When I was in college, I used to be able to drink coffee at all hours of the day. 7am, 2pm, 2am…my friends and I pretty much lived at the coffee shop near campus, and the caffeine never fazed me. (And I admit I was a little skeptical of my friends who “swore” coffee would keep them up if they drank it too late in the day!)
But apparently what goes around comes around. A few years ago, literally overnight it seemed like my body decided to make the switch. And I now fall into the Don’t-Let-Any-Caffeine-Near-Me-After-3pm category. (Which even includes decaf, which I swear will keep me up half of the night too!) I know. Call it adulthood, but I’m now “that” person. :)
Regardless, for the past few years, I have now been getting acquainted with the other side of the menu at coffee shops in the afternoons and evenings. And one of my all-time favorite drinks to order in the cooler months is a classic white hot chocolate. It is my total “comfort” drink — warm, smooth, sweet but not too sweet, and chocolate-y but not too chocolate-y. And of course, it is all the better when topped with some fresh whipped cream! Mmmm.
Crazy enough, it wasn’t until recently that I tried to actually make homemade white chocolate. But now that I know how easy it is, I make it all the time. So many recipes call for heavy cream or half and half (which you are welcome to use), but you can literally make it with whatever kind of milk you’d like. Just grab a bar of your favorite white chocolate or some white chocolate chips, a pinch of vanilla extract, and you’re good to go. Simple, cheaper than your coffee shop, and wonderfully delicious. Enjoy!
Homemade White Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 4 cups of milk of your choice (or you can substitute heavy cream or half and half, or do a mixture)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract, store-bought or homemade
- 8 oz. white chocolate, chopped into small pieces (or white chocolate chips)
- whipped cream or marshmallows for topping
Instructions
- Stir together milk, vanilla and chopped white chocolate in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the white hot chocolate comes to a simmer. (Do not let it come to a boil.) Remove from heat and serve immediately, topped with whipped cream or marshmallows if desired.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!This post contains affiliate links.
Check out these other delicious hot chocolate recipes too!
Homemade (Traditional) Hot Chocolate
I love making white hot chocolate like this, but I always make it for a crowd by using a gallon of milk and a whole bag of white chocolate chips. It is delicious!
Well you’ve killed me now with the pictures alone. I comment now from beyond the grave.
Made this tonight and it was AMAZING!! I’m totally obsessed with White Hot Chocolate right now, and I am so happy I found your recipe. Thanks Ali!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. We found out in April that my 3 year old is allergic to chocolate. She has handled it really really well, but today she was talking about hot chocolate and was clearly bummed out that she couldn’t have it anymore. She asked me if I could make her some white hot chocolate, and I told her I’d look for a recipe. Can’t wait to make this for her!
I am definetly going to pin this one. I never even heard of white hot chocolate :)
Thanks for sharing your recipe! My son discovered this yesterday at a coffee shop and loved it! Went to the grocery store today to see if they sold just a powdered mix, and there was no such thing! They had every flavor but white chocolate. So, I purchase a large Ghirardelli White Chocolate baking bar and I am going to use your recipe tonight! I just did a quick google search and yours was the first one I clicked on! Thanks again!!
Alternatively you can cut the cream in half:
Boil water in a teakettle.
Add vanilla and chocolate to mug
Add boiled water until mug is half full, stir until chocolate melts
Add your cream/milk
Serve
This makes it a little less rich and you don’t need to dirty a pot
I just tried that and it was completely delicious. Not to mention it was so quick!(I used a microwave to boil the water…)
This sounds so good. Thanks for sharing.
I made this for our family Christmas decorating night, and it was amazing! However, it was very rich and half the family was unable to finish it. So I wondered if adding more milk would help with the sweetness or if it would just thin it out too much?
Just made this, it’s amazingggg :)