So I’ve been hearing about hot chocolate on a stick for awhile now. And it wasn’t clicking in my brain, and I wasn’t sure I cared enough to find out what it was, thinking it was going to be something that doesn’t make a ton of sense, like frozen hot chocolate (what does that even mean? I mean, it’s delicious, but what does it mean?)
Finally my curiosity got the better of me and I googled it and suddenly it made a ton of sense, like all the sense in the world–a perfectly portioned premium hot chocolate mix, on a stick, perfect for holiday treat-giving. You can melt it in hot milk for the most delicious hot chocolate ever, especially if you dress it up with add-ins like crushed peppermints, Andes mint pieces, melty caramel, toffee pieces, or marshmallows.
You can set them out at a hot chocolate bar at holiday parties. You can snack on one because while dipping into the canister of dry hot chocolate mix would be considered socially inappropriate, nipping at a concentrated cube of chocolate is always appropriate.
To get started, you’re going to need unsweetened baking chocolate, semisweet chocolate chips (I add in some milk chocolate chips as well), some heavy cream, and a can of sweetened condensed milk. Also, just a note about measurements–we’ve had some people say that the consistency has not come out correctly and that it’s a big, blobby mess. I hate to heart that and I can’t say that I know exactly what went wrong, but if you held me on the edge of a cliff and made me guess, I’d say something was off in the measurements. So. I cannot recommend strongly enough that you should use a scale to measure out the chocolate instead of using measuring cups. If you don’t have one, this is the one that I have and I absolutely love it.
Line an 8″ pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the whipping cream, sweetened condensed milk, as well as a teaspoon of vanilla.
Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the milk is steaming. Remove from heat and add the chocolate.
Stir, then allow to stand for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, whisk the mixture until it is smooth and shiny.
Transfer the chocolate mixture into the prepared pan
and smooth the top as much as possible. Cover the pan and refrigerate overnight.
After the chocolate has chilled, invert the pan and transfer the chocolate onto a clean surface. Using a sharp knife, lightly make 6 score marks 1 1/2″ apart in one direction and then repeat in the opposite direction. Run the knife under hot water, wipe dry, then cut straight down along one of the lines. Run the knife under hot water, wipe, cut, and repeat until you have 36 blocks that are more or less the same size.
Insert a large lollipop stick, wooden apple/candy stick, or even disposable wooden spoons into the middle of each chocolate cube.
To serve, heat 8-10 ounces of hot milk…
and pour it over the chocolate cube.
(those are Mint Andes pieces in the bottom of the mug. If that’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right.)
You can add in crushed peppermint candies, chocolate covered mint candy pieces (like Andes mints), caramel drops, marshmallows, or crushed toffee pieces.
To give as gifts, add 1-2 spoonfuls of whatever add-ins you want to the bottom of a cellophane bag…
Add the hot chocolate on a stick and tie with a ribbon.
I’ve made a printable that you can use with these–just check off which add-ins you’ve added!
Also, a note about our Shop! We’ve had lots of people asking about Christmas delivery. If you get your order in by Friday at the latest, it should arrive no problem! We JUST added a brand new listing, our super-popular little letterpress samplers are now available in the large size! We’re so excited and they are on sale for a crazy good deal right now. They are one of our most popular gift items. We also have some autographed cook books that we’ll be adding to the shop today, so keep an eye out for those if you’re interested!
Hot Chocolate on a Stick
- Yield: 36
Description
Rich, velvety chocolate is skewered on a stick before dissolving in hot milk to make the ultimate hot chocolate, a perfect easy gift or for a hot chocolate bar!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 ounces (weighed) unsweetened baking chocolate
- 14 ounces (weighed) semisweet chocolate chips
- 4 (weighed) ounces milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line an 8″ pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the whipping cream, sweetened condensed milk, and the vanilla. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the milk is steaming. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Stir, then allow to stand for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, whisk the mixture until it is smooth and shiny. Transfer the chocolate mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top as much as possible. Cover the pan and refrigerate overnight.
- After the chocolate has chilled, invert the pan and transfer the chocolate onto a clean surface. Using a sharp knife, lightly make 6 score marks 1 1/2″ apart in one direction and then repeat in the opposite direction. Run the knife under hot water, wipe dry, then cut straight down along one of the lines. Run the knife under hot water, wipe, cut, and repeat until you have 36 blocks that are more or less the same size.
- Insert a large lollipop stick, wooden apple/candy stick, or even disposable wooden spoons into the middle of each chocolate cube.
- To serve, melt the chocolate cube in 8-10 ounces of hot milk. You can add in crushed peppermint candies, chocolate covered mint candy pieces (like Andes mints), caramel drops, marshmallows, or crushed toffee pieces.
Notes
- To give as gifts, add 1-2 spoonfuls of the add-ins to the bottom of a cellophane bag. Add a hot chocolate on a stick, then tie with a ribbon.
Questions & Reviews
For everyone having trouble with the squares not setting up, next time try heating the milk and cream, putting the chocolate in a glass/heat safe bowl and pouring the milk over the chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes to melt, then stir/wisk to combine. This is how ganache is typically made so that the chocolate doesn’t burn or melt too quickly. Also, make sure your milk doesn’t boil, it should just get to the point where it is steaming.
Recipe didn’t work out very well for me, either,though they taste delicious! Even after a couple days in the freezer they were more like taffy, super sticky, and scraping them off the wax paper squares I finally used is quite a moment. I was so excited to make these for my daughter for Christmas, as she’s become addicted to the idea after seeing somewhere… I’ll definitely make again, as the choc mix is totally delicious, but I’ll probably pour into a jar to keep in the fridge, and let folks scoop out a big spoonful for their cups as they go.
I do actually like the idea of a more ganache-like recipe – I had a friend bring me back a couple from Belgium (!!) that tasted great, but were solid blocks of chocolate, so the melt was not so nice – these melt into the milk beautifully…
This is perfect! I bought a few of these at a gourmet food place last month so I could figure out how to make them (they were selling them for over $3 each!). Some of them were milk and dark chocolate. Some were white chocolate and some were caramel chocolate. Before I could get to them, my husband ATE them! He didn’t even pay attention to the packaging and information on it and assumed they were lollipops! He couldn’t even describe the texture to me and simply said, “They’re delicious!” So thank you for this recipe. I shall try it with the white chocolate as well to see how that comes out too! =) Too late to make them for my coworkers at school, but I’m thinking Valentine’s Day! =)
The cutting of these were a massive fail for me as well although I was able to make it work in the end. I went ahead and gave them to the kids in our family they were just messy looking. I really think instead of going in the fridge prior to cutting they need to go into the freezer. My mom made hot chocolate with hers last night and said it was really good.
I’m with Celeste- mine were soft like fudge and as they sat out of the fridge got melty. They were delicious, and since I’m not giving them all away I’m sure I will eat them all (not sure if that’s a good thing for the waist line!) – Yours look like they are set up hard. Any thoughts on what could have gone wrong??
Aha! I found the problem. After my pan turned out as a sticky, blobby mess, I read the recipe on the King Arthur website (along with some comments). Their recipe calls for heating the milk and cream on low heat until steaming, then removing from heat and adding the chocolate. This allows the chocolate to temper. If it melts too quickly (milk was too hot) the crystalline form of the chocolate is destroyed and it can’t “set up” again. After the chocolate tempers for about 10 minutes, you can return the pan to heat to finish melting.
I’m sure altitude and other factors matter too. I’m excited to try this again cause it’s so dang cute!
Upon first glance, that bowl of caramel bits totally looked like a bowl of chick peas and, with it being the first photo under a post heading of “hot chocolate on a stick”, I was REALLY worried about where you were going with it. I LOVE this idea though (minus the chick peas)and I think the Andes bits version will be to die for.
These were a massive fail. I followed instructions to a T, but they didn’t slice nicely, and pulled like taffy when I tried to separate them. Really disappointed. They also don’t stay on the sticks or spoons. I really wanted to have these be our neighbor gifts. Sad face.
I’m so sorry they didn’t work out! I’m not exactly sure what happened, but that’s such a bummer!
I mean the melty caramel pieces…I see that the toffee is a totally different one. I thought it was crumbled peanut butter cup! Also delicious here!!!
They’re just in the baking aisle! 🙂 I found mine at Walmart.
My family will go berserk for these babies!!! Where did you find those cool caramel toffee pieces?
I made these last night. Was I to grease the parchment paper as they are sticking to it? Mine are nothing but a sticky blog that has no form or shape to them. I am going to try freezing them for a few hours to see if they will work better. They are not the nice squares that you got. Any ideas on what went wrong?
Hmmmm…not sure what happened! I don’t grease my parchment. See how they do after some time in the freezer. ?
If I wanted to make a big batch for my own family to use over the winter, how long do you think they’d keep for and how ephod you recommend storing it?
Hmmmm…I’m not sure how long they’d last, but I’m pretty sure if you kept them in a freezer bag in the freezer, they’d last several months. Hope that helps!!
How awesome! I had one of these a few years ago. My milk wasn’t quite hot enough, but it was indeed luscious!! I am totally making these for Christmas gifts for work and non-work friends (and for my ex-husband’s cousins, who are like my own)!!
I too love this idea, it is my answer to “what to give the new, adorable neighbor kiddos”:) I’m worried about the cutting though, that is always my downfall..how easy or hard is it to cut??? Any other suggestions other than the ones you have mentioned? Cutting right from the fridge leads me to think cutting is difficult and jagged edges from breaking are a definite possibility. TIA for any help.
It’s easy to cut–the consistency is similar to fudge, even when it’s cold. Heating up the knife helps get clean cuts, but as long as you take it slow, it’s easy to get them to look nice! 🙂
Thanks Kate. Looking forward to making and giving this this weekend.
🙁 I was able to get the parchment off after 36 hours in the freezer, but it is still too soft. I can’t cut them neatly nor remove the blob off the cutting board without it looking like a mess. The taste is excellent, it’s just not pretty enough for gifts. It must have something to do with the heating/melting of the chocolate but I’m not inclined to try again.
Wow! I’ve never heard of hot chocolate on a stick…but what a great idea!! And what a great neighbor gift. Thanks for sharing!
Oh dear. I was already planning on doing cookie plates for neighbor gifts, but now I have to make these too…maybe I will just have to drink a lot of hot chocolate this month. Bummer. 😉
This is such a fun idea! I love it!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Wow these are little cubes of genius. I love the idea of a hot chocolate bar and I’m in no way averse to nibbling at one maybe two of these cubes. Perfect for gifts. Such a brilliant idea thank you. Sammie.