This is How to Make Hot Cocoa Bombs Inexpensively.
These are the best hot cocoa bombs AND also the best peppermint hot cocoa I have ever tasted hands down no question. I do not say this lightly. I was not expecting much (as I hadn’t made them before) and I was completely blown away.
I set out to make hot cocoa bombs for my Neighbor’s as Christmas gifts but I quickly realized it may not be a possibility as I try to keep my neighbor’s Christmas gifts at or around $2.00 each and hot cocoa bombs are expensive to make and even more so to buy.
The average cost for hot cocoa bombs are over $1.00 a bomb (homemade) and over $3.00 a bomb (store bought).
While they really are delicious, using the supply list and tips below you can make them much more inexpensively.
I made these hot cocoa bombs for .25-.33 cents a bomb; depending on the options one chooses, they can be less or more expensive.
Five in a macaroon box with decorative shred cost $2.05 which is totally doable for neighbor gifts!
Check out my Neighbor Christmas gift post to find other Christmas gifts for neighbors that are around $2.00 each.
Supply list for this inexpensive Hot Cocoa Bomb Recipe—the ingredient list is below.
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:
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.
Ingredients for this inexpensive Hot Cocoa Bomb Recipe
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.
Cost Breakdown for this inexpensive Hot Cocoa Bomb Recipe
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/15= .22 for 1 hot cocoa bomb
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
crushed candy cane/ peppermint bits (optional) I found these for .40 cents an ounce (Kroger) = .01 cent per bomb
mini marshmallows 4-5 a bomb= .01 per bomb
edible glitter (optional) nominal = .01 per bomb
new paint brush (optional) .50/ 50 gifts= .01 per bomb
silicone cocoa bomb molds 1.5″-1.8″ diameter I found mine on Temu for $2.57/50 (I figure I’ll make at least 50 of these)= .05 per bomb
red food coloring (optional). nominal = .01 per bomb
green food coloring (optional). nominal cost = .01 per bomb
gloves nominal = ..01 per bomb
wash cloth (one should have)= .00
hot pad (one should have)= .00
cookie sheet (one should have)= .00
2 sandwich sized ziploc bags (optional) = .01 per bomb
scissors (one should have)= .00
microwave safe bowls (one should have) = .00
spoons (one should have)= .00
Optional- Butane torch and butane
Total for 1 hot cocoa bomb= .25 -.36 cents a bomb depending on what options you choose
For the Presentation—if desired…
Gift boxes 50 for $26.18= .52 each will hold 6 medium-sized bombs.
Shred red and gold crinkle cut paper purchased for .83 an ounce at Dollar Tree 4 grams per gift = .10 each box
white candy liners .02 for 5 found on Temu $4.00 for 1000= .005 per bomb (1/2 penny)
Directions for these inexpensive Hot Cocoa Bombs
Continue reading and/or watch the video on this page.
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
If you’d like this free printable click here.
Enjoy!
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