Hot Chocolate Dip
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This Creamy Hot Chocolate Dip is swirled with melty marshmallows. It’s the perfect four ingredient dessert for holiday parties!
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I’ve always wanted to be a party planning goddess. I’d love to be the girl with the immaculate house, gorgeous tablescape, carefully curated playlist, party dress and red lipstick. The cold, hard truth is, I’m not that girl. My house has fur balls frolicking in the corner and a pack and play in the dining room. When you show up, I’ll likely still be in sweat pants with a pot holder on one hand. The music will be my iPod on shuffle, which means you’ll get Michael Buble sandwiched right next to “Bye, Bye, Bye.”
It’s taken time, but each year I become a little more comfortable with the kind of hostess I am, not the one I wish I could be. The dust bunnies used to keep me from inviting people over at all, and I used to take weeks to plan a menu I felt was worthy of company. Now, I realize it’s not about having everything perfect. It’s about the gathering. The people. The act of crowding around a table and enjoying the magical combination of good food and better conversation.
Of course, I’ve also learned a few tricks along the way to make me feel slightly less like the harried hostess. One of those tricks? Keep it simple. Don’t make a recipe you’ve never tried before, and save that four layer cake for a lazy Saturday. Instead, stick to your tried and true favorites, and choose something that’s universally loved and adored.
For me, that’s this Hot Chocolate Dip. Who can resist a giant bowl of bubbly warm chocolate swirled with melty marshmallows? It’s creamy and sweet and compulsively dippable. Plop this four ingredient dip in the center of a table, and everyone will be crowding around in no time. You can customize it to your tastes by adding a few drops of mint extract or sprinkling in some cinnamon or cayenne pepper. Then pair it with your favorite dippers–strawberries, bananas, graham crackers, and of course marshmallows, and you have the perfect party dessert. Make it ahead of time to make your life even easier. Who knows, you may even have time to put on makeup!
My second trick for simple party planning? Grab a few coordinated accessories and serving bowls. Fun picks, pretty disposable plates, decorated straws, or patterned napkins can make you feel like a party planning extraordinaire. Restaurantware has an amazing collection of products perfect for holiday gatherings. From elegant bamboo plates to perfect parfait cups, they have everything you need to add some pizazz to your next party. One of my personal favorites is fun picks for meatballs, meat candy, or dippers. The bamboo twig picks are great for dunking marshmallows in this hot chocolate dip, and their adorable mini casserole dishes kept my graham crackers, marshmallows, and pretzels nice and cozy until they were ready for a swim in the chocolate pool.
With a few fun accessories and this easy recipe, you’ll be ready to throw the party of the year. Trust me, with this hot chocolate dip is around, no one will even notice the dust bunnies.
Hot Chocolate Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 16 ounces semi sweet or milk chocolate chips
- 1 cup mini marshmallows (+ more for serving)
- Strawberries, bananas, pretzels, graham crackers, marshmallows for dipping
Instructions
- Heat the milk and cream in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat until tiny bubbles appear on the surface. Stir in the vanilla, chocolate chips, and marshmallow. Continue to cook until the chips and marshmallows have melted, stirring often.
- If desired flavor the dip with peppermint extract, cinnamon, or a touch of chile powder for heat.
Notes
- Serve the dip warm topped with mini marshmallows and strawberries, bananas, pretzels, graham crackers, and marshmallows for dipping.
Nutrition
This recipe was developed in partnership with Restaurantware. As always, all opinions are my own.
So – would this be possible to take to a work party? I.e. make the night before and then reheat in a crockpot for a few hours?
Hmmm…I don’t think it would do great in a crock pot but I do think you could make it ahead of time, refrigerate, and then reheat in the microwave right before serving. It’d probably need a few minutes, stirring every 45 seconds or so.
Does this dip harden as it is cooled?
Hi Rebecca,
Yes, it will get thick and less dippable as it cools.
I used to want to be that organized host too but I’m not. I still scramble at the last minute and forget about those dust bunnies. We just say we are trying to grow another pug in the corner. 🙂 This dip though, this makes up for everything.
Haha! That’s the best excuse! I might borrow that one!
This is so cute!! I”m all about dipping those bananas I see in the corner. 🙂
I am so not that girl. I’m more the wing-it-and-see-what-happens gal. This is one delicious bowl of dip and the perfect dessert for the holidays.
I seriously want to dive head first into that dip right now!
Seriously, girl. I’ve barely had breakfast here and now I want a big bowl of chocolate!
Michael Buble AND Justin Timberlake? You know, I’m pretty OK with that 😉
I think everyone stresses a little about having their house look perfect for entertaining, but the truth is, I’ve NEVER been to anybody’s house and though “gee, there’s dust in the corner.” No one cares! *Especially* when you distract them with hot chocolate dip, right?
So true! I always have to remind myself of that. No one cares about a dusty bookshelf when there’s chocolate to be eaten.