It's time for Halloween Hot Cocoa bombs!
I don’t even know if hot cocoa bombs are still an ‘in’ thing at the moment; I’ve been seeing them make the rounds on Pinterest for a bit now and maybe they’re going out of style.
But this year I didn’t care.
As we roll get into mid-October the weather’s FINALLY taking a cooler turn where I live (Tennessee). It was time to finally try out making Halloween hot cocoa bombs! It’s been a million years coming – and I’m SO ready for hot cocoa weather again!
I grew up in the Pacific northwest - where it rarely tops 90 degrees and rains most of the time. So summers in the south are just a new ball game for me. Don’t get me wrong; I love that I can take my kids outside every day. But keeping heat exhaustion, sunburns, and mosquitos at bay has been a learning curve. Buuut I'm getting off topic. :/
Anyway. Suffice to say –
I’m beyond ready for ALL the cold-weather food. Especially hot cocoa.
Cue these Halloween hot cocoa bombs!
Why you'll love them -
- These Hot Cocoa Bombs are SUPER easy to make, and they'd make fantastic gifts, look amazing on a Halloween party table - you could even give them out to trick-or-treaters if you're feeling ambitious!
- The dark cocoa candy melts didn't give me any trouble with that whitish 'bloom' look that chocolate chips can get - AND the dark color is perfect for Halloween!
- Plus also...if you want it...an excuse to buy more Halloween sprinkles. Or maybe I'm the only one with that addiction...?
Hot Cocoa Bomb assembly notes -
I filled my skull ice cube molds with dark cocoa candy melts – I was bracing for some cocoa ‘bloom’ that sometimes comes from untempered chocolate, but never saw it! I just used one 12-ounce bag for both the skulls and the cocoa bomb shells. (They’re kind of obnoxiously expensive to buy online, but if there’s a Michael’s near you I’ve found their prices are usually better.)
My ‘skull’ ice cube molds are finally getting some kitchen time in this year! I think I bought them sometime in 2020, and maybe used them once. Then -
October of ‘21 we were moving - cross country - with a 5-month old.
October of ‘22 I was vomiting constantly (trimester 1 with baby #2).
October of ‘23 I was slowly re-surfacing from a brutal bout with postpartum depression – functional enough to take care of my kids, but couldn’t handle much else.
Soo this year it’s finally their time to shine!
Tip / hack #1 for assembling hot cocoa bombs – strategic use of hot water!
I melted the candy melts in a 2-cup container over hot water, and had zero trouble with overheating or seizing.
Of note - make sure no water gets into the candy melt mixture though. Moisture will cause them to seize (harden + crumble.) Not the business.
When putting the shell halves together, I poured hot water into a bowl and put a plate over it. After one minute, the plate was the perfect temperature to melt + flatten the candy melt shell edges and get them to stick together! I’d tried heating a frying pan over low heat and using that before – suffice to say I ended up with a pretty good amount of burnt chocolate in my frying pan, because getting it warm enough but not too hot is difficult.
Hot cocoa bomb tip / hack #2 - be smarter than me and use a brush instead of spoon!
I also realized my prior attempts at smoothing the chocolate into the shells with the back of a spoon was...dumb.
I always ended up with thin/weak spots, and those thin spots can crack as you assemble the hot cocoa bombs. It’s a big mess and a bigger pain in the...backside. Take your advice from the idiot who tried – the spoon’s probably not your friend, I’d recommend a brush!
I tried two different kinds – a large pastry brush and a smaller slanted food-safe brush.
Short story – they both work pretty well.
With the large pastry brush, spreading the chocolate went really quickly, but I had to put on two coats because I didn’t have great control and ended up with some thin spots. (See above.)
With the smaller brush, spreading the chocolate took more time, but I was able to layer it on thicker. So I only had to coat the mold one time – 5 minutes in the fridge later I was ready to un-mold the shells.
So – probably go with whatever brush you have! Or whichever brush sounds better to you.
I think I’ve probably rambled enough now – on to the recipe!
Happy cocoa-bomb-making – and Happy Halloween!!
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Don't forget to pin this recipe for later!
Halloween Hot Cocoa Bombs
Equipment
- small piping bag (I used a disposable one since this made it easier to control the tip opening size)
- Basting brush (or other food-safe paintbrush)
- heat-safe bowl + plate
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dark cocoa candy melts (you could use chocolate or dark chocolate; it just may have a bit of a whitish look unless you want to temper it first)
- 6 Tablespoons hot cocoa mix
- 1 ½ cups mini marshmallows (or 6 large marshmallows)
- ½ cup white candy melts (to decorate)
- Sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Melt candy melts in a heat-safe container - I used a DIY double boiler involving a 2-cup and a 4-cup Pyrex container. (You can 100% do this in the microwave, but you may need to re-melt if you’re doing more than one set of shells. Also use caution; candy melts will seize (harden+crumble) if overheated.
- Spread 1 - 2 tablespoon of melted chocolate in each hot cocoa bomb mold. (Oddly, 1 was all I could spread evenly with my large basting brush, but I could manage 2 pretty well with a smaller brush.)
- Chill 5 minutes (or leave at room temp for 15-20 minutes) until hardened and set. Remove gently from molds. (Bend the silicone back and remove in a peeling motion so the shells don’t crack.)
- Repeat above steps if you’re only using 1 mold. (You need 12 shells to make 6 bombs. I know, math.) Transfer remaining chocolate to 6 skull molds, and refrigerate.
- Pour very hot (near-boiling) water into a heat-safe bowl, and place a heat-safe plate over the top. Wait 1-2 minutes for the plate to warm up.
- Gently place a shell half edge-down onto the plate, and turn it until the edges are smooth and even. Repeat with half of the shells.
- To each of the ‘smoothed’ shells add 1 Tablespoon of cocoa powder, as many marshmallows as will fit, and sprinkles if using.
- Repeat the ‘smoothing’ process on each of the remaining shells - one at a time - and when a shell is smoothed + slightly melted adhere to a filled shell with gentle pressure. I used a bit of the leftover melted chocolate to help the shells adhere where there were any gaps.
- Melt the white candy melts and transfer to a piping bag. Pipe a ‘+’ shape and then an ‘X’ shape onto a bomb, followed by a large circular ‘swirl’ shape to mimic a spider web.
- De-mold skulls and adhere one to the top of each hot cocoa bomb.
- Serve by placing into a glass and pouring hot milk over the top - I recommend placing them in sideways and aiming your ‘pour’ at the seam since it’ll melt and come apart the easiest. Looks more like an ‘bomb’ that way. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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