A Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Board makes it easy for your holiday guests to make their own rich and delicious drink recipe.
A classic Charcuterie Board is the perfect party platter made with meat, cheese, crackers, and fruit. Instead of that classic snack board, you can try the same idea to make everyone’s favorite cold weather Drink Recipe easy to customize.
Sabrina’s Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Board Recipe
This classic Hot Chocolate Recipe is the perfect holiday treat or cozy winter warm-up drink to enjoy all through the cold months. Nothing will make you feel better after a hard day like the perfect mug of creamy hot chocolate. This Board would also be the star of any party. It could even make a wonderful and memorable gift to present to your co-workers, neighbors, or friends.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Hot Chocolate
- 3 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate , 60% cacao, broken into pieces
- 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate , 70% cacao, broken into pieces
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup liqueur , such as Kahlua, Frangelico or Baileys; optional
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Accompaniments:
- Hard peppermint candies
- Cookies
- Fudge
- Caramels
- Marshmallows
- Other accompaniments as desired
Instructions
- Heat and combine hot chocolate ingredients.
- Arrange mix-ins, stirrers, and hot chocolate accompaniments on the board.
- Place mugs on the side.
Nutrition
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Table of contents
About this Recipe
Not only does it make a delicious treat, but hot chocolate is also easy to customize with marshmallows, whipped cream, peppermint, cinnamon, and sprinkles in holiday colors. So, this year you can take this family holiday tradition up a notch. Make this beautiful and festive Charcuterie Board, and everyone can have fun making a customized mug of cocoa. Arranging this Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Board is almost as much fun as drinking hot chocolate. Plus, this fun party platter is a hit with both adults and kids.
Key Ingredients
- Hot Cocoa Mix: You can make the perfect Hot Chocolate recipe with an amazing creamy flavor. All you need is dutch processed cocoa powder, maple syrup, chocolate pieces, vanilla, and heavy cream. Once you’ve tried this incredible version, you’ll never want to go back to store-bought hot chocolate packets.
- Milk: Adding warm milk and heavy whipping cream turns the hot cocoa mix into the perfect mug of rich cocoa.
- Liqueur: Adding liqueur to your drink is completely optional. If you want to Kahlua, Frangelico, or Baileys would taste amazing in the holiday drink. You could set the bottles out next to the Board along with 1-ounce shot glasses. This will allow your guests to add to their choice of liqueur in small increments until they reach their desired taste.
- Hot Cocoa Toppings: There are so many toppings and decorations to add to the board. Crushed hard peppermint candy, marshmallows, cinnamon sticks, sprinkles, and more all make good toppings. You can also use pretzel rods and whole candy canes as hot chocolate stir sticks.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Arrange Board: When arranging any Charcuterie Board, you want to start by adding your biggest items. For this dessert board, some items are best in bowls, like mini marshmallows, peppermint candies, chocolate-covered pretzel rods, dark chocolate pieces, white chocolate pieces, and coconut flakes. Place those dishes on the Charcuterie Board first. Then you can fill in the gaps with candies, cookies, caramels, decorative marshmallows, and any other additions you like until all the blank spaces are filled.
- Color Scheme: You can create your board to have a particular color scheme by adding marshmallows, dried fruits, candies, cookies, or sprinkles in the shades of your choice. A blue or a pink color scheme, for example, would look beautiful alongside the rich natural chocolate colors. Choosing bowls and mugs in matching colors will finish off the look of your board nicely.
- Tip: In order to obtain the same look for your board, be sure to keep each of the same ingredients together. If you try to spread and mix ingredients it just makes the board look messy.
How to Store
- Serve: It doesn’t take long to put this Hot Chocolate Board together. So, when possible, I’d recommend just arranging it right before you plan to serve.
- Store: If you want to get the board ready in advance, you can cover it and leave the board at room temperature overnight. Just be sure to leave the cream and any other dairy ingredients in the fridge. Then add them to the Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Board right before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you want to arrange your Hot Chocolate Platter ahead of your party, you definitely can. Keep the Hot Chocolate in a crockpot so that it stays warm and tastes fresh when your guests arrive. Arrange everything else on the board as you’d like. As long as your house isn’t warm enough to melt the chocolates and other candies, you can leave the board at room temperature. Otherwise, put it in the fridge.
If you’re taking this recipe to a potluck or another party outside of your house, transporting it can seem tricky, but it is possible. The key is to put foil under the board before you arrange it. Then cover any bowls or containers with plastic wrap. Finally, wrap the foil over the top, and do your best to carry the board flat.
Charcuterie Boards look amazing on wood boards of any tone. The finish is really a matter of personal preference. You can use round boards that are just for display. You could even use your cutting board. If you have a cheese board already, you can use that. Some boards have a combination of materials like a wood frame and edge, with a ceramic center that would look nice.
Variations
- Hot Chocolate Bombs: Instead of making a hot chocolate mix and preparing the cocoa in a slow cooker, you could make Hot Chocolate Bombs. Hot Chocolate Bombs look amazing on the Hot Chocolate Board, and they’re an easy way for everyone to make their own mug. For this version, you can have warm milk to the side for everyone to pour over the Hot Chocolate Bomb.
- Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate: One popular way to flavor hot chocolate is with a drizzle of caramel sauce and a sprinkle of sea salt over the top of the drink.
- Homemade Accompaniments: A Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Board is also a great way to serve festive cookies and homemade candies. You can fill blank spots on the board with different kinds of cookies like sugar cookies, gingerbread men, and Butter Cookies. Homemade Candies like Chocolate Fudge are also great additions.
- Items for Dipping: You can add more items to your Charcuterie Board that will taste great dipped in the hot chocolate. Chocolate hazelnut wafers, doughnuts, churros, Krispy cereal treats, or graham crackers would all taste delicious.
Related Recipes
More Yummy Chocolate Desserts
Photos used in previous versions of the post:
Oh, My! You’ve outdone yourself.
LOL…So glad you loved the Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Board Peggy and thanks for the five star review. Happy Holidays!