Warm up with this easy crockpot hot chocolate recipe - perfect for cozy nights, holiday gatherings, or a hot chocolate bar at parties. Made in your slow cooker with simple ingredients, this creamy hot chocolate stays warm and delicious for hours.
Table Of Contents
This slow cooker hot cocoa is rich, creamy, and full of chocolate flavor. It's an easy dump-and-go crockpot hot chocolate recipe that stays warm while you go about your day-perfect for winter evenings and holiday busy days. Use it as a compliment to our snowman hot cocoa charcuterie board.
Made without condensed milk or heavy cream, this hot chocolate uses a blend of whole milk and oat milk for a creamy texture, plus milk chocolate chips for extra richness. You can also make hot cocoa in your Instant Pot.
It also pairs perfectly with lots of winter treats, like Eggnog Cake, Melted Snowman Almond Bark, Chocolate Pumpkin Bread and Sugar Cookies. It's great paired with a baked chocolate donut or baked vanilla donut.
Why You'll Love Crockpot Hot Chocolate
- Totally hands-off slow cooker recipe - just set and forget.
- Made with milk, cocoa, and chocolate chips for rich, creamy flavor.
- Keeps warm for guests during parties or movie nights.
Ingredients
This recipe works in at least a 4 quart slow cooker. You can make larger batches by increases the ingredients proportionally.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Milk (whole or your favorite milk)
- Oat milk (or extra dairy milk)
- Sugar
- Milk chocolate chips
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Optional: Marshmallows, whipped cream, crushed peppermint, chocolate shavings, caramel drizzle.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- In your slow cooker, whisk together the cocoa powder and water until smooth.
- Add milk, oat milk, sugar, salt, and chocolate chips to the crockpot.
- Cover and cook on LOW for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally so the chocolate melts evenly.
- Stir in vanilla extract just before serving for the best flavor.
- Pour into mugs and add your favorite toppings!
Variations
- Dairy-Free: Make this crockpot hot chocolate dairy-free by using oat milk and dairy-free chocolate chips. Be sure to check that your cocoa powder does not contain milk (most brands are naturally dairy-free).
- Vegan: For a vegan slow cooker hot cocoa, use oat milk, dairy-free chocolate chips, and unrefined cane sugar.
- Peppermint: Swap the vanilla extract for peppermint extract to make festive peppermint hot chocolate-perfect for the holidays.
- Dark Chocolate: Use dark chocolate chips or morsels for a richer, less sweet slow cooker hot chocolate.
- Spiked hot chocolate: Turn this into adult hot chocolate by adding a splash of rum, whiskey, or bourbon to individual mugs
Chef's Tips
- Always cook crockpot hot chocolate on LOW heat. Cooking on high can scorch the milk and chocolate, causing burnt bits to stick to the bottom of the slow cooker and mix into your hot cocoa when stirred.
- Stir halfway through cooking if possible. The chocolate chips are mostly melted around the 1-hour mark, and stirring helps prevent them from sticking or burning on the bottom of the crockpot.
- Remove any milk film from the top. A thin layer of cooked milk may form while the hot chocolate cooks. Skim it off with a strainer and discard it-mixing it back in can create grainy pieces in your creamy hot cocoa.
Recipe FAQs
It will last for up to 5 days refrigerated. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove. Always stir thoroughly before serving, as the chocolate will collect at the bottom.
Make it up to 5 days ahead of time. If serving at holiday parties, reheat in the slow cooker and use the crockpot as serving container to keep it warm throughout the party.
If you feel your hot cocoa came out too thin, use milk with a higher level of fat. If you used skim milk, try reduced fat or whole milk instead. Or use half oat milk and half milk. You can also use sweetened condensed milk or heavy whipping cream. However, this will significantly increase the calories, fat, and sugar. For reference, 1 cup of heavy cream has over 800 calories compared to oat milk and regular dairy milk which have about 100 calories per cup.
Hot chocolate made with water will be less creamy than that made with milk. But hot chocolate made with water also allows for more of the rich chocolate taste to shine through. The chocolate flavor in that made with milk is slightly subdued by the taste of the milk. But in my slow cooker hot cocoa, I use 3 ingredients to keep the chocolate flavor elevated and the creaminess at the perfect level: oat milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla extract.
Recipe
Crockpot Hot Chocolate
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 cups milk whole (see notes)
- 2 cups oat milk
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat the water in the microwave for 90 seconds. Add the cocoa powder and mix until it's dissolved.
- Add water/cocoa powder mixture, milk, oat milk, sugar, salt, and chocolate chips to the crockpot. Set to low for 2 hours. Stir occasionally. If a thin layer of milk forms on the top, remove it with a strainer.
- When done, add the vanilla extract and mix well. Serve with your favorite toppings, such as marshmallows, candy canes, chocolate shavings, and peppermint sticks.
Notes
Nutrition
Patricia says
Mmm! I haven't tried this yet, but can't wait! It looks so chocolatey! Love that you used oat milk, too!
Veronika says
There's nothing better in the winter than a hot chocolate that cooks by itself and is ready for you when you're done your chores like shoveling snow. Yum!
Ann says
After reading your post, I need to make this recipe! We love hot chocolate at our house, and this recipe looks divine!
Dennis says
I use to make something like this at school for my students. You can't go wrong with hot chocolate!
Tracy says
This is so perfect to prep and have ready for when you want some hot cocoa immediately after coming in from the cold! So smart!
Kathryn says
This was the best hot chocolate and we couldn't get enough of this. I can't wait to make this during the holidays too! Love the marshmallows on top 🙂
Jamie says
Hot chocolate is one of our favorite holiday drinks, and this one is so easy.
Making this in a crockpot is a great idea!
Marta says
My twins have been really stressed out with college exams, so I made this crockpot how chocolate for their study session. They said it really gave them comfort and tasted amazing.