Hot Chocolate Board How-tos

It’s about to get so cold here in Georgia that I feel like I’m back living in Minnesota. And that can mean only one thing: hot chocolate. So when Baby A was home from college this past weekend, we made a hot chocolate board of mix-ins for cocoa. Yum! This is so fast and easy. You can make a hot chocolate board just because it’s cold or for Valentine’s Day coming up.

Hot Chocolate Board Tray

What type of tray should you use for your hot chocolate board? I always choose a tray with a lip when I’m making any kind of charcuterie. It just makes it easier to keep your treats in place on the tray.

You’ll also want three shallow bowls or mini mason jars (the 4 oz size) to hold certain treats on your board. The bowls serve as anchors on the tray. When you arrange other treats around the bowls, you create a sense of movement on the board.

Also, be sure to build your board in the place you want to display it. You don’t want to make the board in your kitchen, then move it to your serving area, and disrupt all your arranging.

More Charcuterie and Dessert Board Examples

Here are more charcuterie and dessert boards that I’ve made over the years:

• Christmas treats charcuterie for kids
• Thanksgiving charcuterie
• Shark-cuterie board
• Individual picnic basket charcuterie
• Charcuterie buffet at my daughters’ graduation party
• Friendsgiving pie baking party charcuterie
• Individual Valentine’s Day candy boards
• New Year’s Eve dessert board

Hot Chocolate Board Ingredients

What ingredients should you serve on a hot chocolate board?

We turned first to our stash of Christmas goodies for our hot chocolate board. Sharing our Christmas treats was a great way to reduce my personal calorie intake – ha!

• Chocolate-stuffed peppermint marshmallows
• Vanilla yogurt chips
• Chocolate chips
• Mini candy canes
• Marshmallow cocoa stirrer
• Peppermint cocoa stirrer
• Saxon Chocolates peppermint bark (the snowflake shapes)
• Starbucks chocolate caramel marshmallows (they are flat and made to top your hot chocolate)
• Mini marshmallows

We did need a few more items, so after a quick trip to Sprouts, we added a few cookies that are great for dipping in your hot chocolate:

• Meringue cookies
• Palmiers (the heart-shaped pastry cookie)
• Chocolate rolled wafers

When you pick treats for your hot chocolate board, keep these ideas in mind:

• Color: we opted for vanilla, peppermint and chocolate colors. That color scheme gave our hot chocolate board a coordinated look.
• Shape: for an interesting board, pick a variety of shapes. That’s why the rolled wafer cookies and cocoa stirrers are good choices.
• Flavors: pick any flavors you like, but again, we focused on vanilla, peppermint and chocolate for a cohesive flavor palette.

How to Arrange a Hot Chocolate Board

1 – Start by placing the three small, shallow bowls or mason jars on your hot chocolate board. When the bowls are on your board, they should form a triangle shape. Add mini candy canes to one (arranged with the hook of the cane upright), chocolate chips to another, and vanilla yogurt chips to the third.

2 – Place palmiers at one corner of the board and Starbucks marshmallows at the other corner. Overlap the treats so they rest on each other. By using these larger treats on the corners, you’re anchoring the board. You place them at opposite ends to create balance.

3 – Add your vertical elements. We created a little pyramid of rolled chocolate wafers in the center of the board at an angle. In a lower corner, we added the marshmallow and peppermint cocoa stirrers. (I did eventually turn the stirrers around so the ball of the stick pointed off the board. I just wanted the cute ball to show up and not be buried by mini marshmallows.)

4 – Next we added the snowflake-shaped peppermint bark in two places. It’s totally okay to repeat elements on your hot chocolate board!

5 – The next two elements are about half the size of the other cookies and treats: peppermint marshmallows and vanilla meringues. As you make your board, work from large to small and it will come together easily. Your board is now at the stage where you can start to balance colors by placing them opposite each other.

6 – Finally, fill in any gaps with your smallest item: the mini marshmallows.

CrockPot Hot Chocolate Recipe

Of course, if you’re going to make a hot chocolate board full of yummy mix-ins, you also need hot chocolate ready to go.

Whenever I’m making cocoa for a crowd, I use a hot chocolate recipe from Wink Chick that apparently isn’t online anymore, so here’s all you do.

In your Crockpot, mix:

• 1/2 cup dry baking cocoa
• 12 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• I’m 7-1/2 cups water
• 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Marshmallows

Heat on low for about 3 hours, mix again, then turn the Crockpot to warm.

If you make your own hot chocolate board, post it to Instagram and be sure to tag me @thepartyteacher. I’d love to see how yours turns out!