These hot chocolate bombs are so much fun! These are my Grinch peppermint-flavored bombs. If you haven’t heard of them before and wonder why they are called bombs, it’s because they melt in hot milk and the marshmallows pop out and float to the top of the hot chocolate.
Supplies You Will Need
These hot chocolate bombs are made with melted chocolate that is “painted” into half-sphere (also called semi-spheres and half-ball) silicone molds. I used a mold with 2 1/2-inch holes because it will hold an ample amount of hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, and anything else you want to add to it.
I tinted white chocolate with gel food colorings. To get a Grinch color, use green food coloring and just a little yellow. You just eyeball the color until you get it the way you want it. I added a few drops of peppermint essential oil to the chocolate because I wanted peppermint hot chocolate.
When working with melted chocolate, you have to be careful what you add to it or it can seize up and become stiff and unworkable. I find that the gel colorings that aren’t liquid work the best so I use coloring that comes in little pots. I have had problems adding extracts to flavor white chocolate so I only use food-grade essential oil which has never caused a problem.
How to Make the Balls
After you melt the chocolate and add the coloring and peppermint oil, spoon paint the chocolate into the molds. You don’t want the chocolate too thin or it might break when you try to remove it. However, you don’t want the chocolate too thick either because it takes longer to melt in hot milk and can also add too much sweetness to your hot chocolate.
After painting on the chocolate, place the mold in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes so that it hardens. Then remove the mold from the refrigerator and peel it away from the chocolate and press the bottom of the mold to release the chocolate half spheres. The outside of the half-spheres will be shiny and very smooth. The insides do not have to be perfect because they will be hidden when finished.
Now the fun begins! Add 2 tablespoons of hot chocolate mix, some marshmallows, and a little finely crushed candy cane dust. I placed a candy heart in these Grinch bombs! But mini red heart marshmallows would be even better. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any when I made these. Maybe a better time to look for them is around Valentine’s Day.
After filling one of the half-spheres, it is time to add the other half. You can melt some of the leftover green chocolate and paint it on the edge of the top half-sphere. The melted chocolate will act as glue.
Another quick way to make chocolate glue is to heat a nonstick frying pan and place an empty sphere for a few seconds in the hot pan. The edge of the half-sphere will melt. Quickly pick up the half-sphere and place it on top of the filled half-sphere and press them together so they stick. If there are any cracks, “paint” them with some leftover melted chocolate to seal the cracks. Then smooth the ball by wiping away any melted chocolate on the seam.
Decorating the Balls
Now you are ready to decorate the tops of the balls. I melted a little white chocolate and added pink coloring. A tip to make the chocolate thinner is to add a little vegetable oil and stir the chocolate until it is a thinner consistency for striping the tops of the balls.
Another tip for decorating the tops is to put the melted chocolate into a zipper lunch-size bag. Then snip off a small piece of the bag corner. This eliminates the need for a decorating tip, and because we thinned the chocolate with a little vegetable oil, the bag decorating method will work just as well.
Using a back and forward motion, stripe the tops of the balls. Then working quickly before the chocolate sets, add sprinkles and decorations. I added a little peppermint dust to the top too.
To keep the spheres from rolling around, place them into a regular-sized cupcake paper. It is functional and also makes a pretty presentation.
You can make hot chocolate bombs in other flavors. You can use milk or dark chocolate and create your own fun flavors by adding ingredients inside the ball with the hot chocolate mix. Enjoy!
To see my other Grinch posts, click the links below:
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 1-2 minutes |
| Passive Time | 5-10 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1 1/4 cups (divided) white chocolate chips
- 3-4 drops food-grade peppermint essential oil
- green food coloring
- Yellow food coloring
- 8 tablespoons milk or dark hot chocolate mix
- pink food coloring
- Sprinkles
- Marshmallows
- Finely crushed candy cane dust
- 4 medium-sized red candy heart sprinkles
- 2 1/2 inch (cavities) half-sphere silicon mold (This recipe will make 8 half spheres or 4 finished balls)
- vegetable oil
Ingredients
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- In a microwave-safe dish, heat 1 cup of chocolate for 30-second intervals until melted, stirring after each interval.
- Add the essential oil and stir. Add a little green food coloring and a smaller amount of yellow. Stir, and add additional coloring until the desired green Grinch color is achieved.
- With a spoon, paint the inside of the spheres, taking care to paint all the way to the edge. Gravity will sometimes pull the chocolate from the top, so check after coating all the half-spheres to make sure the chocolate is all the way up to the top edge. If there are thin spots of chocolate, recoat them. Thin spots can easily break, yet you do not want the chocolate too thick either. You do not have to grease the mold.
- When all of the half-spheres are "painted" with chocolate, place the mold in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate. This will take 5-10 minutes.
- When hardened, remove the chocolate from the mold by peeling the mold away from the chocolate and then press the bottom of it to release the bottom of the sphere, being careful not to break the chocolate.
- Add 2 tablespoons of hot chocolate powder to half of the spheres. Add mini marshmallows if desired and 1/4 teaspoon of finely crushed candy cane powder. Add a candy heart.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan until it is warm enough to melt chocolate. Place an empty half-sphere in the pan, rim side down until the chocolate edge starts to melt. This will only take a couple of seconds. Remove the half-sphere from the pan and place it on a half-sphere already filled with hot chocolate. The melted edge will act as chocolate glue and seal the sphere. Add a little leftover melted chocolate to seal any holes around the edge. Wipe off any extra chocolate.
- Melt 1/4 cup of chocolate in the microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval. Add pink gel food coloring to the chocolate until the desired color is achieved. Add a few drops of vegetable oil to the chocolate to thin it for piping. Place the chocolate in a plastic sandwich zipper bag and snip off a small corner for piping.
- Using a back and forth motion, pipe stripes onto 1 ball one at a time. Quickly, before the chocolate sets, place sprinkles on the top. Repeat for all the balls.
- To serve, place a ball in a large mug. Slowly pour 1 1/2 cups of hot milk on top of the ball, melting it with the milk. If the sphere doesn't fully melt and the marshmallows pop out, use a spoon to rotate the sphere. When the chocolate melts enough, the marshmallows will pop out of the ball.
Wilton gel food colorings used include lemon yellow, leaf green, and rose.
Dottera Peppermint Essential Oil used.
How to Adjust the Sweetness
- Use more or less milk to adjust the sweetness to your taste.
- Reduce the amount of hot chocolate in the sphere.ย Then adjust the milk to taste.