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Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa with Salted Caramel Marshmallows are the perfect hot beverage to warm up on a cold day!
The cold weather seems to be here to stay for a while and it has us craving all the warm, cozy drinks. This salted caramel hot cocoa topped with homemade salted caramel marshmallows is a decadent treat, perfect for warming up on a cold day.
A rich and creamy oat milk hot chocolate with a bit of salty caramel in each sip. And it may be our personal opinion, but we can’t have a cup of hot chocolate without marshmallows, so we topped ours with homemade salted caramel marshmallows. Once you make homemade marshmallows, there is no going back. We have been making them for years because they’re surprisingly easy to make and taste so much better than the ones at your local grocery store. They also hold their shape and don’t melt as fast, which makes them perfect for dunking!
What we love about making homemade hot chocolate is that you can control the sweetness and the flavors. We shared our classic hot chocolate recipe last winter and thought we would change it up this year. And our homemade caramel sauce adds just the perfect amount of sweetness to the cocoa. The homemade sauce is really what makes the cocoa and the marshmallows so special.
Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa with Salted Caramel Marshmallows
What’s in this recipe?
Oat Milk: Oat milk adds a creaminess to the hot chocolate that we love. Feel free to add cow’s milk or other milk alternatives when making your own!
Cacao powder: Cacao powder has more of a bitter taste than cocoa powder. But when it is added to the creamy oat milk and add a bit of sweetener it makes the perfect hot chocolate flavor.
Homemade Caramel Sauce: Our homemade caramel sauce is super easy and delicious to make. We drizzled a little in our cocoa to add the salted caramel flavor to the cocoa. And it gives the hot cocoa the bit of sweetness it needs. The homemade caramel syrup is also swirled into the marshmallows to give them that salty caramel flavor.
Gelatin: Gelatin is used in the marshmallows to give it the gummy, pillowy texture.
Sugar: A health heap of sugar along with corn syrup is used to make a hot syrup mixture that is whipped into the gelatin to make your marshmallows.
Corn syrup: Corn syrup is used to make the hot syrup for the marshmallows. It stabilizes the mixture and keeps the sugar from crystallizing.
Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa with Salted Caramel Marshmallows
- Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
Homemade Caramel Syrup*
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 tsbp salted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (at room temperature )
Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa
- 1 cup oat milk
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
- 2 tsp caramel syrup
Homemade Salted Caramel Marshmallows
- 3 envelopes gelatin
- 1/2 cup COLD water
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup salted caramel syrup
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Homemade Caramel Syrup
- Start by making your caramel sauce. In a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat, start by melting your sugar. Make sure you occasionally stir the sugar. It is important to not rush this as you may burn your sugar. Your sugar will start to form clumps, this means it is starting to melt. Once the sugar does start to melt, it will melt fast! Continue to stir until all the sugar clumps are dissolved and you have a nice smooth liquid. Remove from heat
- Once you remove form the heat, add in your stick of butter. The butter will bubble but make sure you stir until it is mixed together. Add in you heavy whipping cream and stir until the mixture is combined.
- Pour in a glass jar or container and let it cool completely.
Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa
- In a pot on low/medium heat, whisk all ingredients together.
- Heat mixture to desired temperature (about 5-8 minutes). You don’t want to get the mixture too hot, too fast or it will burn the oat milk.
- Pour hot cocoa into a mug. Top with whopped cream, marshmallows, peppermint chips or chocolate shavings.
Homemade Salted Caramel Marshmallows
- Add cold water and gelatin packets to a stand mixer bowl. Let it set to activate while you make your hot syrup.
- n a medium pot, over medium heat, heat your sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water. Attach your candy thermometer to the side of the pot and carefully watch until the temperature reaches 240°F (soft ball).
- Once your syrup has reached 240°F, remove from heat. Turn your stand mixer on to medium speed with the whisk attachment and gently and slowly pour your hot syrup into the mixer. Once you have emptied all the syrup, increase the mixing speed to high. Mix for 10 minutes until your marshmallow mixture has increased in size and is fluffy. Add in your vanilla and whisk for 30 more seconds.
- Line a 9×11 inch rectangle dish with plastic wrap and grease with cooking spray. Pour your marshmallow mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Next drop dollops of your homemade caramel sauce and swirl into the marshmallows in a back-and-forth motion.
- Let your marshmallows sit at room temperature for about 4-6 hours until they are firm.
- When you are ready to cut your marshmallows, dust a clean cutting surface with powdered sugar. Pour some powdered sugar in a bowl. Remove your marshmallow block from the pan and cut into cubes. Toss the marshmallows in powdered sugar to coat. This will keep the marshmallows from sticking together.
- Seal in an air-tight container or bag until ready to serve or dunk in your cocoa.
Notes
*Note: Although we recommend making our caramel sauce, store bought can work just fine. If you do use store-bought caramel, skip steps on making the sauce.
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Drinks
- Cuisine: American
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