Thick, luscious drinking chocolate for those who LOVE PB & chocolate! Do I really need to say much to sell you guys this hot chocolate recipe? There’s a reason why peanut butter and chocolate are an incomparable combo. And hot chocolate is a decadent and easy chocolate dessert to satisfy any chocolate craving! There’s something truly wonderful about a homemade hot chocolate on a cold winter day. While an authentic French hot chocolate is what I’d opt for for a particularly creamy and luscious drinking chocolate, I also can’t resist that ever classic flavor combo of chocolate and peanut butter. Adding peanut butter to hot chocolate makes this drink extra irresistible. It’s naturally gluten free and can be made vegan as well. This peanut butter hot chocolate recipe is almost like liquid reeses peanut butter cup, but even better!
Why you’ll love this peanut butter hot chocolate
Made with semisweet chocolate and cocoa powder, so it’s not too sweet. A thick hot chocolate that is so satisfying to drink. Got that lovely flavor of peanut butter, without being overwhelming. Easy to make. You can make it for just one or for many. Easily adaptable to make it vegan or dairy free.
This recipe is super easy to make, so let’s get right to it.
How to make peanut butter hot chocolate
Place the milk (or plant based milk) in a saucepan (a small saucepan for 1 or 2 servings). Add peanut butter and chocolate, along with the cocoa powder, salt, and honey. Heat the milk over medium heat, while stirring to dissolve the cocoa powder and chocolate. I prefer not to let the milk come to a boil, so I just whisk the milk until it’s steaming (about 170 – 180 F). Optional – use a frothing wand to create some froth in the peanut butter hot chocolate. Pour into a big mug and top it with whatever you like! Voilà. Very simple and very delicious.
Topping options for peanut butter hot chocolate
Peanut butter whipped cream – Add some peanut butter and powdered sugar to heavy cream and whip. Then top your warm PB hot chocolate with this peanut butter whipped cream. Peanut butter cups – Add some peanut butter cups on top. They will soften and melt into the drink (unless you get to them before they melt of course). Chocolate sauce – Double dose of chocolate with extra chocolate sauce on top.
Ingredient substitutions
I use a mix of cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate. This way I don’t need any sugar. The combination of both makes this hot chocolate very chocolatey AND thickens the drink too. But you can make substitutions to make this recipe even easier. If you’re not feeling like making your own homemade hot chocolate mix, then you can make a hot chocolate or hot cocoa with a store-bought mix. Add enough mix for 2 cups of milk and the amount of peanut butter in the recipe. There is no sugar in the recipe because I use semisweet chocolate. But you can use bittersweet chocolate instead as well. If you want to sweeten your peanut butter hot chocolate, you can use regular sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar or even stevia. (See my detailed guide on types of sugar and how they work in recipes for more information.) To keep this vegan, use a plant based milk. I love oat milk or cashew milk, but coconut milk, or almond milk will work too. Also make sure to use dairy free dark chocolate. Use smooth natural peanut butter for best results. If you only have peanut butter with added sugar, you can use that instead but do note the drink will be sweeter. You can use crunchy peanut butter if that’s all you have. But don’t forget to strain the peanut butter hot chocolate to remove any chunky peanut pieces. Don’t skip the sea salt. You can reduce it if you like. It helps balance the sweetness.
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