For The Creamiest Hot Chocolate, Reach For This Frozen Treat

Are you sick of the standard add-water-and-stir style of hot chocolate? Perhaps even milk has grown old as the base of this tasty drink. If so, we have just the idea for you: add ice cream to your hot chocolate for a creamy, affogato-style dessert. When melted, ice cream offers not only more sweetness and richness but also thickens the texture of your hot chocolate, resulting in a quite decadent dessert treat perfect for cold winter nights. It's one of the best ways to upgrade your hot chocolate and one of the many creative ways to use melted ice cream.

To make melted ice cream hot chocolate, combine your dessert with cocoa powder and milk or water, then with any other ingredients you'd like to include, like powdered or regular sugar or salt. Mixing them together in a saucepan, heat it up over a medium heat. Once everything is blended and smooth, top your hot chocolate with marshmallows or whipped cream and a dash of sea salt or cinnamon to garnish. With a drink like that, you'll wonder why you didn't try it sooner.

While vanilla may seem like the go-to choice for this twist on hot chocolate, you shouldn't limit yourself to the option by default. After all, with so many different flavors of ice cream, your pairings can turn this drink into an entirely new creation. To enhance the chocolateyness of your hot chocolate, swap out the vanilla in lieu of chocolate or chocolate fudge ice cream. Hot chocolate-flavored ice cream is also an option if you're looking to keep this drink on the traditional side.

Getting a bit wilder, chocolate, of course, pairs well with peanut butter, so how about turning this beverage into a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup-inspired drink? Or, amp up that chocolate flavor with added salt by selecting a salted caramel ice cream. You could even turn to the fruity side with strawberry or raspberry ice cream. However you decide to give this ice cream-infused drink a try, your hot chocolate is liable to be better than ever.