Recipe: Luxurious Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Here in Manchester, we are currently being battered by our third big storm in a week. To say our February half term has been a wash out might be an understatement. We’ve battened down the hatches, snuggled ourselves in blankets and done the most sensible thing possible, we baked and ate a lot of cakes, and I’ve made several batches of my delicious hazelnut hot chocolate.

It’s properly good, rich and silky and something you’d probably pay nearly a fiver for in a fancy coffee shop. Really it is very easy to make, it takes hardly any time at all, and even my son likes to get in on the whisking action.

Hazelnut hot chocolate recipe

It’s excellent on its own, but we usually top ours with squirty cream and marshmallows, but you can do what you want. Add crushed nuts, chocolate sprinkles, or even a cherry. Do what makes you happy, because when the wild winds rage outside, a mug of extra rich hot chocolate just hits the spot.

This recipe makes two big mugs, but the recipe can be easily doubled, or quadrupled if you are making hot chocolate for a crowd.

Hazelnut hot chocolate

Luxurious Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

500mls milk, I used semi skimmed, but use whatever milk you like
50g milk chocolate, broken into squares
2 tablespoons of JimJams hazelnut chocolate spread, or similar chocolate spread

Top with squirty cream, chopped nuts, marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles, whatever you fancy!

Recipe: Luxurious Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Method

Heat the milk in a pan until just before it starts to boil.

Break your chocolate into chunks and after taking the pan off the heat, add the chocolate chunks and whisk through until it has melted.

Add the spoons of hazelnut spread and whisk again until the spread has melted. Make sure you whisk until the milk is frothy.

Carefully pour your hot chocolate into mugs and top with squirty cream, chopped nuts, marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles; or whatever you fancy!

This is such a brilliant, rich hot chocolate, it always goes down a storm. It’s really quick to make too, and perfect for warming your cockles on a cold winters day.

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like to try this speculaas hot chocolate.

Hazelnut hot chocolate

Christmas Drinks: Spectacular Speculaas Hot Chocolate

AD/Gifted. At this time of year, I absolutely love throwing festive spices at everything I eat and drink. I’ve got myself into a nightly mulled wine habit, but sometimes I crave something a little less alcoholic and something a little more comforting. Last week I baked some delicious Speculaas biscuits, with my order came a little packet of Speculaas spice to bake some extra biscuits with. I decided to use the spice to make some lovely Speculaas hot chocolate with it instead. What a stroke of genius that was!

The hot chocolate is filled with cinnamon, cloves and ginger – all of our favourite Christmas spices and topped with an over-generous and positively indulgent pile of squirty cream. It’s not an every day treat, but it really is a treat.

Christmas Drinks: Spectacular Speculaas Hot Chocolate

Essentially it is hot chocolate with a spoon of Speculaas spice in it, I’ve written the recipe below, but if you regularly make hot chocolate, make it your own way and whisk a dessert spoon of the spice in before you pour it into you mug. It really is brilliant.

Speculaas Hot Chocolate

Ingredients for one mug:
350mls of milk
3 heaped teaspoons of hot chocolate powder
1 heaped teaspoon of Speculaas spice powder
A huge pile of squirty cream

How to make your Speculaas Hot Chocolate:
Heat up your milk to drinking temperature. I microwaved my milk, but you can heat it gently on the hob if you prefer.

Stir though the hot chocolate powder and Speculaas spice mix, pour into a mug and top with squirty cream. I sprinkled a couple of pinches of the Speculaas spice on top of the cream to decorate it a little.

It’s best drunk in front of a roaring fire with some Christmas music playing in the background. It’s as simple and delicious as that! Merry Christmas.

Christmas Drinks: Spectacular Speculaas Hot Chocolate

If you enjoyed this, you might like this round up of Christmas drink ideas for all the family.