Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Put down the packaged cocoa mix and warm up with Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate from scratch topped with homemade peanut butter whipped cream and chopped peanut butter cups.

I rarely toot my own horn, but it’s important we celebrate our accomplishments even when nobody else notices.

Every penny I earned, every recipe I made, every photo I shot, every dish I washed has been all me.

I’m not in a relationship. There is no second income. There is no assistant helping me (unless you count the cat who eats everything).

Those days where I don’t feel well and need to lay down? I still have to make dinner or I don’t eat.

Those days I want to play hooky? I push through and work because my money goes towards rent and bills, not a side vacation fund (yes I do go on trips but that’s after months of saving).

I make business decisions on a daily basis, remind myself to stay confident when negotiating, and have to pretend I know the ins and outs of taxes (luckily I hired an accountant for that last one).

I stand on my own two feet and want to take a minute to pat myself on the back because I’ve had a few naysayers who assumed I was living with my parents when I moved back to Pittsburgh or didn’t think it was possible to be single and freelance.

And even though I worked much harder than I have ever worked before at any job, I’ve never been happier either.

Now I know why people say “choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”.

Let’s hope I can repeat this performance for years to come.

Now that I tooted my horn, tell me about your accomplishments. What have you done that is worth celebrating?

Whatever it is, let’s celebrate together with Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate made from scratch (no premade cocoa mix!).

To make it extra special, I topped it with homemade peanut butter whipped cream and chopped peanut butter cups.

If that’s not a hot chocolate worthy of celebrating, then I don’t know what is.

What is the difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa?

The difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa is in the name.

Hot chocolate is made with real chocolate which you then melt into milk (sometimes referred to as Thick Hot Chocolate).

Hot cocoa is made with cocoa powder, sugar, and milk (or hot water).

So technically speaking, I actually made peanut butter hot cocoa, not peanut butter hot chocolate. But then I do add melted peanut butter cups for the chocolate element.

Whatever you call it, one sip and you won’t even care.

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

To make hot chocolate with peanut butter, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Whole milk: To make the best hot chocolate, you want fat from whole milk. Although you can in theory substitute low or fat free milk, I highly recommend sticking with whole.
• Cocoa powder: Look for natural and unsweetened./li>
• Powdered sugar: Adds sweetness as well as helps thicken the drink slightly.
• Salt: I personally love salty and sweet together.
• Peanut butter cups: To make the drink extra chocolatey, I melted peanut butter cups directly into the milk.
• Peanut butter: I melted peanut butter in hot chocolate for an extra nutty flavor.

How To Make Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

To make hot cocoa with peanut butter, first warm up your milk until hot and bubbly but not boiling.

You want your milk hot enough to dissolve your cocoa powder but not too hot it’ll scald and possibly even curdle.

Whisk in the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and salt until dissolved then whisk in the peanut butter and peanut butter cups until melted and smooth.

Bring to a boil then boil for about 1 minute or until your peanut butter hot cocoa starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and let it cool a few minutes so you don’t burn your tongue.

How To Garnish Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Do you prefer your hot cocoa with whipped cream or marshmallows on top?

Normally I go for marshmallows since I’m lazy, but I couldn’t resist homemade peanut butter whipped cream for this.

I first premiered it with my peanut butter frozen hot chocolate over the summer.

It went over so well, I brought it back for my peanut butter hot cocoa.

After all, you can never have too much peanut butter in one drink, am I right?

You can also top it with chocolate whipped cream or traditional homemade whipped cream.

More Hot Chocolate Recipes

Enjoyed this recipe for peanut butter hot chocolate? Check out these other hot chocolate recipes:

• Caramel Hot Chocolate
• Raspberry Hot Chocolate
• Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate
• Cheesecake Hot Chocolate
• Oreo Hot Chocolate by Wonky Wonderful

First published December 21, 2015