Old Fashioned Stovetop Hot Chocolate
I’ll never forget the first time I had homemade, real, hot chocolate, made on the stove and not with a mix. Although we made our own mix from scratch (and it was delicious) there was just something about that extra chocolaty decadence of classic hot chocolate, with that little extra bit of cocoa lingering for the last sip that had me hooked.
A while back the folks from Domino sugar contacted me to ask if I’d like to feature Domino sugar on Southern Plate, they asked if I’d use one of their recipes on their handy dandy recipe site as well. I had planned on bringing y’all homemade hot cocoa for a while now but I usually make it without a recipe and had yet to take the time to measure everything out. Lo and behold, Domino did that for me so why mess with perfection? After you make this a time or two with their recipe, you’ll likely settle into just eyeballing it like I do. Either way you go, though, you just can’t beat a cup of homemade hot chocolate!
Special thanks to Domino for sending me a gift card to gather up all of the supplies I’d need for this post, including some Domino sugar in their new little canister! Be sure to check out their recipe website for plenty of yummy holiday recipes, including mixes and printable tags!
We’re gonna need: Cocoa powder, whole milk, and sugar.
Vanilla and marshmallows are optional but don’t try telling that to my kids!
The little canister of Domino sugar sure is handy. I like it when food companies get innovative with their designs.
Oh! Family, meet Kayleigh. Kayleigh, meet my Southern Plate Family.
Kayleigh is our friend and a brilliant babysitter if you are ever trying to write a book for Harper Collins and find yourself under a deadline at Christmas time, while taking care of two kids, a blog, assorted newspaper columns, and have a house to look after.
Not that I know anyone like that but I’m jes’ sayin’….
If I ever did, Kayleigh would be my best friend.
Here is my best friend pouring sugar into a sauce pot 
Add your cocoa powder.
Pour in 1/2 C milk.
Stirry, stirry! It will look kinda like a paste.
Stirring constantly, bring it to a boil.
Remove from heat and pour in remaining milk.
Stir that up well and return back to stove eye set to medium.
Pour in a little vanilla if you’d like.
Continue stirring over medium heat until heated through.
Once it is heated through, pour into cups.
Add marshmallows if desired…
As for my kids, Marshmallows are very much desired!
Brady is a big fan of his Star Wars mug.
Kayleigh liked my Pyrex flamingo pink ones.
Yummmmmy!
Old Fashioned Stovetop Hot Chocolate
The link to the original recipe may be found here. I’ve modified this one slightly.
- 1/2 cup – Granulated Sugar
- 1/3 cup – unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 1/2 cups Whole Milk
- 1/2 teaspoon – vanilla (optional)
In medium saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa and 1/2 C milk. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add milk and heat; do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla if desired. Serve hot, with marshmallows. Makes six servings.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup – Granulated Sugar
- 1/3 cup – unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 1/2 cups Whole Milk
- 1/2 teaspoon – vanilla (optional)
Instructions
- In medium saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa and 1/2 C milk. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add milk and heat; do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla if desired. Serve hot, with marshmallows. Makes six servings.
“Blessed is the season which engages
the whole world in a conspiracy of love!”
Hamilton Wright Mabie. Submit your quote here.
Posted by Christy Jordan
on Dec 21 2009. Filed under Beverages, Chocolate.
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My mom would make this for me during winter! Once you taste of this you can never go back to that stuff in the package! So good! I also make thins for my kids as well!
Thanks for the cup of hot Chocolate…My Mother use to make it for me when I was a little girl..Memories. Love you , Dahling.
I love my Cocomotion machine. You dump all of the ingredients in and it whirls it around into nice hot cup of hot chocolate. Yes, it’s Hot Chocolate in Arkansas!
Where do you get a cocomotion machine. I live in Arizona so I would guess it would be hard to find one out here!! I miss making homemade hot chocolate. Think tonight calls for a cup after supper!!
WHAT? I’m in Arkansas! Where do you get the Cocomotion here?!
Stupid question I know but I gotta ask it anyway.
Can skim milk be used or would it make it to thin?
There’s no such thing as a stupid question here, Raquel! Skim milk can certainly be used and it will be a teensy less rich but still divine!
Forgot to add, it is Hot Chocolate at my house in Kentucky.
I don’t know how anybody goes back to those watery store-bought mixes after making this. It’s the only way to make hot chocolate!
We called it “hot chocolate” growing up in West Texas, and because we’re so close to Mexico, it’s not hot chocolate unless it has a pinch of cinnamon in it – or, if you’d been very, very good, Mother would put a whole cinnamon stick in it as a stirrer! Or sometimes a candy cane! Oh my gosh, I can remember how exciting that was. Hot chocolate happened on Christmas Eve, after the tamales, to fortify us for the trip to midnight Mass – and sometimes on Christmas morning, if it was cold enough.
And if I may answer – skim milk would make it pretty thin, yes. Go on, splurge! Whole milk or even cream once a year won’t kill ya!
I love tamales! I’d love to see an easy tamale recipe.
We call it hot chocolate here in the Dallas area, too. And, I love cinnamon in mine. I usually buy Mexican hot chocolate tablets at the Mexican grocery store, and make it with those. I might have to try the cnnamon stick stirrer – that sounds good!
I was born and raised partly in Iowa, now live in Colorado and I call it cocoa. Cocoa is assumed to be hot already-at least by my family
My son just got home this week from college for Christmas break. This was the first thing he requested after being outside for a bit. We add a bit of cinnamon for Mexican hot cocoa, like Mrs. Welch, or a while cinnamon stick – it’s the best. I also like to add some canned whipped cream and just a little of the Christmas sprinkles (we have the red and green jimmies) – it was the most gorgeous presentation and tasted twice as good.
Up north I think we all say “hot cocoa”. We do at my house. My southern relatives all say “hot chocolate”. Wonder why that is?
I’m definitely going to give this recipe a whirl! I’m a hot chocolate addict and use alot of the store bought mixes during the winter time. (I know, bad me! hehe) I drink this stuff like I do my coffee and always open to new ways of trying/drinking It. This one looks like a keeper!
I sometimes experiment with adding flavored creamers to change It up from time to time. Especially during the holidays with all the different varieties they have available. It just Isn’t hot chocolate without the marshmallows and a big dallop of cool whip as well! hehe
Delicious! My girls are drinking “hot chocolate” as I type after playing outside. While the Holly Jollies with toffee chips and almonds are cooling for the neighbors. I will have to the homeade hot chocolate next time. I also love my domino’s canister. I do not have canisters, except for sugar thanks to the marketing design folks over there.
Merry Christmas!!
Any good office party recipes that will stay good sitting out all day? DH needs something this week.
My granny used to make it all the time for us kids. I remember her pouring hers into a saucer and sipping it out the saucer as it cools??? Any one else’s family do that? Maybe it’s an Okie thing. My kids always request “real hot chocolate” after playing outside in the cold. I love making it for them.
Here in Birmingham, Alabama it is hot chocolate made with whole milk and vanilla but instead of marshmallows Mammaw (grandmother to ya’ll yankees) used Redi-Whip.
Oh, by the way, skim milk is a curse in Dixie…so is margarine. We say if ya’ll gonna do it..do it right….WHOLE milk and BUTTER!!!
Whole milk and butter, amen! You go, Renee! (High five!)
Life is too short for the fake stuff!
My grandparents had bowl like saucers they used to pour from their cups small amounts to cool then sip. I wish I had gotten that set of dishes now. Thanks for the memories.
We call it simply “cocoa” – everyone knows it means “hot”. Texas, ya’ll.
We call it hot chocolate. I live in southeast Tennessee.
Here is a decadent recipe for cocoa/hot chocolate – in Italy they add a little arro-root (similar to cornstarch) when liquid hot enough to dissolve – this makes for a very thick chocolate – very popular in one of the well known restaurants in Florence, Italy.
This is a very rich hot chocolate and not for those watching their weight. It’s my “go-to” recipe when I want to indulge.
Best Hot Chocolate
2 cups half and half
1 cup milk
6 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
Sugar to taste
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
Dash cinnamon
Dash salt
In a medium saucepan, bring half-and-half and milk to low boil.
Add chopped chocolate and sugar, whisking constantly. As chocolate begins to Melt, add vanilla and almond extract, cinnamon and salt; whisking constantly until Warmed through. Serve immediately.
This is the recipe I make:
One cup of Cocoa
1-2 T cocoa powder
2 T sugar
pinch of salt
1 c milk
touch of vanilla
Stir the cocoa,sugar and salt in a microwave safe cup and add a little of the milk to make a paste, then add the rest of the milk and vanilla. I put it in the microwave until it bubbles up to the top. It should be hot enough to drink!!!
:)
When I was growing up we made ours a cupful at a time. We would put
3 teaspoons sugar
1 tsp cocoa
stir this real good then add
canned (evaporated milk) slowly. till you get about 1/3 cup of mix.
Then finish filling cut with boiling water.
This is real good. You can always add marshmallows etc.
We also would take just the sugar and cocoa mix and put it in our lower lip and dip it as snuff. lol
For all you Dark Chocolate lovers out there, substitute Hershey’s Dark Cocoa for the Milk Chocolate Cocoa. It is to die for. Or even split it half and half of each cocoa. It makes people ask, “What makes this so good? It is different.”
Love the recipes, keep them coming.
Elizabeth Lee
Monrovia (Huntsville), Alabama
I LOVE subbing the dark cocoa for the reg cocoa…..better for you too!
We had “cocoa” every morning in the winter and I did not like it . My mom made it and it was sort of lukewarm and not very appealing in color. I dawdled over it every morning and definitely didn’t enjoy it. When I was in the sixth grade I made a new friend and began staying overnight occasionlly at her house and her mom made “hot chocolate’ and I loved it. I never could see why hers was so good and ours was so bad. When I got older and began to cook I knew then that my mom had a very small grocery budget and seven mouths to feed so she was very scant with her cocoa. She also used powdered dry milk in a very thin dilution. I know now that it was probably the best she could do but I still think of cocoa as yukky and hot chocolate as good.My mom is gone now and I would love to treat he rto some delicious hot chocolate and a plate of real butter cookies.
Once again Christy, you bring us a great post!!
First of all, Hi Kayleigh!!! Thank you for taking some time to help out our Mom!! Granted, yer likely getting paid but thanks nevertheless.
This does sound fairly easy and yummy! I’ve always done mine with a packet of Swiss Miss and just doubled their recipe. lol What can I say? I’m a man!
) This recipe though DOES sound like something I could do fairly well and not totally screw it up. hehe
Thanks so much Christy!!!!
When I’m in a hurry I just double up on the instant packets, too. It’s yummy!
Hi Christy – Hot Chocolate in NC….love the photos of your new BFF!
She’s a cutie!…love this website..have recommended it to my cooking friends around the world….especially Sylvia in Scotland!
Whenever my high school youth group in Atlanta went Christmas caroling, we always had hot chocolate. We continued the tradition here when we moved to northeast Pennsylvania. This looks delish. ~waves to your new best friend and babysitter~ Welcome.
Katy looks so ridiculously cute in those photos!
Can’t wait to make this.
On the Eastern Shore of Maryland we say hot chocolate. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family.
Hey neighbor…I’m in Montgomery County MD!
Up here in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, we call it hot cocoa and when it gets 20 below it taste some good!!
Yep, that’s MY hot chocolate “recipe” too! And sometimes I call it hot cocoa, just depends on my mood.
Merry Christmas my southern sista!
Here in Hueytown, AL we call it Hot Chocolate. All I’ve ever had was in the package. But, tomorrow night might just call for some homemade hot chocolate. Thanks for the recipe.
I made it this evening and it was a real treat on this chilly night in southeast Georgia.
I LOVE this recipe! It is a tradition that we have this on Christmas morning. It is great with some leftover sugar cookies.
Christy I remember my mother making this for my sister and me when we were young children. Brings back lots of fond memories.
Will have to make it for my family for Christmas.
Heres wishing you and your family and babysister(best friend) a very very merry Christmas.
Sue
I think we were all raised on this kind.. and it was always special. Lots of winter memories tied up in that… and I just finished making it up in packets …well minus the milk, and vanilla.. to give to friends in jars or little bags with your little tags..
I have been making Christmas candy for two days straight and there is no tellin how much Domino Sugar I have gone through…. we give trays of goodies to friends and family at Christmas…
big hugs
mamajo in Sapulpa Oklahoma
A big Hey!to Kayleigh and in Mobile, Al, it was cocoa when it was homemade with milk and hersheys cocoa powder, and it was hot chocolate when it came out of envelopes and you added water. Put enough marshmallows in the box stuff and even it tastes good!
Here in Connecticut, my family calls it Hot Chocolate!! Looking forward to trying this recipe..looks sooo good! It’s 17 degrees right now..sure could use a cup!
Bountiful Blessings!!
Yum!! Always hot chocolate in SE Tennessee. To this day I can’t drink powdered mix w/WATER! Also, to Shannon whose Granny poured hers into a saucer to sip until cool. Here too. My Granny did that for coffee too. Until I was older I thought you always had to have a saucer underneath a hot cup!
Merry Christmas to all.
Katy Rose is waaaay too cute!!! I’m a big hot chocolate fan. I don’t drink coffee so when I go to order take-out hot drinks, it’s always hot chocolate.
But right now, it’s much too hot here to drink hot chocolate. Although, a chilled version would be delicious!
I am originally from Buffalo,N.Y. (accident of birht). I have lived in Florida for 21 years.(should have been born in the South!)LOL. Anyhow,we call it hot chocolate here and up there. I’ve lived around the Country and they all called it that too. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Thanks for the great recipes. God Bless.
Another one of your wonderful recipes that we all wish we had….Thanks! And the quote on the page…just the best! I have a journal that is filling up quickly with your wonderful quotes…thanks readers! All the best of the Season that engages us in Love, to you & yours!
I just read your email with your request for our name for this fantastic drink…….so I had to re-comment…….I’m actually from south NJ & Pa. but I’ve lived in south FL for about half my life now………I always called it Hot Chocolate,but my Grand daughter calls it Hot Cocoa……she’s a FL native.Needless to say, I’ve changed the name….anything for my Savannah! LOL
IT’S ALWAYS BEEN HOT CHOCOLATE TO ME. COCOA IS THE BITTER POWDER THAT YOU USE TO MAKE IT. BTW – I’M A BAMA GIRL.
Hot cocoa, cocoa or hot chocolate are all interchangeable, IMO, although I usually say hot chocolate. (I’m from NJ.)
Thanks for the recipe! I make a similar recipe by the cup. Haven’t used mix in years. Yummy stuff!
Went to North Carolina for Christmas and stopped at their Chocolate Lounge. Chocolates from all over the world! We had different types of hot chocolate that was cooked in front of us. I ordered a cinnamon cayenne pepper hot coco…Boy was it tasty and gave it a kick…I will try your recipe and put the cinnamon and cayenne pepper in and let you know!
I made this on Christmas Eve and everyone loved it. May make it a new tradition it was such a hit!
Where did you find the Domino sugar canister? I made hot chocolate from this recipe this afternoon for all my family to warm up. This is exactly how my Mama made hot chocolate when I was a kid. Thank for you writing down the amounts as I never could remember how much of the ingredients she put in. I will be using this recipe from now on instead of those packets.
This is my tried & true recipe as well… We just call it Cocoa though, I guess we just assume the Hot!
K
My son will love this !
[...] Hot Cocoa [...]
Hi Christy,
Just found your website, and needed a sweet fix!
My husband and I are in the middle of doing a 21 day Daniel Fast with our church, so I had to really modify this a bit since dairy and sugar aren’t allowed, but I can’t wait to try this next week when I can! 
For now I had to change the sugar to stevia (since it’s a natural sweetener) – using 2 packets
and substituted the whole milk for soy milk. I know, not nearly as good, but it hit the spot in way of being able to have something sweet when you aren’t allowed to have sugar!
Thanks!
Can anyone tell me if this would turn out the same if I used a double boiler? Thanks!
We always had this when I was a kid…never could stand those packets of “instant” hot chocolate when I discovered them, especially when the real thing is so much better!
I don’t call it Cocoa or Hot chocolate, I call it Agnes. Not sure why…
Thank you Christy once again for a wonderful recipe and memory-made today and just finished having a cup of this-my grandmother made this for me when I was a child and was at her house during the winter.
I am so glad it brought back good memories for you Kathi! That is the best part about being in the kitchen I think.