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Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe

Updated: June 2, 2025 / By: Cassie Johnston / This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy

A jar of hot cocoa mix sits next to a fresh mug of frothy hot chocolate with marshmallows on top

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Five yellow stars in a row

"I made this last night and packaged up two jars to gift. Then I made a couple of mugs so we could try it, and it was delicious! Thank you so much for this quick and easy Christmas gift!"

- KRISTEN -

This homemade hot chocolate mix is my new favorite food gift this holiday season! It is stupendously easy to make-you can make dozens of gift jars in just a few minutes-and who doesn't love a cozy mug of hot cocoa on a winter's day?

The resulting hot cocoa is dreamy, creamy and packed with rich chocolate flavor-this isn't your run-of-the-mill grocery store packets!

In this post:

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Cassie Johnston (a light skinned brunette woman with glasses and a red streak in her hair) smiles toward the camera with a wall of photo frames behind her

Give the gift of a mug of cozy with this stupendously easy DIY hot cocoa mix!

I first made this hot cocoa mix for a PTA event at my daughter's school. I setup a hot chocolate bar for 60 teachers with a giant container of this mix so they could make hot cocoa on demand. The number of emails I got the next day begging for the hot cocoa mix recipe was wild-tons of teachers told me it was the best hot chocolate they'd ever had!

A hot cocoa bar sits on a red buffalo check covered table in a teacher's lounge at a school.

Here's why you'll love this recipe:

  • It's super easy to pull together. Have a bowl and a whisk? Then you can make this mix. We're talking just a few minutes here!
  • There is a secret ingredient that makes this hot chocolate extra luscious and rich. Shhhh, it's mini chocolate chips!
  • Gift it or keep it on hand for easy-peasy hot cocoa. This makes an easy and affordable holiday gift, but it also makes a great pantry staple for easy hot chocolate in your own home.
  • It's kitchen-tested and family-approved. I've personally made this exact hot chocolate recipes for dozens of folks (including all those teachers!) to rave reviews. You can trust this recipe.
A mug of hot chocolate garnished with marshmallows and chocolate shavings sits in front of a jar of homemade mix.

Step-by-Step how to MAKE HOT COCOA MIX

1

Your only actual job: whisking.

In a large bowl whisk together powdered sugar (it's way better than granulated sugar in this recipe because it dissolves super fast), dried milk, cocoa powder, salt, and mini chocolate chips. This is also the time to add any flavorings you want-vanilla powder, espresso powder, mint chips, and ground cinnamon are all fun options!

2

Store the mix in an airtight container.

I like to spoon it into a pretty canning jar. Each batch of mix will make enough to fill three pint jars.

3

Add a tag and ribbon, if you'd like.

If you're gifting the mix (or if you just want it to look fancy in your pantry), add on the free printable tag I made and some nice ribbon.

4

Make up a mug of hot chocolate.

To make a mug of hot chocolate: combine ½ cup mix with ¾ cup of hot water or milk in a mug, stir well until frothy and well-combined. I highly recommend using whole milk for the ultimate creamy experience! An immersion blender or frother can also help make a really frothy mug of hot chocolate!

WATCH Me MAKE HOT COCOA MIX

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HOT COCOA MIX protips

  • The secret ingredient that makes this the best hot cocoa mix ever are mini chocolate chips! The chocolate chips melt and make your cocoa super decadent and rich. Make sure to grab mini chocolate chips-the standard-size ones don't typically melt fast enough to combine into the hot chocolate mix.
  • Feel free to experiment with your mixture of chocolate chips in your mix. Peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, and peppermint baking chips are all delicious additions!
  • While the recipe will last indefinitely in the pantry, it is not a canning-safe recipe-do not try to process this hot chocolate mix in your water bath or pressure canner.
  • Don't try to sub other kinds of sugar for the powdered sugar. Powdered sugar is fine enough to dissolve well while mixing up your cocoa.

📥 Download the Free Labels

I've made you some free labels for your hot chocolate mix jars that you can print off at home. Just fill out the form below to get them delivered right to your inbox.

📖 Recipe

A jar of homemade hot chocolate mix held up in the palm of a hand.

Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe

Skip the store-bought packets and instead make up a batch of better-tasting hot chocolate mix at home! This is the BEST hot cocoa mix out there, so good you'll want to give it as a gift!
4.45 from 264 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: General
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 3 pint jars (12 servings of hot chocolate)
Calories: 1117kcal
Author: Cassie Johnston

Ingredients

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 cups dried milk whole is preferred, but nonfat works
  • 1 ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder Dutch-processed preferred
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Transfer to an airtight container and store for up to 6 months.
  • To make a mug of hot chocolate: combine ½ cup mix with ¾ cup of hot water or milk in a mug, stir well until frothy and well-combined.

Video

Notes

  • To package for gifting, pour the mix into Ball® Canning's 16 ounce Jar. Print out our gifting tags, and tie onto the jar with ribbon, string, or raffia. This recipe makes enough for 3 pint-size jars.
  • Water works fine for this, but to make an even creamier mug of hot cocoa, use hot milk.

Nutrition

Serving: 1jar (4 servings hot chocolate per jar) | Calories: 1117kcal | Carbohydrates: 174g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 560mg | Potassium: 1681mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 149g | Vitamin A: 931IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 895mg | Iron: 6mg
Loved this recipe?Please consider leaving a review!

Frequently Asked Questions about HoT COCOA MIX

Sure can! To make this vegan, swap out the dried milk for dried coconut milk, and make sure to grab chocolate chips that are dairy-free. We used dried coconut milk in our Golden Milk Mix with great results!

You can put your hot chocolate mix into any kind of covered container. Some folks like to use candy bags, but we love the simplicity of packing the mix into Ball® Regular Mouth Pint Jars. These pint jars are 16 ounces, and you'll get three jars out of the recipe down below. Each jar makes four servings of hot chocolate.

To make it easy for you, we made free printable tags that you can download and tie to your jars with a simple red ribbon!

Milk (and in particular, whole milk) is always going to give you the creamiest result. However, since we use dried milk powder in our mix, our hot chocolate is creamy and rich even when you make it with just water.

Easy peasy! To make a mug of hot chocolate: combine ½ cup mix with ¾ cup hot water or milk in a mug, and stir until frothy and well-combined.

Since all the ingredients are shelf-stable, in a tightly sealed container your hot cocoa mix will last indefinitely, but we recommend checking in every six months to make sure it still is fresh. Keep some on hand for easy gifting!

Not only can you, but we highly recommend it! It's a delicious way to make a shortcut homemade peppermint mocha.

We recommend trying 1 tablespoon of flavoring powders (like ground cinnamon or vanilla) to start with. Then make yourself a mug and see if that's to your liking. You can always add more, but it's impossible to take it away.

Cassie Johnston

Cassie is a holistic nutritionist, cookbook author, and all-around food lover. She grew up cooking dinner with her parents every evening, and her passion for home cooking has been strong ever since. Cassie is the author of two published cookbooks (Cooking with Greek Yogurt and Chia, Quinoa, Kale, Oh My!) and dozens of recipes published in major magazines and newspapers. Cassie has been sharing her award-winning recipes on Wholefully since 2010. She loves dark chocolate, homegrown tomatoes, motorsports, and anything that sparkles. She lives in Indiana with her family on a small homestead.

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4.45 from 264 votes (264 ratings without comment)

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20 Comments

  1. Tasty!! Can't wait to give it out as gifts and try out some variants.

    I found my recipe didn't make 3 pint jars, I got 1.5 pint jars per batch and ended up doing 3.5 batches.

    To be fair I weighed my ingredients so maybe some of them were supposed to be packed in?

    Super tasty and so easy and i can't wait to give it as gifts this holiday season!

    Reply

    1. Yay! Thanks for letting us know how it went, Sam. We're glad you love it and hope your giftees love it, too!

      Reply

    1. Hi Gracie! We recommend making a mug as written to start (according to the instructions in the recipe card), and just swapping in coffee instead of the water or milk. Then you can always adjust from there to add more or less mix to suit your tastes!

      Reply

  3. Hi Cassie,
    I made this last year and it was a Hit! I wanted to try and add cinnamon and vanilla powder this year. How much of each should I use? Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi Latoya! We're so glad to hear this was a hit last year! Hopefully you figured out an amount that works for you, but we usually recommend adding any extras to taste. A good place to start is 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon (depending on how strong it is) and then adjusting from there. If you find an amount you love, please let us know!

      Reply

    1. Hi Shelby! Each pint jar holds two cups of mix and you use 1/2 cup of mix per mug of hot cocoa. So each jar has 4 servings!

      Reply

  8. Hello, I'm going to put these together soon hopefully. How much cinnamon would you suggest, in the whole mix or individual jars.

    I have some hot chocolate lovers that I'm sure are going to love this! Thanks.

    Reply

    1. Hi, Cyndi! If you want to add cinnamon to the mix, we recommend you add it to the entire batch so that it will get evenly distributed. We haven't tested it ourselves, but we recommend starting with 2 teaspoons for a light cinnamon flavor or up to 2 tablespoons for a strong cinnamon punch. You'll have to play around to find the perfect amount for your tastes. Let us know how it turns out for you!

      Reply

  9. I made this last night and packaged up two jars to gift. Then I made a couple of mugs so we could try it and it was delicious! I'm having the labels printed now and can't wait to put it all together. Thank you so much for this quick and easy Christmas gift!

    Reply

    1. We're so glad you like it, Kristen! Thanks for taking the time to come back and tell us about it. We really appreciate it!

      Reply

  10. Hi Cassie,
    I wanted to make a homemade hot chocolate mix for gifting, & like your recipe. I have not made it yet.
    Question: I bought Cacao powder to make it with. I see Dutch process is preferred. Will Cacao powder work as well?
    Thank you,
    Kathie

    Reply

    1. Hi, Kathie! Cacao powder will work, but it may affect the overall sweetness and flavor a bit. If you've made hot cocoa with cacao powder before and you know you like the flavor, then it should work out well for you. If you've never made it with cacao before, we recommend mixing up a single mug of hot cocoa using the cacao to see how you like it. You may find that the cacao has more bitterness to it than regular unsweetened cocoa. In that case, you'll want to add more sugar to the mix. If you like it as is, then the recipe will work as written. I hope this helps! Let us know how it turns out for you =)

      Reply

    1. Hi, Tracey! We recommend adding a tablespoon of vanilla bean powder to the batch. That's a great place to start and then once you've tasted it, you can always make adjustments to future batches to suit your tastes. Let us know how it turns out for you!

      Reply