How to Make Hot Chocolate Bombs

Fun edible craft instructions on how to make your own easy hot chocolate bombs! This tutorial uses dairy-free and vegan options, and includes other flavor variations from around the internet.

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Have you seen the hype about hot cocoa bombs? Silicone molds have been flying off the shelves and new businesses selling these delicious drink makers have been popping up everywhere. In true Trial and Eater fashion, I had to try to make them myself!

I’ll start off by saying, I’m no expert at making these hot chocolate balls! But I wanted to show you a few tricks I’ve learned along the way and the tools that have helped me – and I will link to some other variations of hot chocolate bombs too.

Silicone Molds

Sphere shaped silicone molds are the easiest to make hot chocolate bombs with, because they are flexible and easy to “pop” out the shape once it’s hardened.

The size of your silicone mold will affect how much you can fit into the sphere. Amazon was wiped out of regular sphere silicone options when I purchased, so I found this shop on Etsy that is highly rated and had multiple sizes.

I tried both sizes from this shop – a 70mm (2.75 inch) and 52 mm (2 inch) sphere. The smaller size is a lot smaller than the large, even though the numbers aren’t that different!

About 1 Tablespoon of hot cocoa mix + 8-10 mini marshmallows fit in one of the 2.75 inch spheres, and about 1 teaspoon of hot cocoa with just 3-4 mini marshmallows fit in the 2 inch sphere.

How to Make Them

Once you have silicone molds, you can get started on making them! One tip I’ve seen is to cut each sphere separately from the mold so that it’s easier to handle – but this is optional.

First you melt your chocolate – I used Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips to keep it vegan / dairy-free, but you can use most kinds of chocolate chips, chocolate bar, or candy chocolate wafers.

The better quality the chocolate, the better your results will be. If you use a chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips, chop up into pieces first for easier melting.

Melting chocolate methods

I chose to go the “easy” route and melted the chocolate chips in the microwave in 20-30 second increments. You need to be sure to not over-cook them, or else it will basically burn.

You could also choose to go the traditional way for melting chocolate, in a double broiler (<-linked to instructions).

Once your chocolate is perfectly melted, you’ll fill your silicone molds with chocolate.

There are two methods here – one, is to fill it all the way to the top of the sphere with chocolate, and then turn it upside down over the chocolate bowl to dump the excess.

Or you can choose to spoon in the chocolate to each mold, until the sides are covered, without dumping the excess.

Harden and fill the chocolate shell

After filling your spheres, you’ll put them in the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes to harden. I recommend the freezer, especially if you plan to decorate the outside of them (so they are extra cold and are less likely to melt when adding more melted chocolate on the outside).

When they are hardened, pop out the spheres from the mold. Fill half of your spheres with hot cocoa mix and marshmallows, and any other fillings you want if there’s room. (I use Dandies vegan mini marshmallows.)

How to Attach the Spheres Together

There are lots of ways I’ve seen people attach two sides of the sphere to make the ball.

Most methods involve placing the empty sphere on a hot surface for a few seconds (hot plate, pan on burner, etc.) to melt the edge, and then be able to adhere it to the filled sphere.

I tried that way and it usually either ended up making the sphere melt too much or not enough to stick properly.

So my favorite way is to just add more melted hot chocolate!

You can either dip the empty sphere into the bowl of melted chocolate before attaching, or use your hand or a tool to put melted chocolate around the edge. This also allows you to decorate the middle with sprinkles or crushed candy cane if you wish.

Place carefully back in the fridge or freezer after attaching and they’ll be sealed in a few minutes.

Storing

Store the prepared hot chocolate bombs in the fridge until ready to use.

Making Hot Cocoa

When you’re ready to make a cup of hot cocoa, just add the hot cocoa bomb in a mug and pour heated milk over it! I use oat milk, but you can use a milk or your choice.

If your hot chocolate mix works with hot water, you could also use water, but it will be much more luxurious with milk.

You can alternatively heat up the milk first and then plop the chocolate bomb in on top, it will likely just melt slower!

Where to Buy Pre-Made Hot Chocolate Bombs

After reading through all these instructions, you may decide you’d rather just buy pre-made ones! I encourage you do to a local search based on your city, as there are many small businesses and bakeries around that will sell unique ones.

If you can’t find a good local option or want a place that will ship to you, I recommend looking at this list on Etsy. (Sometimes “bath bombs” pop up with “hot cocoa bombs” – be sure you’re getting the right thing! Yes, I know of someone who has mixed those up!)

Variations of Hot Chocolate Bombs Across the Web

Grinch hot cocoa bombs

Melting snowman white chocolate hot cocoa bombs

Almond Joy hot cocoa bombs

Pokemon Poke Ball hot cocoa bombs

Peanut butter hot cocoa bombs

Mexican hot cocoa bombs

Salted caramel hot cocoa bombs

Have you tried this trend for making hot cocoa? Let me know in the comments!