Who says you can enjoy hot chocolate in winter only? We've turned our delicious and creamy Hot Cocoa into the perfect summertime drink! Indulge in sweet and decadent iced hot chocolate year-round. This might just be a new favorite treat for a chocolate craving in your household!
It's easy to make with just 3 steps and absolutely refreshing on a hot summer day! Here's our fun new take on this traditional wintertime hot chocolate drink:
Ingredients for Cold Hot Chocolate
- 8 oz. serving of Angelino’s Hot Cocoa compatible with your Keurig® machines
- ½ cup of your choice of milk (it can be whole milk, oat milk, soy milk, cashew milk, almond milk - you choose)
- Ice cubes
- Double your chocolate servings by adding chocolate drizzles or making homemade frozen hot chocolate ice cubes to throw in the mix!
Directions on How to Make Iced Hot Chocolate
- Brew your hot cocoa mix and let sit to cool down.
- Drizzle chocolate on the walls of the glass and add your ice cubes.
- Stir in your milk preference into the hot cocoa mix and pour over your glass of ice. Serve immediately and enjoy as is, or top it off with mini marshmallows for the kids (and not only)!
Frozen Hot Chocolate Recipe
As we mentioned earlier, the delicious taste of your iced hot chocolate drink can be doubled if you also make frozen hot chocolate cubes. In this way, you can surprise your family and your guests with an amazingly vivid flavor and a really fun treat.
Ingredients for Frozen Hot Chocolate Ice Cubes
- 1 cup of your chosen milk
- 1 tbsp of unsweetened hot cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup of water
- 3/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp of sugar
Directions on How to Make Frozen Hot Chocolate Ice Cubes
- Put the water, unsweetened cocoa powder, and milk in a pan. Whisk up to a point where you see the lumps dissolve.
- Take away from the heat, add the semisweet chocolate chips, and stir. When you notice that the chocolate has melted, let it cool for 5 minutes. Prepare your ice cube tray, pour the liquid into it, and put it in your freezer.
- Keep it there overnight or until the frozen hot chocolate ice cubes are solid.
What Can I Use Chocolate Ice Cubes For?
Apart from adding these ice cubes to your cold hot chocolate, you can also use them to improve your other beverages. Try adding to, for example, an iced coffee (especially a latte) or some milky alcoholic drinks!
How Should I Store Frozen Hot Chocolate Ice Cubes?
As it was said in our frozen hot chocolate recipe, the chocolate ice cubes should be stored in a freezer. Keep them in a tight container up to the point when you want to use them to improve the taste of your drinks.
Iced Hot Chocolate - Recipe Variations
Here are some changes you can make while following our iced hot chocolate recipe:
- Frozen hot chocolate ice cubes are not a must - you can use regular ice cubes as well. However, we strongly recommend them for a more vivid taste!
- Another way to achieve a richer chocolate taste is to add more hot chocolate mix to the milk while making iced hot chocolate.
- You can prepare mocha ice cubes to enrich the cocoa with a hint of coffee. All it takes is just to add a tiny bit of brewed coffee to your frozen hot chocolate mixture. If you want to achieve a more distinctive taste, you can also make ice cubes of coffee only.
Why Should You Serve Iced Hot Chocolate?
Serving iced hot chocolate is a great idea when you or your loved ones need something cold, sweet, and with a slight boost. Our iced hot chocolate recipe transforms a traditional chocolate milk recipe into a refreshing, decadent treat with a kick. In this way, you can enjoy your favorite flavor of a hot, warming winter drink chilled with a significant amount of ice in the summer heat.
What Can I Add to Iced Hot Chocolate?
Here are some of the ideas of what you can optionally add to your iced hot chocolate:
- Vanilla or almond extract. You can use your favorite extract for baked goods to add some sweet magic to your cold hot chocolate drink.
- Nutella. If you are a die-hard Nutella fan, you can add some of your favorite spread to your hot cocoa mix as it heats.
- Chili and orange zest. Adding a pinch of chili powder, cayenne, and orange zest is bound to provide a surprisingly excellent taste!
- Flavored marshmallows. Instead of traditional marshmallows, you can opt for some flavored ones to come up with an original composition. A great match to your cocoa mix will be, for example, cookie dough, mint or cinnamon-flavored marshmallows.
- Chai. Mix one cozy drink with another to achieve a great cold combination of both and turn them into a summertime variant. When you're preparing your hot chocolate mix, add some chai tea for additional spice and flavor. If you want to get even more kick, add some extra cinnamon as well!
- Coffee. If you'd like to turn your iced hot chocolate into a cold mocha-like drink, you can add coffee or espresso. Here's a tip on how to make a coffee-cocoa mix easily - add coffee to your powdered cocoa mix instead of milk or water.
- Whipped cream with toppings. Kids love whipped cream and chocolate, together with colorful toppings on it (and adults often can't resist them, either!). You can use, for example, chocolate curls, chopped pecans or other nuts, mini marshmallows, and more.
- Butterscotch or caramel. These sticky toppings will make your iced chocolate even sweeter and more irresistible. To let it blend in well, stir a spoon of caramel or butterscotch in the hot cocoa.
- Cookies spread. Just add some of your favorite cookie spread to the hot cocoa so that it can melt before cooling. You can also add a single cookie when you serve the drink for an additional crunch and a more appealing look.
- Maple syrup. Iced hot chocolate with some maple syrup can be a good addition to your morning pancakes, for instance.
- Peppermint. It is definitely one of the most commonly used herbs to add to refreshing cold summer drinks, and iced chocolate is no exception. You can stir in peppermint candies, mint chocolate chips, or even add fresh mint leaves.
- White chocolate. If you prefer white chocolate, you can skip the cocoa in our iced hot chocolate recipe and use white baking chips along with a bit of vanilla extract instead.
- Pumpkin spice. Who said pumpkin spice should be used only in hot drinks prepared during fall? Feel free to add some to your iced chocolate as well!
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, or cardamon. A sprinkle of your favorite spice on the drink itself or whipped cream topping can be a game-changer!
Chocolate sauce. If you want even more chocolate, you can add this sauce to your drink!
How to Pair Cold Hot Chocolate With Liquor?
If you enjoy the iced hot chocolate from our delicious recipe, you may feel tempted to enrich it with some liquor to serve outstanding cocktails at your next party. Liquor (spirit) is an alcoholic beverage produced from grains or other plants which, after the fermentation process, turn into a potent drink.
There are six types of distilled spirits:
- vodka
- whiskey
- tequila
- rum
- brandy
- gin
All of them go well with chocolate, but the specific pairings will depend on the blend in question. Pick your favorite spirit and try out various combinations to find the one that suits you best!
What Treats to Serve With Iced Hot Chocolate?
If you want to serve some other treats along with your cold hot chocolate, check out a few of our delicious suggestions below:
- Cheesecake bites. The creamy texture and irresistible flavor of cheesecake make it one of the most favorite treats of all time.
- Churros. When you feel like having some crunchy and crispy churros in summer, you can go for pairing it with cold chocolate instead of hot one. Both flavors are strong and luxurious, but there is an amazing balance between them.
- Donuts. Just like you can perfectly pair a donut with a morning cup of coffee, you can combine it with iced hot chocolate.
- Chocolate chip cookies. This simple treat is pretty universal - chocolate chip cookies are loved by many and consumed at any time of the day. What's more, they are perfect for dunking into a glass of cold hot chocolate.
How to Make Cold Hot Chocolate? - The Bottom Line
As you can see, our iced hot chocolate recipe creates lots of opportunities you can use to make delicious treats for yourself, your family, and friends. There are lots of toppings, sauces, or sprinkles you can add, and many things that go well with the drink, let it be liquor or pastry.
Apart from preparing cold hot chocolate, we also strongly recommend trying out our frozen hot chocolate recipe. As chocolate and coffee are always a great combination, they can be an outstanding enhancement to your morning coffee routine. Order our coffee cups or bagged coffee and enjoy them together with your frozen hot chocolate!
References:
- https://www.thespruceeats.com/iced-hot-cocoa-recipe-766077
- https://insanelygoodrecipes.com/treats-to-pair-with-hot-chocolate/
- https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/10-creative-mix-ins-for-the-best-hot-chocolate/
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