13 Mistakes Everyone Makes With Homemade Hot Chocolate

Only one thing can make cozying up by the fire with a good book and festive vibes even more enjoyable and relaxing: a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate. Whether you call it hot chocolate, hot cocoa, or some personal iteration in between, you know it and love it. While it may, in theory, be one of the easiest drinks to whip up at home, there are some pitfalls to navigate, as well as an array of options for improving the drink. And choosing not to engage in some of those hot chocolate upgrades is a mistake in itself.

Sure, you can use hot water from your Keurig poured over a mug filled with a packet of hot chocolate powder, stir it together, and call it a day. But we think you deserve better. That's why we put together this comprehensive list of mistakes that everyone makes when concocting homemade chocolate. Now, you can avoid the errors and take your cozy hot chocolate game to the next level. What's more in the spirit of the season than that?

Since milk over water is the only rational way to do things, it's time to decide which type of milk you should use. If you already have your preferred milk type of choice in your fridge, we don't see a reason to go to the store just to get a thing of milk specifically for your cup of hot chocolate. But if you're already out shopping and have been dreaming of this quintessential holiday tradition, we have some pro tips for the best types of milk you could get.

First, we think the creamier the milk, the better. It's because it's the same principle that applies to using water in hot chocolate: When you use something like skim milk in hot chocolate, it doesn't have a lot of creaminess or create that lush mouthfeel we all love with quality hot chocolate. Now, again, if skim milk is all you have, it's lightyears ahead of using water. But it's still just not as good as a creamier type of milk. Go for at least 2% milk, though whole milk will taste best. In the plant-based milk realm, we think oat milk works wonderfully, as does any barista-blend milk, as those tend to be much thicker and creamier.

There's another potential mistake you want to avoid in the process of warming hot chocolate: curdling the milk. If you're not too sure what curdling milk is and why it's a truly unfortunate mistake to make, here's the rundown. Milk curdles when getting hot to the point of boiling, and when this happens, the proteins in the drink separate from the liquids, creating clumps of dairy in your liquid, essentially. It's a much grosser form of cottage cheese, to give you a visual. Obviously, nobody wants to drink this, as it's quite disgusting.

So when you are warming your milk for your hot chocolate, make sure it's not getting heated to the point that curdling can occur. If it does curdle, it's best to just throw it out and start over. Always be sure to give your warm milk a stir after heating it up to double-check before combining it with your chocolate. It's better to find out that it's ruined before taking a nasty sip of it.

After heating your milk and selecting an elite hot cocoa powder, it's time to mix the two. But a pitfall we see all too often? Under-mixing the milk and hot chocolate powder. It completely ruins your drink when you finish with chunks of chocolate powder at the bottom of your mug. And while it can be indulgent and reminiscent of childhood to take a spoon and scrape those bad boys out of the bottom of your mug and eat them, it's not exactly the refined, sitting-by-the-fire hot chocolate experience we're aiming for. Plus, it means that your drink wasn't as chocolatey as it could've been, having many floaters sink instead of getting incorporated into the drink.

There are different ways you can mix your warm milk and hot cocoa powder, the first of which is classic. Pour the powder into the warm milk and stir it. This, however, is what typically leads to the chunky unincorporated mess we're attempting to steer you away from. You can put the powder in the mug first before putting the milk in there. That way, the milk warms at the same time it mixes with the powder, making it easier to stir it all together. You can also put the powder in the pot on the stove with the milk to heat up, which would achieve the same effect, just at a more consistent level.

If you haven't dabbled in different chocolate melting techniques, you might not be aware that there are better ways to melt your chocolate than in the microwave. The reason melting your hot chocolate chocolate in the microwave is a mistake is that it gets very hot, very fast, and it doesn't melt the chocolate as evenly as other methods. If, like heating up your milk for the drink, the microwave is your easiest option, and your goal is to drink your hot cocoa as fast as possible rather than making it as tasty as possible, then microwave away. But if you wish to make your holiday extra special, try these other chocolate melting methods.

We recommend the double broiler method (pictured above), which just involves putting your chocolate in a pot overtop of boiling water, and the steam will evenly melt your chocolate as you stir it. No matter how you choose to melt your chocolate, make sure to chop it up into small, even pieces first. That way, it melts faster and evenly, which is what you want in a smooth cup of hot cocoa.

Opening the pantry door, reaching your hand toward the long-forgotten back of a shelf, and dusting off your jar of marshmallows from last year might be fine, but there's also a good chance it's not. Don't let stale marshmallows be your Ghost of Christmas Past this year, and instead let this article be a Ghost of Christmas Future: Before assuming your marshmallows are still good, check them. That way, you can add some fresh marshmallows to your grocery list before making your hot chocolate, instead of being disappointed you didn't have the foresight to check the freshness of last year's white puffs. And if you're unsure whether your marshmallows are still good or not, give them a smell taste, a texture test (are they hard as a rock, or still fluffy?), and if you're still unsure, give them a small taste test.

Or, you could take it up a notch during the festive season and make marshmallows at home. It's way easier than it seems, and you just need granulated sugar, corn syrup, vanilla bean paste, salt, powdered sugar, and any additional extracts you might want to use to flavor the marshmallows.

If you're able to legally indulge in a drink or two, how about a spiked hot chocolate? Though it may not be at the top of your holiday list, like spiked eggnog or a cranberry-based martini, it's just as (if not more, to be honest) delicious. We find that this works best with richer hot chocolates, like the ones with real melted chocolate and the creamiest milk you can find. That way, the creaminess masks the alcohol a bit more than a simple water and hot chocolate mix powder would.

As for what you could pour into your hot cocoa, we have a few ideas. If you're going with the Mexican hot chocolate, tequila seems quite fitting to add. If you're a coconut milk lover, take your coconut milk-based hot cocoa to the next level with some coconut rum. And if you just want a traditional hot chocolate, Kahlua is your best bet for spiked hot cocoa this holiday season.