How to Make Creamy Hot Chocolate with Nutella

When the weather starts cooling down, there’s nothing like a decadent hot chocolate in your mug to keep things cozy.

But don’t use those packets of hot chocolate mix! Instead, use this homemade hot chocolate recipe to serve up the best hot chocolate on the planet.

A Delicious Recipe

You do not want to miss this recipe if you like creamy hot chocolate. It’s perfect for chilly nights, especially when the family is visiting for the holidays.

Gather around the fireplace or enjoy the cold day while gathered around your outdoor fire pit. A perfect hot chocolate in your hands will complete the evening with satisfaction in every sip!

Ingredients for Creamy Hot Chocolate

Grab a saucepan and a whisk to make this hot chocolate recipe. Then grab these ingredients:

• Whole milk
• Nutella
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Granulated sugar
• Marshmallows (for topping)

Full printable recipe with measurements and instructions listed at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.

How to Make Creamy Hot Chocolate with Nutella

You can make delicious hot chocolate with a few simple ingredients any time you crave it.

All it takes is adding everything to your saucepan except for your toppings. You’ll want to heat it all together over medium heat.

Whisk continuously until all the ingredients melt and incorporate together. Be careful, though – you do not want this mixture to boil!

Once it’s all melted, combined, and seems to be warm or hot (just NOT BOILING!), remove it from the heat, pour it into mugs, add toppings, and enjoy. 

I’d just like to add a quick note: If you are using unsweetened cocoa powder, you may want to add sugar to your desired level of sweetness. Conversely, if all you have is sweetened cocoa powder, taste it first before adding any additional sugar. 

A Variety of Ways to Make Creamy Hot Chocolate

You can feel free to add more to this creamy hot chocolate recipe to make it more your own.

• Add a drop or two of vanilla extract if you’d like to cut down on the amount of sugar yet bring out more sweetness.
• Brown sugar can give it a more caramelized flavor.
• Use maple syrup to sweeten things up naturally. 
• While this recipe calls for the use of whole milk, you can easily swap that out for something else to make it a healthy hot chocolate. Make things more indulgent with heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. You can also choose non-dairy milk if you’re vegan or hosting vegan guests. Soy milk, coconut milk, and almond milk are all excellent choices.

Toppings for the Best Hot Cocoa

When we have guests visiting, I love to put out everyone’s favorite toppings to add to their hot chocolate.

It makes it easier on yourself as the host since you can just pour out mugs of hot cocoa for everyone and invite them to make their way over to your hot cocoa bar.

Here are a few ideas for a hot chocolate bar:

• Nutella drizzled on top
• Chocolate chips (mini chocolate chips work great)
• White chocolate chips
• Dark chocolate chips
• Chocolate syrup
• Whipped cream
• Cinnamon sticks
• Crushed candy cane to add on top of the hot chocolate.

Even better, you can grate the cinnamon sticks right onto the whipped cream or grate the chocolate. Yum!

The kids love mixing and matching all the toppings and piling them high. It’s truly a fun way to gather together and perhaps my favorite delicious way to stay warm on cold nights. 

How to Store Creamy Hot Chocolate

Whenever I make creamy hot chocolate, it all tends to disappear. But there have been times when I’ve made more than necessary because I’d rather have extra than run out when guests want another mug of hot cocoa. 

Fortunately, it’s easy to save any leftovers you may have in mason jars. Just tuck these airtight containers into your fridge and make sure you use them up within three days. 

Cookies that Go Great With Hot Chocolate

• Add Christmas vanilla biscuit sugar cookies to your list from Recipe Tin Eats. The kids will love to decorate these.
• Hot chocolate cookies – There’s nothing like dunking hot chocolate cookies into a nice hot cup of creamy homemade hot chocolate with Nutella.
• Nestle white chocolate peppermint cookies – there’s plenty of chocolate flavor in these cookies, and they are perfect for the Christmas holidays.
• Grinch cookies – these are a lot of fun for kids!
• Christmas pinwheel cookies are a great way to usher in the holidays with the red and green colors of Christmas!

How to Make Creamy Hot Chocolate with Nutella

This creamy hot chocolate recipe is the answer to your chocolate cravings on chilly nights. It’s the perfect beverage to sip with every member of the family, from the youngest ones to the oldest.

It’s amazing how hot chocolate can bring people together so well. 

Made with Nutella, this recipe is one you will come to rely on every time for rich, creamy indulgence.

And I’m willing to bet that you won’t ever turn to those shelf-stable packets of hot chocolate ever again once you see how easy it is to create these rich, creamy, and comforting flavors in just minutes.