The Creamiest Hot Chocolate Starts With An Unexpected Frozen Ingredient

Hot chocolate is one of the quintessential winter treats to enjoy when temperatures are low, and it is beloved for being a simple yet delicious recipe to make at home. Despite this, many seek ways to make hot chocolate richer, sweeter, or creamier to suit their tastes better. When it comes to getting a truly creamy cup of hot chocolate in particular, your best option actually comes in the form of the most iconic summertime treat in the world: Ice cream is the true secret ingredient to making the creamiest hot chocolate you possibly can, while also potentially boosting the drink's overall sweetness at the same time.

Now, while we all know and love ice cream for being an ideal chilly treat to keep us cool during the summer, it doesn't typically retain its temperature when used in hot chocolate. While you can make your hot chocolate better by pouring it over a scoop of cold ice cream to create a drink known as the hot chocolate affogato, most will suggest softening and melting your ice cream alongside the cocoa powder, sugar, milk, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. This provides a drink with the heat of your everyday hot chocolate but the added flavor and texture of your favorite ice cream. In terms of ingredient ratios, your best bet is to put in about equal parts milk and ice cream, though you can utilize a 1:2 ice cream to milk ratio if you wish.

Now, beyond the addition of melted ice cream giving your hot chocolate one of the best textural enhancements it can possibly get, it also opens up the classic dessert drink to many different flavor upgrades and adjustments that you're sure to enjoy. For starters, Moose Tracks — one of the most popular ice cream flavors in America — is itself a major proponent of adding ice cream to hot chocolate, having its own recommended recipe for Melted Moose Tracks Hot Chocolate on its website. This is arguably the most all-encompassing flavor you can possibly add to hot chocolate, as it includes vanilla ice cream, chocolate fudge, and peanut butter cups, all of which will undoubtedly lend tremendous flavors to your warm beverage.

You can also double down on chocolate with your choice of ice cream — something that can arguably be accomplished best using something like Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. Alternatively, finding flavors that will bring something new to the table for the drink might just be the key to your new favorite hot chocolate recipe. Two great options for this are mint ice cream and cherry ice cream, both of which work quite well with chocolate as a flavor while still being incredibly distinct from it.