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.
If you really want to go overboard with dessert (don’t we all?), serve this hot chocolate with hot cocoa cookies.
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 (affiliate links) Large Crock Pot | Whisk | 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.
This looks so yum! Do you think I’d be able to transfer this to a warm beverage server (the portable kind with a lever or pump)? Or would the chocolate just sink to the bottom. I’m trying to have a hot chocolate station at a birthday party outdoors and was trying to avoid doing water with packets.
I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, though I can’t guarantee it as we don’t have your beverage server to test it. Hope it turns out great!
Thanks! I’ll report back for you with the brand of server. Maybe a test run is in order!
Can we swap out heavy cream for half and half?
Hi Amy, you can, it just won’t be quite as creamy.
I made this for Christmas Eve this year. It was delicious and decadent. Rich chocolate flavor that left you satisfied. I added a mini candy cane, miniature marshmallows and whipped cream on top. Oh my! The only thing I would do different is to chop the chocolate a little finer. Some of the chocolate stayed a little chunky ( not a bad thing) but I would chop it more. You can also add a little rum or bourbon or whatever else floats your boat. I will definitely be making this again and again and definitely for the holidays every year. Cooked mine on slow for 6 hours. Very rich and delicious.