You Should Make Nutella Hot Chocolate Right Away

As the temperature drops and the weather gets dreary, few treats create the same coziness as homemade hot chocolate. While the ordinary from-scratch method can produce a satisfying hot beverage, I’m interested in something more along the lines of extraordinary.

While it’s not difficult to make a cup of cocoa from scratch, it often feels lackluster. It might be a certain blandness that extra cocoa powder or cream can’t solve, or worse—chocolate clumps. If you’ve ever made hot cocoa with a chocolate bar there’s a high likelihood you ended up with little chocolate slugs surfing around in a cup of hot milk. While it’s not “gross” per se, it’s not quite what you may have envisioned. 

A good cup of hot chocolate is smooth, chocolatey, and sweet. A chocolate bar, even melted, won’t emulsify well with milk or water. Nutella, on the other hand, will dissolve in hot liquid easily. This simple method only requires two ingredients, and it’s ready in maybe three minutes. To make matters easier, this popular chocolate hazelnut spread is already fully sweetened, and it includes emulsifiers so you don’t have to do much work to create a perfect drinkable cup. Pull on a pair of those furry, grip-bottom socks you got for Christmas and make this delectable hazelnut hot cocoa with Nutella.

How to make Nutella hot cocoa

Add a tablespoon of Nutella to a mug. Pour in four ounces (a half cup) of hot liquid. I used water from my electric kettle. Let the water sit in the cup for a minute or so to soften the Nutella. Whisk or stir with a small fork for about 30 seconds to agitate the mixture and dissolve the Nutella. Once the mixture is smooth and chocolatey, add another four ounces of liquid and stir. I like to add boiling water first to fully dissolve the other ingredients, and then top it off with four ounces of milk to bring it down to a more drinkable temperature. Top your fresh cocoa with a few marshmallows and get cozy. 

Even if you stan for Swiss Miss or your personal scratch cocoa powder mixture, you can always add a spoonful of Nutella to your mug for a satisfying hazelnut twist. It has no qualms about sharing space in a mug with other chocolate mixtures. As long as hot liquid is involved, it will dissolve.

When you get down to the dregs of your Nutella jar, just pour in some hot water and swirl it around. To get every last bit, you can twist the lid on and shake it: but beware, the steam can cause a bit of a mess. To avoid that, use lukewarm liquid first, shake to dissolve the chocolate spread, then pour it into a mug. Heat it in the microwave to a temperature you like, and enjoy.

Nutella Hot Chocolate Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Nutella
• 120ml boiling water
• 120ml milk 
• Marshmallows (optional)

Add the Nutella to a mug. Pour the hot water into the mug and let it sit for a minute or so. Whisk or stir with a fork until the Nutella is fully dissolved, about 30 seconds. Add the milk and stir again. Top with marshmallows if you like, and enjoy immediately. Note that the ratio is one tablespoon of Nutella to eight ounces of liquid, so you can use all water or all milk if you like. Just make sure to heat it first.