Trend I Tried: TikTok Hot Chocolate Bombs

Let’s talk Hot Chocolate Bombs – TikTok’s current culinary obsession. When we saw these going around, we KNEW we had to try them out ourselves + share our experience with the CHAARG community. A Hot Chocolate Bomb is essentially a bath bomb, but for hot chocolate. The outer shell is made of solid chocolate + the inside includes all the ingredients to make hot chocolate [your hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, + any fun add-ins].

First off, let me say that these are no walk in the park to make. Chocolate/candy melting involves a lot of science, + any of my other dietetic/nutrition majors will probably fondly remember the candy making lab where we all inevitably made lumpy fudge, cloudy looking lollipops, + any other failed sugar recipes that were thrown at us.

If you overheat the chocolate, the recipe fails.
If you use the wrong kind of chocolate, the recipe fails.
If you use the wrong kind of mold, the recipe fails.

Speaking from experience here, these were a lot of trial + error. I wasn’t able to get my hands on a traditional half sphere candy mold, so I used an ice tray instead [like for the fancy giant ice balls you put in drinks]. I found mine at Target for $10, but if you want to wait for delivery, there’s tons of them on Amazon. My mold didn’t allow the shell to be as thin as regular hot chocolate bombs are + it also left a matte finish on the outside of the shell.

As for chocolate, I wouldn’t try to make these *super* healthy by going for a low sugar chocolate [I’d say anything higher than 85% cacao is a no]. My first attempt, I tried making these with sugar free, 100% cacao chocolate + the shell crumbled when I tried to get it out of mold.

Finally, let’s talk melting. If you want to be fancy, you can temper the chocolate on the stove by filling a pot with water + placing the bowl of chocolate over that to let the steam melt everything. Do NOT let the water touch the bottom of the bowl if you’re going to do it this way. Alternatively, you can just microwave the chocolate. You want to microwave the chocolate in 30 second spurts + mix for 20ish seconds after you microwave. Do this until all of the chocolate is melted. If you’re using white chocolate, melt the chocolate in 15 second spurts instead – white chocolate is a lot less stable + will overheat ++ clump at a lower temperature than milk chocolate will!

Once you have the chocolate melted, you want to spread the chocolate over your mold [I used a paint brush to do this] + place in the fridge for 5 minutes while it hardens. Other recipes on the internet said to only do 2 layers of chocolate but that was too thin for the mold I was using + the chocolate fell apart, so I ended up doing 3 layers.

Once you have your final shell, you can even the top of the shell by put a pan on low heat + gently spinning the shell for a few seconds to melt it down to a smooth top. Once the top is smooth, add in the hot chocolate mix + any additional toppings! Close the bomb by pipetting chocolate around the edge + putting the upper half onto the bomb shell. Roll the exposed melted chocolate in a topping of choice to hide the seam.

In short, here are the directions:

#1] Melt chocolate in 30 second intervals in the microwave + stir for about 20 seconds [only microwave for 15 seconds if it’s white chocolate]

#2] Use a paint brush to coat the molds + place the molds in the refrigerator for about 5 mins. Repeat until you have 3 layers of chocolate

#3] Remove chocolate shells from their molds + heat a pan on low. Once the pan is warm, melt the tops of the chocolate shells so they’re smooth.

#4] Fill one of the shells with the hot chocolate mix + extra toppings

#5] Heat more chocolate + use a Ziploc bag to pipe chocolate around the edge of the shell ++ place the empty chocolate shell on. top of the filled half

#6] Roll the side of the hot chocolate bomb in a topping of your choice to hide the seam

#7] Drop in warm milk or water + watch the magic happen!

Here are the 3 recipes we love:

• 1 cup Chocolate Chips or Chopped Chocolate
• 2 tbsp Hot Chocolate Mix
• 5 to 10 Mini Marshmallows
• 1 Candy Cane, Crushed

• 1 cup Chocolate Chips or Chopped Chocolate
• 2 tbsp Hot Chocolate Mix
• 5 to 10 Mini Marshmallows
• 1 tbsp Shredded Coconut

• ½ cup Chocolate Chips or Chopped Chocolate
• ½ cup White Chocolate Chips or Chopped Chocolate
• 2 tbsp Hot Chocolate Mix
• 5 to 10 Mini Marshmallows

Final Verdict: These are delicious, + definitely fun to watch as they melt into your milk or water but they’re also difficult to make + take up a lot of time. If you want to try making these, by all means, go for it! But if you just want tasty + aesthetic hot chocolate, it might be better to leave this one to the experts + just by some from a local candy shop ; )