Hot chocolate bombs are chocolate spheres filled with hot chocolate mix and lots of marshmallows! Pour steaming hot milk over the top and watch the chocolate melt away and release those marshmallows into your milk. So much fun and makes a great gift! Read on to find out how to make hot chocolate bombs with silicone or acrylic molds and the difference between semi-sweet, milk chocolate, and white chocolate.
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Table of contents
- Ingredients and tools needed to make hot chocolate bombs
- How to make hot chocolate bombs
- What chocolate is best for making hot chocolate bombs?
- Do I have to temper my chocolate?
- What mold is best for making hot chocolate bombs?
- How to make hot chocolate bombs step-by-step
- Molding the chocolate spheres with a silicone mold
- Molding the chocolate spheres with an acrylic mold
- Assembling the chocolate bombs
- How to use hot chocolate bombs
- Milk Chocolate Cocoa Bombs
- White Chocolate Cocoa Bombs
- How To Color Chocolate
- More Chocolate Recipes
Ingredients and tools needed to make hot chocolate bombs
- Good quality chocolate in bar form. Lindt semi-sweet chocolate or Callebaut are great options. I'm using Callebaut because they sell it in the bulk foods section of my WINCO.
- Food thermometer to keep track of the temp of your chocolate. Absolutely a must. Don't even attempt this without one. You can buy food thermometers at the grocery store in the kitchen supplies aisle. I'm using an infrared thermometer because it's a little bit easier to keep clean.
- Silicone sphere mold to make your bombs. This is the easiest mold to use if you're not familiar with tempering chocolate. I will also show you how to use acrylic sphere molds for you over-achievers out there.
- Bench scraper if you are using an acrylic mold. You don't need one for silicone molds.
- ¼" paintbrush for applying chocolate to silicone molds. If you're using an acrylic mold you won't need one.
- Piping bag for sealing together the spheres.
- Parchment paper if you're using an acrylic mold.
- Hot chocolate mix of your choice.
- Mini marshmallows of your choice. I'm using rainbow marshmallows from Target.
- Sprinkles to decorate the outside if you want.
- Hot Chocolate Bomb Labels
How to make hot chocolate bombs
Here's a rundown on how to make hot chocolate bombs!
- Chop chocolate (high-quality bar chocolate is best)
- Temper your chocolate (don't worry, we're doing this the easy way in the microwave and it only takes 5 minutes)
- Paint the chocolate into your silicone molds (two coats) or pour it into your acrylic mold.
- Remove the chocolate spheres from the mold.
- Fill the molds with hot chocolate and marshmallows
- Seal the two pieces of chocolate together with more melted chocolate
- Decorate the seam with sprinkles!
What chocolate is best for making hot chocolate bombs?
You want to make sure you're using good quality chocolate that has cocoa butter in it and not too many other ingredients or the chocolate isn't going to melt right. You can use candy-melts but the taste is going to be more like wax and not melt very well in your hot chocolate. Chocolate chips are also not going to work very well.
If you are going to use candy melts or another candy coating then you'll definitely want to use the silicone mold and not the acrylic mold.
If you're really serious about making cocoa bombs to sell, you'll want to get some couverture chocolate which is made to melt really smoothly and use in chocolate molds.
If you don't have time to order some good couverture chocolate then look for some chocolate bars at your grocery store that is 65% cocoa or more. Check the ingredients to make sure it contains cocoa butter.
Do I have to temper my chocolate?
If you've never heard of tempering your chocolate or feel intimidated, don't worry. Tempering just means that you are controlling the heat of your chocolate while melting it to make sure it's as strong as possible. Heating and cooling to exact temperatures which we will track with our thermometer.
Tempering your chocolate is really important. Un-tempered chocolate is soft, doesn't have a shine, and has a problem holding its shape. It will melt at room temperature and just overall be a huge headache to work with. Candy melts were invented to avoid tempering but the taste really suffers. Don't worry, I'm going to show you how to temper your chocolate in the microwave the easy way and it only takes 5 minutes!
What mold is best for making hot chocolate bombs?
I'm going to show you how to use two molds, a silicone mold, and an acrylic mold. I thought that I had to use an acrylic mold to get that ultimate shine but to be honest, after decorating I'm not sure I could even tell the difference between the two.
So I would say if you had to choose, the silicone mold is better because it's basically foolproof. The silicone mold is also cheaper. The downside is that it takes a bit more time to hand paint each mold so if you're making a lot, you might want to go with the acrylic mold.
I've seen some people use some really big molds and I understand why people like to use them because you can fit more things in them. But keep in mind that you want the amount of chocolate, hot cocoa, and marshmallow to be proportionate to how much milk you have in your mug so that the taste is not affected.
My molds are 2 ½" in diameter and fit about 1 Tablespoon of the hot cocoa mix inside which is plenty when combined with the extra marshmallows and chocolate.
How to make hot chocolate bombs step-by-step
Step 1 - Chop 24 ounces of good quality semi-sweet chocolate as finely as you can with a knife. This is kind of tedious but I promise it's worth it! You don't want ANY big chunks.
Step 2 - Place the chocolate in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds. NO MORE. Then stir with a spatula, moving the chocolate from the outside edges, to the center to evenly heat it.
Step 3 - Place the chocolate back into the microwave and heat for 15 seconds and stir like we did in the first step. Take the temp of your chocolate to make sure it's not above 90ºF.
Step 4 - Repeat this process 2-5 more times until the chocolate is almost melted. Never heat more than 15 seconds and do not let your chocolate get above 90ºF. Once almost melted, just continue stirring until the chocolate is fully melted from the residual heat from the bowl.
Step 5 - Pour some chocolate onto some parchment paper and pop it into the fridge for 5 minutes. Take it out and observe it. Does it look shiny? Does it snap in half loudly when you break it? Then it's tempered and ready to go in your molds.
If your chocolate is dull, has white residue on top or just bends when you try to break it, it's not tempered and you may have heated it too far. Don't worry, you can seed it with more chopped chocolate. Just add in 6 ounces of finely chopped chocolate and stir until melted. You may need to heat for 5-10 seconds to get it fully melted. Test again before using.
Pro-tip - No microwave? You can temper your chocolate the old-fashioned way. I go over it in my chocolate tempering tutorial.
Molding the chocolate spheres with a silicone mold
Step 1 - Clean your mold. Use some paper towel to thoroughly polish the insides of your molds so that they are nice and shiny. Any amount of residue will cause a blemish on your chocolate. This is true for silicone molds and acrylic molds.
Step 2 - Paint a thin layer of chocolate using a paintbrush on the inside of the mold. Place into the fridge for 5 minutes to set.
Step 3 - Apply a second coat of chocolate, paying special attention to the edges to build them up a bit so the molds have a strong edge. Place the chocolate mold into the fridge to set up for five minutes.
After 5 minutes your chocolate will easily release from the mold and are ready to be assembled!
Molding the chocolate spheres with an acrylic mold
Using an acrylic mold has a few more steps but the shine is incredible and is much faster than using a silicone mold.
Step 1 - Use some paper towel to thoroughly polish the insides of your molds so that they are nice and shiny. This also prevents chocolate from sticking.
Step 2 - Warm your mold slightly with a heat gun or hair dyer to just take the chill off the acrylic. It shouldn't be hot at all. Warming the mold prevents the chocolate from getting hard too quickly.
Step 3 - Make sure your chocolate is at 90ºF and pour it into the mold. Tap the mold against the table a couple times to release any bubbles.
Step 4 - Pour the excess chocolate out of the mold back into the bowl or onto the table to be scraped up later. I use the edges of my bench scraper to tap the side so that the chocolate all comes out.
Step 5 - Scrape the excess chocolate off the top of the mold.
Step 6 - Place the mold face down onto some parchment paper until it's almost set but still soft. About 5 minutes. This allows the excess chocolate to pool onto the parchment paper to build up the rim of the chocolate.
Step 7 - Scrape the top of the mold again to make the chocolate spheres have a very clean edge.
Step 8 - Place the chocolate mold into the freezer for 5 minutes (don't forget about them!)
Step 9 - If the chocolate was tempered properly, you will see that the chocolate has pulled away from the mold and is not sticking. You might have one or two spots that are sticking but if they are small, it will be ok.
Step 10 - In one swift move, turn the mold upside down onto the table with a bit of force to get the chocolates to all come out.
Assembling the chocolate bombs
Step 1 - Set your first half into a small bowl or use the back of your silicone mold to hold it. Fill the chocolate about ¾ of the way with your favorite hot chocolate mix and marshmallows.
Step 2 - Pipe some melted chocolate onto the top of the sphere.
Step 3 - Place the second half of the chocolate sphere on top and press gently together to seal.
Pro-tip - Use gloves to avoid getting too many fingerprints on your hot chocolate bombs.
Step 4 - Use a gloved finger to clean off the excess chocolate to make a seamless look or simply roll the bomb in spriles to finish the look.
How to use hot chocolate bombs
I tested these hot chocolate bombs out in various amounts of milk and found that 14 ounces was about perfect. I heat my milk until it's steaming (not boiling). Place the hot chocolate bomb in the bottom of the mug and pour the hot milk on top. The hot cream opens up the bomb and all the marshmallows escape! So fun!
Use a spoon to stir so that the cocao and chocolate melt into the hot milk.
Hot chocolate bombs make a great gift! Wrap them in a plastic bag with a fun tie and some instructions for use. Put it in a mug and give them as gifts for the Holidays! Nothing says I love you like hot chocolate!
Milk Chocolate Cocoa Bombs
Milk chocolate has more sugar and dairy in it than semi-sweet chocolate so it will melt at a lower temperature. Follow the same process for melting and tempering but I melt in 15-second increments, stirring in between. Never let the milk chocolate go above 86ºF or it will fall out of temper.
If your milk chocolate does go above 86ºF then you can temper it using the traditional seeding method.
White Chocolate Cocoa Bombs
Making white chocolate cocoa bombs are a little bit trickier because white chocolate melts at a much lower temperature than semi-sweet chocolate. Don't let your white chocolate go above 84ºF.
I have good luck with LINDT white chocolate bars or you can invest in some white couverture chocolate online. You can use almond bark or other types of melting chocolate but they are not good for using an acrylic mold, silicone molds only.
The process is the same as listed above for making white chocolate bombs EXCEPT I heat for a much smaller amount of time because the white chocolate melts very very quickly and is easy to over-heat.
- Finely chop your chocolate
- Melt in the microwave for 15 seconds, then 5-second increments. Stir in between. Do not go above 84ºF. If you do go above, refer to my tutorial on how to temper chocolate using the seeding method (scroll down).
- Now your chocolate is ready to be poured into acrylic molds or silicone molds.
- If your chocolate starts to get firm, melt for 5 seconds. Do not be tempted to heat it for longer.
How To Color Chocolate
If you want to color your white chocolate, it's really easy. You just need to add a little melted colored cocoa butter. I like to use cocoa butter colors from chef rubber. About 1 teaspoon for 2 Tablespoons of melted white chocolate and mix.
Make sure your cocoa butter is also at the proper temperature before using it (88ºF).
More Chocolate Recipes
How to temper chocolate three ways
6 Tempered chocolate techniques
Recipe
Equipment
- Thermometer
- 2 ½" Sphere Mold (silicone or acrylic)
Ingredients
- 24 ounces semi-sweet couverture chocolate I prefer Callebaut, you can also use any high quality bar chocolate. You can use candy melts, if you're using a silicone mold but they don't taste as good.
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 6 Tablespoons hot chocolate mix
Instructions
For Silicone Molds
- Finely chop your chocolate using a sharp chefs knife
- Place the chocolate into a bowl and heat for 30 seconds (my microwave is 1000 watts)
- Stir the chocolate, moving the chocolate that is on the outside, towards the center.
- Heat again for 15 seconds and stir again.
- Repeat this process until the chocolate is ALMOST melted but not fully melted. Never heating for longer than 15 seconds and never going above 90F. If you go above 90º you will have to temper your chocolate by seeding (see my blog post for more info)
- Make sure your molds are clean by polishing them with a paper towel
- Paint a thin layer of chocolate into the molds and refrigerate for 5 minutes
- Paint a second coat of chocolate over the first, paying special attention to building up the rim of the sphere. Refrigerate for 5 minutes.
- Take your chocolate out of the molds and fill with 1 tablespoon of hot cocoa mix and marshmallows
- Pipe some melted chocolate around the rim and attach the second sphere on top. Pressing gently to seal.
- Use a gloved hand to wipe away the excess chocolate or simply roll the chocolate sphere in some sprinkles to finish the look.
For Acrylic Molds
- Chop your chocolate finely with a sharp chefs knife
- Add your chocolate to a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds (my microwave is 1000 watts)
- Stir the chocolate, moving the chocolate that is on the outside, towards the center.
- Heat again for 15 seconds and stir again.
- Repeat this process until the chocolate is ALMOST melted but not fully melted. Never heating for longer than 15 seconds and never going above 90F. If you go above 90º you will have to temper your chocolate by seeding (see my blog post for more info)
- Polish your mold with a paper towel to remove and residue from the inside to prevent the chocolate from sticking.
- Warm the acrylic mold slightly with a hair dryer or heat gun so it doesnt feel cold but not hot either.
- Pour the chocolate (at 90ºF) into the molds and tap on the table a few times to remove bubbles.
- Dump the chocolate back into the bowl, use the edge of your bench scraper to tap out as much of the chocolate as possible. You don't want the chocolates to be too thick.
- Scrape off the excess chocolate from the top of the mold back into the bowl.
- Turn the mold upside down onto some parchment paper to let the chocolate drain further and almost completely set. About 5 minutes. The chocolate should lift away from the parchment paper easily but still be soft.
- Scrape off the excess chocolate again and then place the mold into the freezer for 5 minutes.
- The freezer will cause the chocolate to contract and pull away from the mold. If it's not tempered, it will not contract and there will be no way to get the chocolate out. You can tell if your chocolate is tempered because if you look under the mold, it wont be stuck to the molds anymore. If you have a couple spots where it still is, it will be ok and still release with no problem.
- Quickly turn your mold over onto the table to release the chocolate from the mold. Now they are ready to assemble.
- Add 1 Tablespoon of hot chocolate mix to half the sphere and some marshmallows.
- Pipe some melted chocolate onto the top of the sphere at attach the top piece of the sphere. Pressing gently but firmly.
- Use a gloved hand to wipe away the excess chocolate for a clean look or roll in some sprinkles to finish decorating them!
Jody Mack says
Do you need a food safe brush?
Elizabeth Marek says
Any kind of paintbrush that is new and not used for paint
Aveline says
Thanks for this wonderful batch of information!! Can you use a grater to get the chocolate read instead of a knife?
Elizabeth Marek says
You could but it would be very difficult
Tricia M says
I love your tutorials, thank you! I have the Caullebaut 70.4%. Would this be okay to use for the hot cocoa bombs? If so, would it still have the same temperature range at the 90F max?
Elizabeth Marek says
I would do a test to see if it's fluid enough at 90ºF. Yes it's the same temperature range.
Shweta says
Great recipe and even better explanation of technique. I made these with chocolate chips. Made 2 bombs for kids. Definitely making more with high quality chocolate bars for gifting this holiday season.
Jason says
Is it ok to use egg molds we could not find sphere?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes thats totally ok
Jackie says
I love following you! Are you sure your molds are 2.5” and not 2”? I got them at 2.5 and the look way bigger than your pictures. Will it to be rich for one serving? I’m probably overthinking it...
Elizabeth Marek says
Mine are 2" but I know some people that go up to 3"
Dar says
Excellent instructions! My molds arrive in a couple of days and I will make my first attempt at these. I am using these as part of a goodie basket for friends for Christmas and can’t wait to try this!
PS - I’m in Hillsboro!
Alice Carlson says
Great instructions. Very helpful. Thank you.
What about making homemade marshmallow to use in these. Any reason that wouldn't work? I am not sure if it would be too moist and clump the cocoa mix, but I think fresh marshmallow would taste better.
Elizabeth Marek says
That would totally work but you'd have to cut them pretty small 🙂
Mary W says
Holy Cow - not only is your YT vid great - your blog is as well! Great job! I never did understand what happened when I tried tempering choc and know I didn't go over 90 but it still turned into a rock. I kept heating it and adding liquid to try to salvage it - thanks to you I finally see what I did wrong. You rock and not in a seized choc way. LOL
Carol Mc says
I haven't tried out the recipe yet, although I am sure it is delicious! The 5 star rating is for your detailed instructions and photos. I have never seen a recipe explained as well as this one. I do make my own chocolate Easter eggs, salted caramels, and a few others. I learned so much from your tips especially how to double coat and what is the best kind of chocolate to use as I do prefer semi sweet rather than milk. I use melts but now that you explained how to easily temper it I will be changing my choice. Thank you so very much for all your tips.
Sugar Geek Show says
Thank you so much for your comment and the 5 stars, I'm glad you found all of my tips helpful! I always want to make my recipes easy for people to understand, and hope that everyone learns something new.
Yery says
Love the recipe! Where are you mugs from?
Sugar Geek Show says
Thank you! I got them on clearance at Williams sonoma
Shalini says
Hi thanks for sharing this recipe. I have ghirardelli 100% unsweetened cocoa bars but I wonder if it can be used to make cocoa bombs.
Elizabeth Marek says
I don't know for sure, do a small test batch (chop and melt at 90ºF) and see if it's liquid enough. If not then you will have to use a different chocolate
Tsvetelina Brezeanu says
Hello. I am having a problem with the chocolates. When I try to remove the chocolate from the silicone mould the chocolate is breaking. It looks like the sode are too thin. I am using lindt milk chocolate 65 %. May be I should be using dark chocolate?
Elizabeth Marek says
Make sure you're doing two coats of chocolate so they are thicker
Amy L Fahnestock says
Your instructions and photos are great!
However, I think I goofed. Just got home from the store, bought Ghirardelli premier baking semi-sweek chocolate and white chocolate (4 oz. each). Also bought a 10-oz. bag of Thirardeli white vanilla flavored melting wafters.
Re-reading your recipe, I think I bought the wrong chocolate. You mean the big chocolate candy bars, don't you? This means I have to return that chocolate, right?
Hopefully one of my area stores has Lindt bars. I'm making 6 of chocolate with drizzle and 6 of the white chocolate snowman face for a Covid-style outdoor exchange on Saturday (today is Monday). Still waiting for my molds to arrive, too.
If I have to switch to something else for the goodie exchange, I'll make these as part of my handmade Christmas gifts, Really looking forward to making these!!!! Thank you for this post - it's the best of the many I found online. Kudos!!
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes I mean bars of chocolate like in the candy aisle or you can buy huge 1lb blocks online. Baking bars and melting wafers are not going to work well
Amy L Fahnestock says
Hi again,
I checked, and my stores only have Lindt brand.
I'm making a total of 50 bombs in the next few weeks. I'm figuring I'll need 7 bars of milk chocolate (1 bar makes 6 bombs, so 7x6=56) and 7 bars of white chocolate. Is that a good estimate?
Sure, it'd probably be easier and maybe cheaper to use the candy melts, but I agree with you - they just don't have the great chocolate flavor and won't hold up as well. This is going to be FUN!
Thanks for the great instructions and videos!!
Elizabeth Marek says
I would get a little extra just in case but yes that sounds good!
Tracy says
I just want to say thank you! I believe I can make these due to your thorough instructions and advice on the type of chocolate! Again, thanks!
Alison Sullivan says
How long do the bombs last for if I wanted to make them for gifts?
Sugar Geek Show says
They can last for a while, I'm not exactly sure how long. But the same you would leave out any chocolate. I've had mine out on the countertop for about a month and they're still totally fine.
Stephanie Massey says
Great instructions! I'm really having a hard time with the seams though. They are really ugly. Any suggestions?
Sugar Geek Show says
I definitely recommend using gloves and covering up the seams with sprinkles if you're not doing that already. You can pipe a little extra chocolate around the seam to get more sprinkles to stick.
Brittany Bertschy says
I am using almond bark with silicone molds, do I have to temper the chocolate with silicone molds also?
Elizabeth Marek says
No you do not need to temper almond bark with silicone molds
Bethany says
I decided yesterday to make my friend some hot chocolate bombs for her birthday and then last night I saw your Instagram live about hot chocolate bombs! I was wondering, she really likes caramel, is there a way to incorporate caramel into the hot chocolate bombs? I'm planning on doing milk chocolate and white chocolate. I found you on TikTok and love watching your videos!
Thanks in advance 🙂
Elizabeth Marek says
you could fill them with caramel
Karen says
How long do these keep before going bad? Should they be kept in the fridge until use?
Sugar Geek Show says
No need to put them in the fridge, they can be kept at room temperature as long as you aren't using any perishable ingredients inside the cocoa bombs. Just check the expiration date on your hot cocoa mix, they should be just fine until then.
Tricia says
Everything works great until I try to put the two spheres together. They literally melt where my fingers are. It’s so frustrating. Any suggestions? I’ve used different types of chocolate too in case it was an issue with the chocolate I was using.
Sugar Geek Show says
Using gloves will help with fingerprints
Elyse says
Great instructions! I can’t wait to start mine. I usually buy the loose chocolate wafers at Wegmans in the bulk by the lbs candy bin aisle. I have really good results melting in the microwave on Defrost to make chocolate Lollipops, etc. I was wondering if that is a no-no with this project? Will they not harden correctly? TIA. 🙂
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi, I get my chocolate in bulk too! I just chop it up and temper it in the microwave. Check out my blog post and video tutorial for instructions: https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/tempering-chocolate/
Lorraine Smith says
Great recipe, how long can you store the chocolate bombes for once they are made? Thanks
Sugar Geek Show says
Check the expiration date for the hot cocoa mix, your bombs can stay at room temperature until then. I've had mine out for about a month and they're totally fine!
Jennifer says
Hi! How many ounces of milk per bomb? Thank you
Sugar Geek Show says
6 ounces for mine, but it depends on the size of the chocolate bomb you make