This Pumpkin Hot Chocolate is made with REAL pumpkin puree, lots of toasty warm spices and orange zest for a drink that tastes like fall in a cup!
This isn’t your grandma’s Swiss Miss hot chocolate, though. This is pumpkin hot chocolate. Unlike the traditional powdered mixes that get their flavor from cocoa powder, this is more like a “sipping chocolate” that calls for melted semi-sweet chocolate to impart chocolate flavor.
It’s thick. It’s rich. It’s a bit like drinking a candy bar, if your candy bar was also flavored with pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, and orange zest.
Oh, yeah.
I admit I had my doubts about mixing pumpkin puree into a beverage. What if it was too thick, or if there were stringy bits, or if it was like drinking pumpkin pie—but not in the good way?
I needn’t have worried. Yes, it is thick, but in the coats-the-throat-with-goodness way all sipping chocolates should be. I avoided the possibility of stringy bits by straining the pumpkin mixture before the final mixing. And the pumpkin flavor itself is mild, more of a background note that mingles with the spices than an all-out squash assault.
In short, this is the perfect drink for rainy nights…and crisp mornings…oh, and lazy afternoons. Let’s just agree to have pumpkin hot chocolate anytime.
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Pumpkin Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups milk, preferably whole milk
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 whole cloves, slightly crushed
- 1 tbsp candied ginger, chopped
- Zest from 1/2 large orange, (about 1 1/2 tbsp)
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate, (about 1/3 cup chopped), or bittersweet chocolate
- Pinch of sea salt
- 2 tbsp brown sugar, more or less to taste
- Whipped cream, marshmallows, cinnamon, or chocolate, to garnish
Instructions
- Place the milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, and add the pumpkin, cinnamon stick, cloves, chopped candied ginger, orange zest, and vanilla bean. Slowly heat the milk and bring it to a simmer, so that bubbles are forming around the edges but it never comes to a boil.
- Remove the pan from the heat and cover it with a lid to allow the flavors to infuse for at least 30 minutes. If you have more time, you can let it infuse longer, even overnight. Just make sure to refrigerate the milk if it sits out longer than an hour or so.
- When you’re ready to finish the hot chocolate, strain the milk mixture into a clean saucepan, discarding the solids. Bring the milk back up to a simmer, then remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the chopped semi-sweet chocolate and the pinch of salt.
- Whisk gently until the chocolate dissolves and the mixture is completely smooth. Taste the hot chocolate, and add brown sugar as needed. Depending on the sweetness of your chocolate and your personal taste, you might want more or less sugar than the recipe calls for.
- Pour into small mugs to serve, and garnish with whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate shavings, or a dash of cinnamon.
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
Nutrition
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Wow – I just went into a hyperglycemic shock from reading this post, but it was totally worth it. Yum!!
I need to have some! I just made pumpkin butter and have lots of it, I wonder if I could alter the recipe a bit and use that in place of the puree? Great photos!
This sounds amazingly delicious! I would definitely classify myself as a pumpkin freak, and this hot chocolate needs to be made stat ;).
Awesome–I’m sending you an invite to the next Pumpkin Freaks Anonymous meeting!
It looks delicious, but I have a question. It’s a bit hard to get canned pumpkin puree where I live. Will using home-made puree mess up the recipe?
Nope, I think homemade will work great, as long as you strain it so that it’s not stringy. Let me know how it works out!
Thanks a lot! 😀
This hot chocolate look amazing, I will be trying this weekend for my daughter
Hi Meredith, I hope the recipe worked for you! It is one of my favorites, I hope your daughter enjoyed it!
OMG this pumpkin hotchocolate is love.Thanks for sharing 🙂