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Two glass mugs of creamy crockpot hot chocolate topped with mini marshmallows and chocolate shavings on a green gingham cloth in front of a sage green slow cooker, with scattered chocolate chips and marshmallows
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4.67 from 6 votes

Creamy Crockpot Hot Chocolate

This creamy crockpot hot chocolate is rich, velvety, and made with real cocoa, whole milk, heavy cream, and semisweet chocolate chips. Set it up, walk away, and ladle into mugs in two hours.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 -15 cups
Calories: 389kcal
Author: Emily Rider

Equipment

  • 1 Medium saucepan
  • 1 4-quart slow cooker (Crockpot)
  • 1 Immersion blender
  • 1 Whisk
  • 1 Ladle
  • 1  Wooden spoon

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup Dutch cocoa powder 25 grams
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk 396 grams
  • 6 cups whole milk 1440 grams
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream 480 grams
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 13 grams
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 340 grams
  • homemade vanilla marshmallows or whipped cream for serving

Instructions

  • Warm the milk – Pour 6 cups of whole milk into a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until steaming but not boiling.
  • Whisk in the cocoa – Add the Dutch cocoa powder and whisk until fully dissolved and smooth.
  • Combine in the crockpot – Add the sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and semisweet chocolate chips to a 4-quart slow cooker and stir to combine.
  • Add the cocoa milk – Pour the warm cocoa milk mixture into the slow cooker and stir everything together.
  • Cook on low – Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, stirring once or twice during cooking.
  • Blend – Once the chocolate chips have fully melted, blend with an immersion blender until silky and smooth.
  • Taste and adjust – Add more cocoa for deeper flavor or more condensed milk for extra sweetness.
  • Serve – Ladle into mugs and top with marshmallows or whipped cream. Switch to keep warm setting for serving.

Video

Notes

Use quality chocolate – A good Dutch-process cocoa and quality semisweet chips make a real difference in the finished flavor. Do not skip the cocoa powder in favor of chips alone.
Warm the milk first – Whisking the cocoa into hot milk before it goes into the crockpot prevents graininess and helps everything melt together smoothly from the start.
Blend before serving – The immersion blender step is optional but creates a noticeably smoother, more velvety texture. Worth the extra 30 seconds.
Make it dairy-free – Substitute full-fat coconut milk for the whole milk and coconut cream for the heavy cream for a rich dairy-free version.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 389kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 61mg | Potassium: 420mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 796IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 197mg | Iron: 2mg