15 Ways To Instantly Upgrade Your Hot Chocolate (PHOTOS)

Happy Hot Cocoa Day, everyone!

We all know that hot chocolate is one of the few saving graces of winter. Along with fireplaces, sweaters and long-simmering stews, a piping hot mug of cocoa is one of the things that gets us through the coldest, darkest months of the year. December 12 is National Hot Cocoa Day, and in light of that fact, we want to kick your hot cocoa up a few notches.

We all have a basic hot chocolate recipe that we love. That is a perfect foundation to build upon. What makes good hot chocolate great? Upgrades, dudes. Below, you'll find a few of our favorites.

1
Homemade Marshmallows
Brown Eyed Baker
2
Toasted Marshmallow Cream
How Sweet It Is
3
Cinnamon & Cayenne Pepper
A Beautiful Mess
4
Booze
Pass The Sushi
Whiskey, peppermint schnapps, Cointreau -- your imagination is your only limit... as long as you're an adult.

Get the Rich n’ Thick Adult Hot Chocolate recipe from Pass The Sushi
5
Churros
Annie's Eats
6
Mini Gingerbread Houses
Megan Reardon
You can go ahead and pretend you've ever seen anything as cute as this, but we're pretty sure you haven't.

Get the Mini Gingerbread Houses recipe from Not Martha
7
Nutella
Gimme Some Oven
NUTELLA HOT CHOCOLATE, YOU GUYS.

Get the Nutella Hot Chocolate recipe from Gimme Some Oven
8
9
Coconut
How Sweet It Is
This recipe features both coconut milk in the hot chocolate itself and a toasted coconut rim on the mug. COCONUT MANIA.

Get the Crockpot Coconut Hot Chocolate recipe from How Sweet It Is
11
S'Mores Fixings
Minimalist Baker
13
Salted Caramel
A Beautiful Mess
Salted caramel is already in everything else. Might as well add it to your hot chocolate!

Get the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate recipe from A Beautiful Mess
14
15
Giving It Away As A Gift
Cook The Story
They say it's better to give than receive, so once you've perfected your hot chocolate recipe, jar it up and send it on its way!

Get the Mexican Hot Chocolate Powder Mix recipe from Cook The Story

If we missed your favorite way to spike, dip, dunk or otherwise adorn your hot chocolate, let us know what it is in the comments!

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Before You Go

Double Chocolate Hot Chocolate
Ditte Isager
Lavender Hot Chocolate
Rick Poon
Get the Lavender Hot Chocolate recipe from à La Mode
Vanilla Hot Chocolate
This Week For Dinner
Get the Vanilla Hot Chocolate recipe from This Week For Dinner
Classic Hot Choolate
Simply Recipes
Get the Classic Hot Chocolate recipe from Simply Recipes
Mexican Hot Chocolate
Jennifer Iserloh
Orange Hot Chocolate
Knitted Bliss
Get the Orange Hot Chocolate recipe from Knitted Bliss
Gail's Spiced Hot Chocolate
Frances Janisch
Mulled Wine Hot Chocolate
Citrus & Candy
Get the Mulled Wine Hot Chocolate recipe from Citrus & Candy
Spiced Hot Chocolate
EatingWell
Triple Hot Chocolate
Souvlaki For The Soul
Get the Triple Hot Chocolate recipe from Souvlaki For The Soul
Spiked Hot Chocolate
Marcus Samuelsson
Hot Chocolate Affogato
www.thestonesoup.com
Get the Hot Chocolate Affogato recipe from Stone Soup
Thick & Rich Drinking Chocolate
Ken Burris
Vegan Coconut Almond Hot Chocolate With Vegan Whipped Cream
Apron Strings
White Chocolate Chai
Anna Williams
Nutella Hot Chocolate
The Hungry Housewife
Get the Nutella Hot Chocolate recipe from The Hungry Housewife
Baked Hot Chocolate
Kate Morgan Jackson
Get the Baked Hot Chocolate recipe from Framed CooksOkay, okay. It's more of a brownie than hot chocolate... but we couldn't resist.

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