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Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

drinks· Holiday Favorites

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Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate – A yummy, comforting hot chocolate, with a special new addition: creamy peanut butter! Ready in less than 10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate with marshmallows on topYa,’ll, guess what?! It’s finally cold here! Woohoo! Remember last month when I was complaining about the 80-degree temps? No longer! Yesterday it was a high of 40 degrees. Yessssss! And, of course, I busted out my tall boots, scarf, and gloves to welcome in the freezing temps. I love it!

Now that it’s cold, I’ve been craving some hot chocolate. There are so many yummy variations of hot chocolate: peppermint, salted caramel, white hot chocolate…you name it! But I need something that really spoke to me.

Back when I made these Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies, I talked about my obsession with peanut butter and chocolate. It’s a combo that cannot be beat. So my decision was easy: I HAD to make a peanut butter hot chocolate.

peanut butter hot chocolate in a christmas mug with marshmallows and a peanut butter drizzle peanut butter hot chocolate drizzled with peanut butter and chocolate syrup

Growing up, the only hot chocolate I knew came in a packet and you added hot water to it to make hot chocolate. I had no idea you could easily make this from scratch. All it takes it hot milk and cocoa and (sometimes) sugar. But for this version, we don’t use any added sugar because there is enough in the chocolate chips that we’ll also add. So all we need is chocolate chips, creamy peanut butter, cocoa powder and milk. That’s it!

I cannot stress how much I love this peanut butter hot chocolate. It’s got the perfect accent of peanut butter without loosing the chocolate flavor. I added marshmallows to mine, which gave the hot chocolate a little extra sweetness. And when the marshmallows get warm, they softened up and melt in your mouth. So decadent!

Spoonful of Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, marshmallows, peanut butter and chocolate syrup peanut butter hot chocolate with the peanut butter drizzle and chocolate syrup mixed in

Before you get started on your own peanut butter hot chocolate, I have some tips for you to ensure this hot chocolate comes out perfectly:

  1. When heating up the chocolate chips and peanut butter, be very careful not to overheat – this will cause the chocolate to harden up.
  2. To make sure the chocolate and peanut butter blend easily into the milk, slowly add the milk into the chocolate and peanut butter mixture. I didn’t do that the first time so I had to whisk for a few minutes to help them blend together. So don’t worry if you have to do the same. Just keep whisking until you don’t see chocolate pieces floating around. Trust me, they’ll eventually smooth out.
  3. You can top your hot chocolate with whatever you want: whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate chips, chopped peanut butter cups, peanut butter chips. The list is endless! I used marshmallows, chocolate sauce, and peanut butter sauce. To make the peanut butter sauce, all you do is microwave a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter sauce for 20 seconds or until smooth. Simple as that!
  4. This recipe makes 4 cups of hot chocolate. But I only served it for my husband and I so we had some leftover. I simply added the leftovers to a food storage container and refrigerated it. I microwaved a cup of it the next day and it tasted just as good. I would say that this would keep good in the fridge for about 5 days.

Well, there you have it! My favorite hot chocolate recipe. And I hope it will be your favorite too! What other hot drinks do you like to have during the winter? Let me know if the comments below!

Here are all the kitchen tools and serveware that I used in this post. For each item that is sold, I receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting the brands that support CPA!

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zoomed in shot of Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate
Print Recipe

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

A yummy, comforting hot chocolate, with a special new addition: creamy peanut butter! Ready in less than 10 minutes.
Cook Time10 mins
Total Time10 mins
Servings: 4 cups

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
  • 32 ounces milk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup mini-marshmallows (for topping)

Instructions

  • Turn on stove to medium heat. Add chocolate chips and peanut butter. Stir together with whisk until melted and smooth. Be careful not to let it get too hot or it will harden.
  • Very slowly, whisk in milk. The slower you do it, the easier it will be to incorporate into the chocolate-peanut butter mixture. Keep whisking until all the chocolate is mixed into the milk. This may take 1-2 minutes.
  • Add in cocoa powder and whisk until mixed into milk mixture.
  • Keep cooking until the mixture begins to froth on top. Check temperature. If full warmed-through, turn off heat and serve. Top with marshmallows and chocolate sauce and/or melted peanut butter. You can also add chopped peanut butter cups.

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate photo collage

More recipes you’ll enjoy:

Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies

reese's pieces peanut butter cookies with Reese's pieces scattered around them

Monster Cookies (Peanut Butter Oatmeal with M&Ms)

monster cookies made of peanut butter oatmeal and m&m's

Cinnamon Maple Latte

Cinnamon Maple Latte topped with whipped cream and roasted pecans

Comments

  6. Kate says

    I have to admit, I’ve never in my life made REAL hot chocolate… but this flavor combination sounds so tempting, I just may have to give it a try!

    Reply

  8. Jolina says

    I love hot chocolate and peanut butter so I don’t know why this idea has not hit me years ago! This looks fantastic. And perfect for today, it’s snowing!

    Reply

  12. Melissa says

    Stop!!! OMG I am drooling, I love everything about this hot chocolate recipe! Especially the peanut butter part (ha!!!) I cannot wait to make this one!

    Reply

    • Sharon says

      I know right?! It just came to me one day and I couldn’t believe how few recipes I found on Pinterest so I just made my own

      Reply

  25. Hannah says

    Oh my gosh, I think you just went into my head and dragged out my DREAM recipe. This sounds absolutely incredible and totally something I never would even have thought to do. Thanks for sharing this!! I’ll definitely be making this!

    Reply

  28. Clarissa says

    Just pinned this to a bunch of different holiday boards – it looks AMAZING! I too am a huge fan of peanut butter & chocolate (isn’t everyone?!) I’ll definitely be whipping these up tonight while we decorate our tree (I know, we’re super late on that one…)

    -Clarissa @ The View From Here

    Reply

  30. Rebecca Hicks says

    Wow I don’t think I’ve ever seen hot chocolate that looks that decadent and delicious before. I pinned before I even finished reading… Can’t wait to try making homemade cocoa!!

    Reply

  35. Sharee Hill says

    Great Idea to add the peanut butter for all of us peanut butter lovers out there! I can just imagine what this would taste like as the marshmallows and peanut butter starts to melt and blend into the cocoa.

    Reply

  43. Francesca says

    No way! This look so good! We’ll be trying this recipe out for sure! Anything peanut butter I’m in love with !

    Reply

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