Hot cocoa bombs are all the rage right now! And I can see why, they’re so fun! If we can make them then you can too. All the instructions are below!
I think hot cocoa bombs are so cool. An explosion of chocolate and cocoa with fun surprises inside? Genius! We decided to make a heart version for Valentine’s Day, but honestly you could use any silicone mold to make these. This was our first time making hot cocoa bombs so I scoured the internet looking for the easiest “fool proof” method, and boy are there different ways to make these. I’m not a pro so I don’t have fancy thermometers etc, we just winged that part! So, if you’re a busy mom or just looking for a quick simple way to make hot cocoa bombs then read on! I’ll show you how!
What you need to make hot cocoa bombs… my way. 😉
- “Good” chocolate wafers or chips. Now pros will tell you to only use chocolate that comes in blocks (because chips have an added wax that can screw up the melting process). And while I see their point I just don’t have the time to sit and shave down a giant chocolate bar all day. I just assume buy these on Etsy if I was gonna do that. We used Guittard milk chocolate baking chips and baking wafers and those worked just fine.
- Silicone mold- a silicone mold is a MUST for your sanity. We had no problem popping them out with this. I found this heart shaped one on Amazon. I’ll link everything below for you too!
- Rubber spatula- for blending your chocolate and scraping your bowl.
- Small paint brush- this helps to seal the edges if your shape doesn’t line up quite right. We disguised our painted chocolate seam with sprinkles, but more on that below!
- Glass bowl- this is for melting your chocolate.
- Hot Cocoa- I’m obsessed with Mexican spiced hot chocolate, we use the MoCafe brand because you can get it ground in a large amount.
- Sprinkles and marshmallows– now this is where the magic really happens! Amazon has tons to match your theme. Since these were for Valentines we picked hearts with pink heart marshmallows. So cute. Get creative as you like. Sprinkle then on the inside and leading up to my next item…
- White chocolate- you will want to melt this as well so you can drizzle over the top of your finished hot cocoa bombs. Then you can sprinkle additional toppings on top!
- Ziploc bag- makes a great pastry bag for applying melted chocolate over the hot cocoa bombs.
- Baggies or some sort of packaging materials. I bought these on Amazon but honestly the opening wasn’t quite large enough to fit my bombs so you might want to keep looking for other options.
- Access to a fridge and freezer- allowing your hot cocoa bombs to set in the fridge or freezer dramatically speeds up the hardening time.
Okay, so now for the good stuff. How to make hot cocoa bombs.
- Start by melting your chocolate in the microwave. (others do this over the stove, but I have found the microwave works just fine.) You are going to want to do this VERY SLOWLY! We’re talking no more than 20 second increments. In fact, some suggest even starting with 20 then tapering down to 15. You don’t want to burn your chocolate or get it too hot. If it gets too hot it won’t set in your mold right and it will turn a chalky color after drying. No Bueno. Burning it means a hard sticky mess. *pro tip: make sure there is absolutely no water in your bowl or on your spatula. Water will ruin your melted chocolate making it hard and crunchy and just plain weird.
2. Stir. I like to take it out, stir it all up, scrape down the sides then pop back in for another 15 seconds. Do this until your chocolate is JUST MELTED. Again, don’t let it get too hot. Since we’re going no-pro with this method (ie., not tempering yeah don’t ask me to explain that I’m not a pro remember! 🙂 and we don’t have fancy thermometers) you’re best bet is to stir it really good on that last round. You’ll know its the last round because it will look mostly melted with a few lingering chunks in there. THIS IS THE PERFECT TEMPERATURE! Don’t put it back in, just stir until it all dissolves. Now you’re ready to pour it into the mold.
3. Carefully spoon your melted chocolate into the silicone mold. I say careful only because chocolate is messy! Now I like to use my paint brush to evenly smooth the chocolate all around the inside and scoop the bits that puddle into the bottom up towards the edge. Its best to have as thick of an edge as possible (for the sealing process).
4. Now its time to set the chocolate. You can do this by either putting your mold in the fridge or freezer, up to you. You will need at least 5 minutes. Be sure to test the hardness before heading to the next step.
5. Okay, now you’re ready to do another coat! Yep do the whole process all over again. Since we’re not tempering, this additional step will ensure your shell is extra hard and thick and not soft. Once you’re done doing the next coat, pop back into the fridge or freezer.
6. Now you’re ready to pop those suckers out! Carefully turn over your mold and gently peel back the mold over each one. Once you have successfully (fingers crossed!) popped all of them out, turn them facing up so you can start to fill them. This is my favorite part!!!
7. Buuuut… before you do clean out your mold and do the whole process again so the top halves of the bombs can be setting while you fill the other halves. Make sense? Time is money people! Time is money!!! (so says every busy mom)
8. Fill each half of your hot cocoa bomb with a scoop of hot cocoa powder and add marshmallows and sprinkles. This is where you can get super creative!
9. Now its time to seal them up. I tried melting the edges of the empty halves on a warm plate, but I think because of the shape I just couldn’t get mine to line up quite right. Maybe you will have better luck. I had a much easier time dipping my paint brush into the melted chocolate and painting the seams together. You can then go back and smooth the seam or do like we did and disguise your seam by rolling them in sprinkles!
10. Now for another fun part! Decorating the tops of your hot cocoa bombs. The sky is the limit here. We decided to melt white chocolate, then I poured it into a ziploc and snipped a corner. This made it very easy to drizzle designs on top.
This was something my kids loved helping with! Once we drizzled chocolate over the tops they each added whatever sprinkles they wanted to the hot chocolate.
The finished product! All wrapped up and ready to be sent out for gifts! Ok if you decide to make these please let me know how it goes in the comments below!
xo,
