Hot Chocolate on a Stick

Hot chocolate on a stick.  

Yeah, that’s right. Hot chocolate. On a stick. I have a thing about stuff on a stick. It just makes things more fun. 

And this is super easy to make, too, which is always good. It seems as though there are two different types of basic hot chocolate on a stick recipes. There are the ones that include heavy cream and condensed milk, and the ones that just contain chocolate, cocoa and powdered sugar. The ones with heavy cream come out more like fudge, which is great if you’re using them at home, but since these were meant to be gifts, I used a variation of the cocoa and powdered sugar, because they harden and end up almost like lollipops. Much better for transporting. 

I was inspired by this recipe from Giver’s Log, but I made a few changes to make them even more delicious.

I also used the 8th wonder of the world, chocolate transfer sheets. 

Seriously, have you ever heard of these things? You know when you see those super fancy, expensive chocolates that have some gorgeous design on the top, and you think, holy moly, that must have taken them forever? Yeah, that’s what these do. Except it doesn’t take forever, you literally don’t have to have one single artistic bone in your body.

There are a couple of different ways you can use them. If you’re making molded chocolates, you can cut them and place them in the bottom of each mold. For these hot chocolates on a stick, I used an Ikea ice cube mold {if there’s no Ikea near you, this Wilton brownie bites pan is similar}. But there’s no way on earth that I’m going to sit there and try to cut these out to the exact same size and shape as the bottom of the mold. I do not have the patience {or cutting skills} for that.

So I used the lazy girl’s method. Once the chocolate cubes had set, I dipped the bottoms in melted white chocolate candy discs, and then just placed them on the transfer sheets. Once they set, you just peel them off and boom, fancy pants chocolates. 

To make them even more fancy pants, I packaged two of them with some of the homemade marshmallows I made the other day, added a cute gift tag, and sent them off to school with the boys to give as presents to their teachers. 

Speaking of the boys, their minds were again blown at the fact that they’re taking what looks like a chocolate lollipop, sticking it in a mug of warm milk, swirling it around, and creating hot chocolate. Connor actually said, “Whoa! It’s like magic!” And quite frankly, I was pretty much just as excited as he was.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

Jenn Young

A fun way to serve hot chocolate -- just swirl these chocolate pops in a mug of heated milk or cream to create a delicious cup of hot cocoa!

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Ingredients

  

• 8 oz high-quality chocolate {I used Wilton Chocolate Pro Fountain and Fondue Chocolate -- see notes}
• 1 1/2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 vanilla bean {see notes}
• Lollipop sticks or skewers
• 4-6 oz white candy melts {optional}
• chocolate transfer sheets {optional}

Instructions

 

• 1. Melt chocolate over a double boiler {check out this great tutorial on how to melt chocolate.}
• 2. Remove seeds from vanilla bean {here is a tutorial on how to do this} and mix seeds into melted chocolate. {If desired, save bean pod to steep in milk for hot chocolate -- see step #6.}
• 3. Mix cocoa powder and powdered sugar together and sift into melted chocolate, while constantly stirring. Mixture will become quite thick.
• 4. Scoop chocolate mixture into a piping bag or use a small cookie scoop to fill cavities of ice cube tray or other mold. Insert lollipop stick or skewer into each cavity. Place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours until completely hardened.
• 5. Once hardened, pop chocolate cubes out of mold. If desired, dip in melted white candy melts and place on chocolate transfer sheets. Leave on transfer sheets and allow candy melts to harden, either on counter or in refrigerator. Peel pops off transfer sheets and you're ready for some hot cocoa!
• 6. To make hot chocolate, heat 3/4 cup milk or cream until hot. {If desired, place seeded vanilla bean in milk while heating to steep.} Place hot chocolate pop into hot milk and swirl until melted. Enjoy!

Notes

1. It is extremely important to use high-quality chocolate for this. Chocolate chips are not intended to melt, so they will not create the smooth melted chocolate you are looking for. High-quality bulk chocolate or chocolate fountain/fondue chocolate is best.
2. DO NOT use vanilla extract in place of the vanilla bean. The liquid will cause the melted chocolate to seize up and it will be ruined. If you don't have a vanilla bean, you can use vanilla bean paste or just leave the vanilla out.

Adapted from Giver's Log