I are planning to try this one soon and were wondering what brand of bar chocolate you recommend. Also, how long can this be stored in the fridge?
Hi Quinn! We love Baker’s brand or Ghirardelli pure baking chocolate.
So rich and so creamy. Hands down best homemade cocoa. Followed recipe exactly, and in my 2nd mug… added a shot of baileys!
My sister found it a little too rich … she said it reminded her of dark chocolate and wanted to dilute with milk.
As a dark chocolate lover, that was no issue for me!
★★★★★
Can I make this a day ahead of time and warm up the next morning?
Hi Patty, absolutely. Store in the refrigerator overnight and warm up on the stove, in the microwave, or in your slow cooker the next morning. Enjoy!
AMAZING!!! I’ve made this twice now. Once as written (crockpot) and yesterday (stovetop) with almond milk in place of the regular milk and canned coconut milk in place of the cream (one of my friends wanted dairy-free). I even made whipped cream with coconut milk! This hot chocolate is rich and creamy and so so good! Thanks, Sally!
★★★★★
If I could give this recipe a thousand stars, I would. Believe me when I say that I am a hot chocolate type of gal. I loved hot chocolate at Angelina’s in Paris and saad in London, but this my friends is the real deal. I made mine in the instant pot… followed the directions exactly and used the slow cook mode. This recipe single handedly destroyed my need to ever go out for hot chocolate. Thank you sally for making me a rockstar hot chocolate maker!!!
★★★★★
Wow! Just made this for the family after the Santa Clause Parade while we decorated the Christmas Tree! I made 1/3 of the recipe for the three of us which was a small mug each. I added freshly whipped cream with vanilla and some icing sugar and drizzled with your salted caramel. It was so rich and amazing! This will definitely be made often this winter! Once again, you’ve outdone yourself Sally! Thanks for a great recipe!
Making this for a school function. I need to double it. I think it might be hard to get that volume of liquid up to temp in the crock pot. Would you just put it on high longer, or would you warm the dairy on the stove a bit before putting in crockpot? Thank you!
Either way would be fine– warming for longer because of the added volume works well for me or you can try warming the dairy up before adding to the slow cooker.
I made this to take to my daughter and grandchildren last Christmas. I used 7 cups of milk, 1 cup of cream, dark chocolate and added a half a bag of Andes baking chips (my family is mint crazy) and a pinch of salt. Oh my! This was the best hot chocolate I ever made and my grandchildren are still talking about it!
Hi Sally
What about making a white hot chocolate? Other than chopping up and adding white chocolate, should the other ingredients be adjusted at all? Two of my family cant have caffeine in any form, so we have a lot of white chocolate in the house!
I bet white hot chocolate would be so delicious! I haven’t tried it yet but might need to add it to my list!
To make it less rich and dense, could I put one less cup of heavy cream, and replace that with an extra cup of milk?
Definitely!
This is so good! I’ve made it a couple of times most recently today for a cookie decorating party. Everyone loved it. It’s easy to make and so delicious. Thank you for your great recipes Sally, Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Is it possible to make this with almond or cashew milk if we still use the heavy cream? I will be making this for our family Christmas cookie baking session next weekend!
In place of the whole milk? Definitely. I imagine it would be so good with cashew milk.
My husband asked me to make homemade hot chocolate for Christmas morning so after reading lots of recipes I decided to make this. It was really good but it was REALLY rich and dense. After a couple of sips it became overwhelming to drink by itself ( I mixed it with coffee and it was wonderful).
That’s a GREAT idea to stir into coffee.
Hi Sally, If i use milk chocolate chips instead of semi sweet, should i omit the sugar?
I wouldn’t omit it completely, I’d reduce it maybe down to 1/4 cup.
I made this for our Ugly Sweater Party this weekend!!! It is the best Hot Chocolate I have ever had!!!
My hubby bribed me into making this by promising to make your soft brown sugar cookies as my reward at the end of the week… We’re going to settle down and watch Gilmore Girls tonight with mugs of slow cooker hot chocolate, and enjoy ourselves! Just put it in the slow cooker, and waiting for it to start doing its thing now… 🙂
This looks fabulous; it’s going straight into my recipe binder. I’m definitely going to have to give this hot chocolate a go. Who doesn’t love hot chocolate, but HOMEMADE hot chocolate…? 😉
Quick question about your truffles… Of course, as Christmas comes around, I’ve been doing some baking. Your mint truffles from your cookbook are on the top of my list to make. The recipe calls for 3 to 4 hours in the fridge for the ganache filling to firm; however, I realized I cannot finish the recipe at the time being, so I’m not sure whether to leave the ganache chilling or at room temp. to complete later. I don’t want it to be dry or cracked obviously. But you’re the expert, so what should I do? 🙂
Hi Hope! Great question about the truffles. Let it hang out at room temperature until you can chill it.
Absolutely! You can warm this hot chocolate up in the slow cooker again or on the stove for about 10 minutes on medium heat.