ByEmilyUpdated onFood & Drink
What better way to celebrate cooler weather and the magic of the holidays than with hot cocoa bombs?!
More than ever, we are trying to find ways to make this year’s winter the most memorable and enjoyable for our kids by planning out ideas do as a family. Sledding is pretty high up on my boys’ list but we don’t have snow here quite yet so we are making our way down that list to the number two spot: hot cocoa!
My kids are obsessed with hot cocoa, as I’m sure most of your kids are, too. There’s nothing like creamy delicious mugs of hot cocoa to warm you up after a chilly day and this year we put the most fun spin to it to surprise our boys.
Hot Cocoa Bombs!
We’ve been searching to find these everywhere and since they seem to be sold out, we took it into our own hands to create these! Plus, they’re simple enough (and so much cheaper) to make at home in so many more flavors than they offer in stores! This go around I made six flavors but the possibilities are endless.
Some of the favorites that we made are:
- Milk Chocolate – Hot Cocoa Mix
- White Chocolate – Ground White Chocolate Powder
- Peppermint Chocolate – Equal Parts Hot Cocoa Mix and Crushed Candy Canes
- Peppermint White Chocolate – Equal Parts Ground White Chocolate Powder and Crushed Candy Canes
- Mocha – Equal Parts Hot Cocoa Mix and Instant Coffee
- Strawberries & Cream – Equal Parts Strawberry Milk Mix and Ground White Chocolate Powder
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Silicone Sphere Chocolate mold, 2”-3” spheres
- Small Basting Brush
- Chocolate Almond Bark
- Vanilla Almond Bark
- Frying Pan
Looking for other holiday treats? Check out these Peppermint Bark Cookies!
Creating your cocoa bombs:
Start by melting a few squares of each almond bark separately according to package directions in microwave-safe bowls. For the 15 space 2” sphere mold, it took about 3 squares of almond bark.
Spoon a little bit of the melted almond bark into each sphere, then use the basting brush (or the back of your spoon… I just found a brush to be better) to paint the melted almond bark all around each sphere. It doesn’t have to be perfect the first time, you’ll be doing 3 layers. And no matter how messy it looks, I promise that it will look perfect on the outside!
Let the almond bark cool and harden, then paint on another layer of almond bark. Repeat process one more time.
Once you have three layers of almond bark cooled in your molds, gently pop each sphere out by pressing on the backside of each mold.
Warm-up your frying pan for a minute or two on medium heat, then turn off the heat.
Quickly place each sphere half-open side down onto the warm frying pan, allowing the rough edges to melt away, and then quickly pick up and set aside. Do this with half of your spheres.
Fill with your desired ingredients from the above list. I used about 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons of filling in each bomb.
(If you use 3” or larger sized spheres, you can add marshmallows on top of your cocoa. The 2” molds will not fit both cocoa and marshmallows.)
Now take the other half of your molds and melt the rough edges. While the almond bark is still warm and melted on the edges, place on top of one of your filled sphere halves. Press together lightly and then wipe a clean finger around the edges to clean up the lines of melted almond bark. Let cool.
To use your cocoa bombs, place one into a mug. Heat up your desired type of milk, 8oz for each bomb. Bring your milk almost to a simmer, then remove from heat and pour over your cocoa bomb. Watch as it turns into delicious hot cocoa!
Additional ideas and tips:
- To decorate your bombs with a chocolate drizzle, simply melt 1-2 squares of almond bark in your desired flavor and let cool for a few minutes (so it’s not hot). Place your room temperature melted almond bark into a ziplock bagged snip a tiny bit off of one of the bottom corners of the bag. Squeeze the almond bark back and forth over each cocoa bomb to create a drizzled look.
- To top with crushed candy cane, use some of the melted almond bark to dab on top of your bomb and then sprinkle a little of your crushed candy cane over the melted almond bark.
- To give as gifts, these cocoa bombs fit perfectly into disposable cupcake boxes!
We hope your family loves these cocoa bombs as much as we love them!
PIN FOR LATER!!
