The Easy Ratio To Use When Swapping Powdered Sugar With Hot Cocoa Mix In Desserts

When you need a smooth, soft texture in an element of your dessert, powdered sugar is the way to go. Unlike granulated sugar, which is rough and crystallized, the powdered version can create the ideal consistency for glazes, sweet drinks, and dustings on desserts. While its texture is ideal, its straightforwardly sweet flavor is, admittedly, a little boring, so if you want to make a chocolate version of your glaze while keeping that lustrous consistency, swap powdered sugar out for hot cocoa mix instead.

This seemingly complicated replacement is made incredibly simple when you realize that you can sub in hot cocoa mix for powdered sugar at a 1:1 ratio. The reason this works? If you've ever made a cup of hot chocolate using a little packet, you know that the consistency is as finely ground as powdered sugar. Plus, these mixtures typically already include powdered sugar along with cocoa powder and powdered milk. Since we're not relying on this ingredient for anything other than flavor and texture (unlike we would with baking soda to make our desserts rise), you don't need to get too technical here beyond the basic substitution ratio.

Swapping hot cocoa mix for powdered sugar is ideal for infusing chocolatey flavor into your desserts, but there are a few things to remember when doing so. Keep in mind that there are a multitude of flavors out there, from salted caramel to peppermint to cherry, which can add delicious depth to your dessert. Also be wary of packets that have bulkier items in them, like marshmallows, which will upset the smooth consistency that you're going for (although you can always sift them out). If you make your own hot cocoa mix, you can avoid any potential artificial ingredients in store-bought boxes.

This swap is ideal for frostings, glazes, and icings where you can simply stir in your blend without a major change to your dessert. If you want a chocolatey dusting for croissants, pancakes, beignets, or cakes, you can use hot cocoa mix for a seamless substitution. Feel free to also use these packets for any treats that you'd normally roll in powdered sugar, like puppy chow, snowball cookies, and truffles. However, since many hot chocolate mixes contain dairy (in the form of powdered milk), you won't want to serve these particular desserts to your vegan friends.