Christmas Eve Hot Chocolate
Every year growing up we used to leave milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. That tradition is sure to continue with our little one. However, I don’t think Santa would mind ONE bit if we left him some of this hot chocolate instead of milk along with his cookies. In fact, I’m POSITIVE he would love it.
This is a *super* rich and creamy version of hot chocolate that will leave your whole body warmed. Notice the sweetened condensed milk pouring into this pot of cream and whole milk…Yeah. It’s rich. In fact, I’d say it’s on a totally different planet than the “hot chocolate” packets that often pop up. Don’t get me wrong, I still use powdered hot cocoa and love it. But for Christmas Eve, this version is certainly a treat worth having. Santa will leave your house so, so happy.
The only comparison I can come up with is the hot chocolate Travis and I had on our final night in Italy a few years ago. We were sitting in a cozy cafe near the leaning tower of Pisa. Stop right there. Picture that stunning image for a second…Okay, proceed. We wanted to treat ourselves to a little something and decided on hot chocolate. That was a genius idea. I think had the best hot chocolate of my life there. Now, this might not be an identical recipe, but it sure did bring me back to that little cafe. All the good feels came back real quick.
Christmas Eve hot chocolate is almost like a pause button on life. With all the stress of Christmas – running around to see family, wrapping presents, making endless food, traffic, decorating, etc. – this hot chocolate will force you to sit and enjoy the little things of life. Even if just for a minute. And it will put a SMILE on your face! What more can you ask for?! Maybe some peppermint truffles to go with it?? Yeah. That’s what you can ask for 🙂
- 3 cups whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted*
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- Whisk together milk, cream, and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until tiny bubbles just begin to form along the edges.
- Whisk in the melted chocolate chips, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt until evenly distributed.
- Serve warm with whipped cream, marshmallows, or your topping of choice!
- To melt the chocolate chips, you can either melt them over a double boiler or in the microwave. To microwave, heat in 30 second intervals, mixing each time, until the chocolate chips are melted.