Neighbor Christmas Gift: Homemade Peppermint Hot Cocoa Bombs.
I wanted to give out hot cocoa bombs for neighbor gifts for Christmas but they are so expensive—costing about .75-$1.50 each (homemade) and $2.00-$5.00 each (store-bought).
I wanted to give neighbors more than one so I didn’t think they would fit into my ~$2.00 a neighbor Christmas gift budget.
I found, after a lot of research and number crunching, that you can make hot cocoa bombs very easily using candy melts or the cheaper version, Almond bark—in either vanilla (white) or chocolate (brown) affordably.
I tried it out and was very happy with how these almond bark peppermint hot cocoa bombs turned out.
They are so, so delicious; I couldn’t believe how yummy these tasted!
Not only are they delicious, they were easy to make, were not super fragile (we didn’t have one break), and they look beautiful.
I especially love the way they are packaged.
It looks so fancy/classy and costs just $2.05 for 5 peppermint hot cocoa bombs + packaging. The cost breakdown and supply list are located with more details further down this page.
Most of my neighbor’s Christmas gifts for around $2.00 are quick and easy. However this gift isn’t exactly “quick”. To make 5 per neighbor, depending on how many neighbors you give them to may take substantial time.
You’ll want to budget at least 10 minutes a gift. The more you make of these peppermint hot cocoa bombs the more quickly they are made.
Although it takes time, it is a very beautiful, impressive, and delicious neighbor Christmas gift to give.
If you are a hot cocoa bomb novice, don’t let the instructions and supply list below daunt you.
Just give yourself time for a few practice batches and in time you’ll become comfortable making these.
Also, the more hot cocoa bombs you make the more quickly they come together.
I bet after a few batches most people could make 5 hot cocoa bombs (one neighbor Christmas gift) in about 8 minutes.
So, it is doable and it will go even quicker if you have a great helper, like my daughter.
To make this gift even more streamlined, I made a free printable (large file download) that is available if you want to use it.
Supply List for this Neighbor Christmas Gift: Homemade Peppermint Hot Cocoa Bombs.
Vanilla Almond Bark 1 1/2 LB or Chocolate Almond Bark 1 1/2 LB. A 1 1/2 LB bar will make 15 medium-sized 1.5-1.8″ hot cocoa bombs. This is not chocolate and contrary to its name it does not have almonds. It is like a brick of candy melts but much more inexpensive than candy melts. The nice part about this almond bark is that it is very easy to work with. It melts easily and quickly and, does not require tempering, and makes the hot cocoa bombs pretty solid.
Note- Almond bark is sweet so I prefer to use dark hot cocoa powder mix to balance out the sweetness.
Hot chocolate mix powder 5 grams for each bomb. For the best tasting use Stephen’s Candy Cane Dark Hot Cocoa—it balances out the sweetness of the almond bark for an excellent taste. For the best price get whatever brand is on sale/bulk for less than $2.00 a pound. I prefer dark hot cocoa powder mix to balance the almond bark sweetness.
crushed candy/cane peppermint bits (optional)
edible glitter green and gold (optional)
new paint brush—we used a fan but any will do
silicone cocoa bomb molds 1.5″-1.8″ diameter
red gel food coloring (optional)
green gel food coloring (optional)
wash cloth
cookie sheet or two if you are making a lot of bombs
sandwich Ziploc bags (optional)
scissors
spoons
For the Presentation: I love the way these macaron boxes look with hot cocoa bombs in them!
Boxes-12×2¼x2 Inch white with clear window boxes the exact brand I used here
Shred red and gold crinkle cut paper I purchased if for .83 an ounce at Dollar Tree. I used 4 grams per gift
Cost Breakdown for this Neighbor Christmas Gift: Homemade Peppermint Hot Cocoa Bombs.
Vanilla Almond Bark or Chocolate Almond Bark 1 1/2 LB which makes 15 medium size 1.5″-1.8″ hot cocoa bombs. I found the bark for about the same price at Walmart and Target but with Target if you have a red card its cheaper at $3.32 (Target with 5% red discount) for 15 hot cocoa bombs/3= $1.10 for 5 hot cocoa bombs
Hot Cocoa for under $2.00 a pound or for about .10-.13 oz in order to make these as inexpensively as possible.
I.E. Sam’s Club has Swiss Miss hot cocoa for $7.68 for 76.5 oz or .10/oz.
You will be putting about 5 grams of hot cocoa in each bomb and so you can get 454 bombs out of a 4.78 LB container like this = .01 per bomb= .05 total per gift
crushed candy cane/ peppermint bits (optional) I found these for .40 cents an ounce (Kroger) = .01 cents a bomb x 5= .05 per gift
mini marshmallows $1.00 for a 10 oz bag. Put 4-5 marshmallows in a bomb= .02 x5= .10 per gift
edible glitter (optional) nominal less than .01 for 5 bombs.= .01 per gift
new paint brush (optional) .50/ 50 gifts= .01 per gift
silicone cocoa bomb molds 1.5″-1.8″ diameter I found mine on Temu for $2.57 /50 gifts= .05 per gift
red gel food coloring (optional). nominal = .01
green gel food coloring (optional). nominal cost =.01
Gift boxes 50 for $26.18= .52 each gift
Shred red and gold crinkle cut paper purchased for .83 an ounce at Dollar Tree 4 grams per gift = .10 each gift
white candy liners .02 for 5 found on Temu $4 for 1000= .02 per gift
gloves nominal = .01
wash cloth (one should have)= .00
hot pad (one should have)= .00
cookie sheet (one should have)= .00
2 sandwich sized ziploc bags (optional) (one should have)= .00
scissors (one should have)= .00
microwave safe bowls (one should have) = .00
spoons (one should have)= .00
free printable= .01
$2.05 total for 5 hot Cocoa bombs in a white package and decorative shred— if you shop with and get the prices I mentioned.
I realize that one may need to buy more than 1 silicone mold if they are mass producing these but then at the same time there are a lot of optional costs that one does not need to include if desired (peppermint bits, food coloring, edible glitter, etc.) so I took that into account.
Directions on how to make this Neighbor Christmas Gift: Homemade Peppermint Hot Cocoa Bombs.
Continue reading and/or watch the video and/or print out the recipe card below.
Preheat oven to 250°F and put two cookies sheets inside (you will alternate these so you always have one warm cookie sheet to work with while the other is in the oven).
Melt almond bark in the microwave and stir every minute until it is fully melted.
Then using a spoon, spread it around the mold try to get a fairly even coat but don’t worry if some parts of the mold are thicker than others, you will give it another coat.
Allow to cool. You can put the molds in fridge, freezer, or just let it sit out —all of these options work.
Then spread a second coat of melted almond bark making sure it is fairly thick on all sides. When working make sure to scrape off the spoon with the excess almond bark around the rim of each silicone mold cavity to make sure the rims are nice and thick. Allow to cool.
While wearing gloves (one’s hands will cause finger prints or melting), pop the 1/2 bomb out of the mold and set it face down on a warm cookie sheet until the rim is nicely level.
Take it off the cookie sheet.
Holding it in one hand, fill it with about 5 grams of hot cocoa powder, 1/8 teaspoon of peppermint bits and 4-5 mini marshmallows.
Take the other 1/2 cocoa bomb out of the silicone mold and place it on the warm cookie sheet until the rim is nicely level and melty.
Carefully take the cocoa bomb shell off of the cookie sheet and place it on top of the one with the filling. It should stick. It if doesn’t stick you have a few options…
A. You can take the top off and melt it on the cookie sheet again and try to get a seal that way.
B. You an use a butane torch and torch the crease so you can join them together.
C. You can hold the two pieces together and carefully roll the hot cocoa bomb on the hot cookie sheet and move it round and round until the chocolate on the seem is melty and the two sides join.
For the Red and Green Spiral Look
In order to get the red and green spiral look at the very beginning you will take one section of almond bark and melt it in the microwave. Then, using gel red food coloring, color it red. Do the same for the green with one section of the almond bark bar.
Scoop the red into a sandwich bag or piping bag and cut a tiny corner off. Pipe a circular pattern around the silicone mold. Do the same for green.
If you want you can press the red green down with your fingers or you can leave it as is.
For the glitter look:
After the cocoa bomb is finished and cooled, using a brand new paint brush and edible glitter, coat the hot cocoa bomb with edible glitter
How to Make Hot Cocoa Bombs Inexpensively
Christmas themed inexpensive peppermint hot cocoa bombs
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 LB Vanilla Almond Bark bar this will make 15 medium size 1.5-1.8" hot cocoa bombs
- 5 grams of Hot chocolate mix powder for each bomb. For the best tasting use Stephen's Candy Cane Dark Hot Cocoa—it balances out the sweetness of the almond bark for an excellent taste. For the best price get whatever brand is on sale/bulk for less than $2.00 a pound.
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed candy/cane peppermint bits (optional) for each bomb.
- 4-5 mini marshmallows for each bomb.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 250°F and put two cookies sheets inside (you will alternate these so you always have one warm cookie sheet to work with while the other is in the oven).
Melt almond bark in the microwave and stir every minute until it is fully melted.
Then using a spoon, spread it around the mold try to get a fairly even coat but don't worry if some parts of the mold are thicker than others, you will give it another coat.
Allow to cool. You can put the molds in fridge, freezer, or just let it sit out —all of these options work.
Then spread a second coat of melted almond bark making sure it is fairly thick on all sides. When working make sure to scrape off the spoon with the excess almond bark around the rim of each silicone mold cavity to make sure the rims are nice and thick. Allow to cool.
While wearing gloves (one's hands will cause finger prints or melting), pop the 1/2 bomb out of the mold and set it face down on a warm cookie sheet until the rim is nicely level.
Take it off the cookie sheet.
Holding it in one hand, fill it with about 5 grams of hot cocoa powder, 1/8 teaspoon of peppermint bits and 4-5 mini marshmallows.
Take the other 1/2 cocoa bomb out of the silicone mold and place it on the warm cookie sheet until the rim is nicely level and melty.
Carefully take the cocoa bomb shell off of the cookie sheet and place it on top of the one with the filling. It should stick. It if doesn't stick you have a few options...
A. You can take the top off and melt it on the cookie sheet again and try to get a seal that way.
B. You an use a butane torch and torch the crease so you can join them together.
C. You can hold the two pieces together and carefully roll the hot cocoa bomb on the hot cookie sheet and move it round and round until the chocolate on the seem is melty and the two sides join.
For the Red and Green Spiral Look
In order to get the red and green spiral look at the very beginning you will take one section of almond bark and melt it in the microwave. Then, using gel red food coloring, color it red. Do the same for the green with one section of the almond bark bar.
Scoop the red into a sandwich bag or piping bag and cut a tiny corner off. Pipe a circular pattern around the silicone mold. Do the same for green.
If you want you can press the red green down with your fingers or you can leave it as is.
For the glitter look:
After the cocoa bomb is finished and cooled, using a brand new paint brush and edible glitter coat the hot cocoa bomb with edible glitter
Assembly Instructions
1- Assemble the paper box.
2- Take the plastic off of the clear lid and very carefully open it up without creasing the edges. You want to wait to crease the edges until you have slipped it onto the white box first. If you try to crease the clear lids before you slip it onto the white rectangular box you will likely get ugly lines in the top of the plastic that you want nice and clear and pretty. If this is confusing please watch the video for visual details.
3- Add decorative shred in the bottom of the box.
4- Put each hot cocoa bomb in a mini candy wrapper.
Optional- Wrap the box in a pretty twist string and tie at the top.
I bet all of your neighbors will love looking at this gift and enjoying it this Christmas.
If you are looking for any other neighbor Christmas gifts for around $2.00 check out this post or this post about unique neighbor gifts as well.
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