Avoid Clumpy Hot Chocolate With This Ingredient Swap

A rich mug of steaming hot chocolate is one of the most comforting treats you can give yourself, and that means you'll want to make any ingredient swap you can to avoid anything that will sully that joy. The most basic choices for hot chocolate are things like milk versus water, or how sweet you want it, but despite only involving a few ingredients there are actually a lot of choices you can make for yourself. You can add depth with a little vanilla, or make it creamier with a dash of cornstarch, and of course, you have a lot to think about when it comes to chocolate. Classic American hot chocolate is hot cocoa from powder or a packet, and while that is quick and convenient, it can also mean a less smooth or even clumpy brew. That's why, for one of many reasons, you should consider using chocolate bars instead.

While it may take a little longer than whisking in a powder, melting chunks of chocolate into hot milk ensures the creamiest, smoothest cup of hot chocolate you've ever had. All it takes is a few minutes of lightly simmering your milk, adding the chocolate, and slowly whisking until the chocolate melts and the mixture comes back to a simmer. Not only will you avoid clumps, but the additional cocoa butter in bar chocolate will make it your beverage extra silky and decadent.

The texture alone is a good reason to switch to chocolate bars in your hot chocolate, but there is even more reason to use it. The other big advantage is that you can customize your hot chocolate much easier with chocolate chunks. Most cocoa powders made for hot chocolate already have quite a bit of sugar in them, so managing the sweetness is tough. With powders, you also have less choice over what kind of chocolate goes into it, and chocolate is a product where you can have lots of different subtle flavors, from fruity to nutty, depending on where and how it's produced. By using chocolate chunks you can go as dark or sugary as you like and find your favorite bars for all kinds of amazing tasting notes and complexity.

Of course, you don't need to be limited to bars either. Nibs or chocolate chips and any other form of non-powdered chocolate will serve you well. As a baseline, you should start with about 4 ounces of unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate per 2 cups of milk, and then add sugar or other sweeteners to taste. From there, you can try adding more chocolate for a thicker texture, or mix in some milk chocolate for more sugar. When you start using your favorite chocolate bar brands in your hot chocolate, the experimenting can be as fun as actually sipping it from your mug.