16 Hot Chocolate Cocktails for Winter

This adult hot chocolate recipe is a great place to start if you are new to making hot chocolate cocktails. For alcohol, the recipe calls for a small amount of peppermint schnapps. The peppermint works perfectly with the hot chocolate, adding a candy cane flavor with just enough of a kick while not being too strong. 

While you can add any liquor to hot chocolate and call it a hot chocolate cocktail, you can make a truly good drink by putting extra effort into preparing the hot chocolate part of the recipe. Instead of using a powdered mix, use this spiked hot chocolate recipe to make hot chocolate using milk and a chocolate bar, then add the alcohol of your choice. 

For another variation on the classic hot chocolate and liquor combination, check out this easy recipe for a boozy hot chocolate. You won’t need any extra sugar or salt for this cocktail since the recipe calls for semisweet chocolate, an already balanced flavor. Add mini marshmallows and top it off with Irish cream if you want an extra treat.

A Mexican hot chocolate cocktail is a great mix of sweet and spicy, and an excellent option for a festive party. The recipe uses oat milk as a base—making it a great choice for dairy-free folks—and seasons the chocolate with cinnamon and chili powder. Naturally, the recommended liquor is a generous serving of tequila.

Hot chocolate martinis are a swanky twist on the hot chocolate concept. Instead of a regular hot chocolate recipe, the martini version uses vanilla vodka, cold hot cocoa, and dark creme de cacao to create a refreshing and decadent cocktail. This recipe also suggests garnishing the martini with roasted marshmallows for a classy finish.

If you like slushies or milkshakes, you’ll love this frozen hot chocolate martini recipe. Making this drink is a simple process, requiring you only to mix vanilla vodka, hot chocolate mix, and ice in a blender. You can easily make this drink in a big batch for your next holiday party. 

A Dirty Snowman is a magical winter cocktail for anyone hoping to connect with their inner child. This hot chocolate cocktail has yummy ingredients, such as chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and sprinkles. The drink also features the popular sweet liquor Kahlua, making a Dirty Snowman almost more of a sundae than a cocktail. 

This peppermint schnapps hot chocolate pays attention to the details when it comes to flavor. Rather than only using a cocoa mix, this recipe also calls for chocolate chips, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and sugar, resulting in a complex chocolate concoction. For the peppermint schnapps, the recipe recommends using either 30 or 60-proof schnapps, depending on your preference.

While many hot chocolate cocktail recipes rely on vanilla vodka or Irish cream, this cocktail recipe uses amaretto. Amaretto is an almond-based Italian liqueur, and when you mix it with hot chocolate you get a nutty, chocolatey treat. If you’re serving this cocktail to guests, top it with whipped cream and almond slices. 

This recipe for spiked hot chocolate whiskey with marshmallows has a fun twist: apple pie spice. You wouldn’t think to put apple pie spice in hot chocolate, but the warm spice blend goes amazingly with the chocolate and Irish whiskey. For this drink, you’ll also want to buy large marshmallows so you can get that gooey, melted effect. 

If you’re a fan of white mocha coffee drinks, you’ll want to try this white Christmas hot chocolate. This sugary drink features white chocolate, vanilla vodka, and white chocolate liqueur. In addition to being yummy, a white Christmas hot chocolate is also quite photogenic, with the red and green sprinkles contrasting against the white whipped cream. 

Tito’s has a low-maintenance spiked hot chocolate recipe that will work well for any casual winter evening. The recommended ratio helps if you don’t have experience mixing vodka with hot drinks. If you want your hot chocolate cocktails to have more flair, add whipped cream and a sprig of mint.

Don’t miss out on the hot chocolate fun just because you live somewhere warm. This frozen boozy hot chocolate has all the sweetness and alcohol you need, blended with ice. The best part of this recipe is the Santa-approved suggested garnish: whipped cream and a cookie.

A Drunken Rudolph is the ideal cocktail for impressing your guests at your next holiday party. The basic ingredients of the drink include Irish cream, cinnamon whiskey, ice cream, and hot chocolate. For the Rudolph theme, you add a maraschino cherry for the red nows and two rosemary sprigs for the antlers. 

A campfire s’mores hot chocolate cocktail is a whiskey-based drink that leans heavily on the marshmallow aspect of the hot chocolate experience. You’ll love this delicious cocktail if you enjoy sugary, creamy desserts. Although this beverage has a lot of added ingredients, all of them support the natural qualities of whiskey, such as honey and chocolate.

Unicorn hot chocolate is a truly original cocktail that will surprise and delight your loved ones. The clever trick for this beverage is to take white hot chocolate and add food coloring to create fantastical colors, akin to a magical unicorn. For alcohol, the recipe calls for two liqueurs: creme de cacao, for the chocolate flavor, and creme de Casis, which provides an interesting blackcurrant taste.