Alton Brown's Hot Cocoa Mix

Sometimes I want something easier and lighter than homemade hot chocolate made with milk and cream. That's when I turn to my version of Alton Brown's Hot Cocoa Mix - the only hot cocoa mix I ever make. It's quick to put together, not overly sweet, and made with real ingredients.

I love that I can make it as sweet, or not sweet, as I want. Because I use powdered milk (affiliate link) and skip ultra-processed ingredients like non-dairy creamer, it's about as wholesome as you can get!

I've been making this recipe since at least 2008 with small tweaks throughout the years, and its dark hot chocolate flavor makes grocery store hot cocoa packets taste tooth-achingly sweet. My latest adjustments make this the best version yet, with an even smoother, richer taste.

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Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Hot Cocoa Mix
• Ingredients
• Why I Use a Food Processor
• Step 1: Make Hot Cocoa Mix
• Step 2: Prepare a Mug of Hot Cocoa
• Storage and Shelf Life
• Why Use Powdered Milk Instead of Creamer?
• Fun Flammability Fact
• Recommended Products
• Hot Cocoa Mix FAQ
• Other Cozy Winter Recipes
• My Other Favorite Food Gifts
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients

I tried a lot of hot cocoa recipes when I started this website, but I kept returning to Alton Brown's recipe, the standard by which I judged all other recipes. I love the adjustments I've made to his classic recipe, and I think you will too.

• Powdered milk
• Powdered sugar
• Cocoa powder
• Cornstarch
• Salt (not pictured)
• Miniature chocolate chips

Let's break it down.

Powdered or Instant Dry Milk

We use powdered milk (affiliate link) (non-fat dry milk) so that you can stir hot cocoa mix with hot or boiling water, rather than hot milk. Alton Brown used whole-fat dry milk in his recipe, but I've never, ever found that in a grocery store. Some other recipes use non-dairy creamer instead of dry milk, but I don't like the taste or ingredients - so much that I've got a whole section on it below.

Sugar and Cornstarch

Our sweetener is powdered sugar. Its fine texture dissolves better than granulated sugar, and it contains cornstarch to make it free-flowing.

Additional cornstarch thickens the cup of prepared hot cocoa. I doubled the amount from Alton Brown's proportions. This gives it a nicer mouthfeel, a slight creaminess, so it doesn't feel thin or watery; it takes a few minutes for this to develop while the hot cocoa cools. That said, skip the cornstarch if you run out.

Cocoa Powder Options

We use unsweetened cocoa powder instead of chocolate because it dissolves better than chocolate does in hot water. Brand doesn't matter; I've used Saco, Hershey, Target, Trader Joe's, and Wellesley Farms (BJ's) brands. Dutched versus natural cocoa doesn't matter. If you're using sweetened cocoa powder, just mix it with milk, and skip this recipe.

Chocolate

The biggest change I've made from the original recipe is to add miniature chocolate chips. Brand doesn't matter; I often use a store brand.

I resisted this addition for a long time, but no longer. Adding chocolate to the mix adds body, flavor, and texture from the fat in the chocolate. As I've gotten older, I found the hot cocoa was tasting flat - likely from a lack of fat. Adding chocolate fixes this, and I enjoy drinking simple hot cocoa again.

Flavor Add-Ins

• Cayenne Pepper (tested) - Alton Brown included a pinch, for heat and warmth; I found it overwhelming.
• Vanilla Extract (tested) - ¼ teaspoon adds depth of flavor.
• Ground Cinnamon or Almond Extract (not tested) - ¼ teaspoon of either might be nice, but I haven't tried it yet.
• Peppermint Extract (not recommended) - Overwhelming when I tried it.

Why I Use a Food Processor

You can simply mix all the ingredients together, sure. However, the powdered milk (affiliate link) will dissolve better when you make a cup of hot cocoa if you use a food processor or a bullet blender. In fact, this is a small-batch amount to make 7 mugs of mix, perfectly sized for my bullet blender (affiliate link)!

It's even more important to use a food processor when adding actual chocolate. Chocolate only dissolves in hot water when it's very finely ground; otherwise, we have large clumps of chocolate that settle onto the bottoms of our mugs. That's also why I use miniature, not regular-sized, chocolate chips. Finely grated chocolate should work too, but grating chocolate seems like work to me.

Although this batch is sized for a bullet blender, I often use a food processor to make it now. It grinds better in the full-sized food processor if you make a double batch.

Step 1: Make Hot Cocoa Mix

The hot cocoa mix takes less than 5 minutes to assemble. As I've said, the mix dissolve best if you use a food processor or bullet blender (affiliate link).

Step 2: Prepare a Mug of Hot Cocoa

To make a cup of cocoa, put 3 tablespoons (or 25 grams) of ground mix in a heat-safe mug. Add 8 ounces (1 cup) of boiling water. The boiling, not just hot, water is important because it helps melt the chocolate and dissolve the powdered milk (affiliate link), which can be hard to dissolve otherwise. Stir well.

This cocoa will thicken slightly a little after a minute or two, but it isn't thick. It will become thicker toward the bottom as it cools, so be sure to stir occasionally as you drink it.

If the flavor is too dark chocolatey for you, you can add a few (or a lot of) marshmallows to lighten it up. Store-bought marshmallows are fine, but my Homemade Marshmallows or Chocolate Marshmallows are excellent toppings!

Storage and Shelf Life

I store hot cocoa mix in cleaned jam jars or mason jars. The lids screw on, meaning less mess, and it's easy to write instructions on them with a permanent marker.

Empty cocoa powder containers work too; many plastic ones are dishwasher safe. The lid can come off if the container is jostled, however, so it's not the best solution for gifting or transporting.

Hot cocoa mix will last as long as your powdered milk (affiliate link) is good. Cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and cornstarch don't usually go bad quite like dairy do.

Recommended Products

Here are the products and items I've used to make cocoa mix over the years. Most things work interchangeably, but you can use this as a starting point.

• Bullet blender (affiliate link) - Perfect for making a small batch for 7 mugs of cocoa.
• Powdered milk - Shoprite, Target, Carnation powdered milk (affiliate link) all worked interchangeably.
• Powdered sugar - Any store brand works.
• Cocoa Powders I've Used - Saco cocoa (affiliate link), Hershey's cocoa (affiliate link), Trader Joe's, Target, Wellsley Farms (BJ's brand). All are fine.
• Miniature Chocolate Chips - Size matters more than brand. Smaller is better. I used Target brand when I made it last.
• Storage - Cleaned plastic cocoa containers work for home storage, but they aren't pretty and lids can be loose. For gifting or shipping, mason jars or cleaned glass jam jars look better and seal more securely.

Other Cozy Winter Recipes

Here's some of my other favorite recipes to make around holidays and during cold weather.

My Other Favorite Food Gifts

Hot cocoa mix sometimes sneaks into my food gifts. Here's some of my other favorite recipes for gifting:

Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.

Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)

📖 Recipe

[Originally posted December 11, 2011. Rewritten recipe, content, and photos in November 2018; completely restructured, and recipe revised, November 17, 2025.]