The kids’ all-time favorite cold-weather drink is here to warm you up all winter long. We take whole milk, real cocoa powder, sugar, and milk chocolate chips to make up a big batch of Homemade Hot Chocolate! Use your slow cooker or Instant Pot and make the best hot chocolate you’ve ever had, essentially hands-free.

Homemade Slow Cooker Hot Cocoa

I used to LOVE the outdoors. Like – love it so much I endured many Minnesota winters out on the ski hill, no matter HOW cold it was, and it was ALWAYS cold. “Too cold to ski” wasn’t really a thing that existed for us. I only remember a few times where we couldn’t actually do it because it was too dangerous.

Until very very recently, I hadn’t been out on the slopes in TWENTY YEARS.

Funny how that happens.

I decided that this year is the year to do the things, and do we have. As you might imagine though, things are a lot HARDER this year for so many reasons.

I won’t get into all of them here, but one thing we were considering when preparing to go up to the mountain was that there was NO food or beverages available to buy there, and NO warming shack or chalet.

That means packing in and packing out all the things, teaching kids how to put on ski and snowboard gear either in the elements or in the Suburban, and finding some creative way to make sure we can warm up from the inside AND the outside too.

Try these Oreo Hot Chocolate Bombs sometime!

Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate Ingredients

• Chocolate chips
• Milk
• Cream
• Vanilla
• Cocoa powder
• Sugar

How to make slow cooker hot chocolate

1. Dump everything in the slow cooker.
2. Turn onto low heat.
3. Let cook for 3-4 hours, stirring periodically.
4. Serve hot!

What kind of chocolate works best for slow cooker hot cocoa?

That largely depends on your personal preference. We use milk chocolate chips, typically, but you could also use semi-sweet or dark chocolate as well, and you don’t have to stick to chips, either.

If you want to order some fancy chocolate for this, check out this Belgian Milk Chocolate you can buy in a huge hunk from Amazon! Just grate it with a cheese grater before adding it to the slow cooker.

More to love:

• Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup
• Slow Cooker Roast Beef Dinner
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe