The season for hot chocolate is nearly upon us! Is there any better way to beat the chilly nights than with a mug of warm, creamy hot chocolate? There certainly isn’t a more delicious way, that’s for sure.

Instant pre-packaged hot chocolate is great to make in a pinch when the craving for a warm beverage strikes, but won’t necessarily be the best hot chocolate you’ve ever had. For the best stuff, you have to go homemade.

If you constantly crave hot chocolate made with real chocolate but don’t have the time to spend making it, try out this cool trick from America’s Test Kitchen. This hack will get you the most chocolaty homemade hot cocoa you’ve ever sipped.

The downside to homemade hot chocolate? It’s usually very time consuming. You have to heat the milk, add chocolate in increments, whisk it in, and repeat.

When you’re dying for a mug for rich, frothy cocoa, we don’t all have the patience for that lengthy process. But, on the other hand, you don’t want to settle for that wimpy little packet of hot chocolate, either.

This recipe combines the best of both worlds; a quick recipe that gives you all the homemade flavor you crave. The trick is creating something that you might call a “hot chocolate concentrate.”

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

• 1 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Combine your three ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
2. Heat the bowl in the microwave for 30 second increments, stirring in between, until smooth.
3. Cover the chocolate mixture with plastic wrap. Put the chocolate in the fridge for two hours.
4. Once hardened, scoop out the chocolate mixture into balls. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and store them in the fridge.
5. To make a cup of hot cocoa, put one chocolate ball in a mug of milk and heating in increments until the drink is warm, mixed and smooth.