Drinking Chocolate Made with a Chocolate Orange!

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If you like delicious hot chocolate beverages and easy hot chocolate beverages, you’re going to adore this drinking chocolate. Two ingredients (okay, plus salt) is all it takes, so let’s make some, shall we? This recipe contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Flavored Chocolate Oranges

Every year I think I should expand my chocolate pairing repertoire past chocolate-orange. And every year, I cannot help myself. Because chocolate and orange together is The Best.

Of course, you can pretty much melt any chocolate you like into some milk and have something pretty delicious to sip on in the dappled light of your Christmas tree (or your Hanukkah candles, for that matter). I gotta say, using a chocolate orange (dark chocolate for me, thanks), works for me. And these days, they come in a bunch of flavors. Choose your chocolate orange and whip up some orange chocolate drinking chocolate.

Here are the Chocolate Orange Flavors I’ve seen:

• Dark Chocolate Orange
• Milk Chocolate Peppermint
• Milk Chocolate Strawberry
• Milk Chocolate Toffee Crunch
• Milk Chocolate Orange
• Milk Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel

TIP: Do choose a dark chocolate chocolate orange (or bar) to melt into your milk. Either that or reinforce the chocolaty-ness with a spoonful of cocoa powder. Milk chocolate alone won’t give you enough chocolate flavor.

The Difference Between Drinking Chocolate, Hot Chocolate, and Hot Cocoa

Drinking chocolate is basically chocolate melted with some liquid. It is rich and generally thicker than hot cocoa.

Hot cocoa is made with cocoa powder, sugar and potentially some other flavorings. Some version contain dry milk powder, and you can make it with either hot water, hot milk, or a mixture of both if you’d like.

Hot chocolate, on the other hand, is pretty much the same as drinking chocolate, although (and maybe this is just me), I expect hot chocolate to be a bit less rich than drinking chocolate.

And I’m just going to say this: Maybe let’s get away from buying boxed hot cocoa mix. (Have you read the Swiss Miss package? Lots of additives.)

You can also make your own hot cocoa mix and keep it in a big vat in your cabinet. You’ll know exactly what is in it, and it will be delicious.

• Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe
• Hot Chocolate Mix
• Hot Cocoa Mix (Alton Brown’s version)

Both drinking chocolate and hot chocolate can be made with milk or water. If you make it with water, you will have a more intensely chocolate beverage since milk tends to tame the tannic and somewhat bitter cocoa liquor in the chocolate.

Here are a few other hot chocolate and hot chocolate mix recipes you might enjoy:

• Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix
• Hot Chocolate Custard
• Cheesecake Hot Chocolate (White Hot Chocolate)
• Belgian Hot Chocolate
• Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Drinking Chocolate Variations

As delicious as I think orange drinking chocolate is, I know some of you might like yours a bit different from the way I like mine. Here are a few ideas for changing up the flavor and richness.

• Stir in a teaspoon or two (to taste) of good quality instant coffee per cup.
• Use a bit more milk (up to 30 ounces) to stretch the chocolate and cut the richness/sweetness a bit. Don’t leave out the salt, though.
• To make a richer/sweeter drinking chocolate, use less milk, maybe 16 oz. Serve this version in espresso cups. Or thimbles!
• For adults, add a splash of liquor or liqueur. Frangelico, Kahlua, and Grand Marnier would all work well. A shot of rum or bourbon instead would not be a bad plan, either.
• Use your very favorite chocolate. Since this is a milk-based drink, I would recommend using dark chocolate for the best chocolate flavor. But there are tons of flavored chocolate bars that you probably have said “wow, this is good enough to drink!” And now you can.
• Use a dark chocolate bar that is vegan and a dairy substitute such as almond milk, cashew milk, or coconut milk for vegan drinking chocolate.

You can also try these dark chocolate bars on for size. NOTE: You may need to add a bit of extra sugar to get the sweetness level you prefer.


And there you have it.

Orange Drinking Chocolate Recipe

You can vary the sweetness and intensity by using more or less chocolate in the milk, and of course you can vary the flavor by using different flavored chocolates. Since I’m a fan of orange and chocolate, I’ll share the recipe for my orange chocolate version, but please know you can make your drinking chocolate any flavor you prefer.

I can’t wait to see your version! Tag me on Instagram @onlinepastrychef using hashtag #pcorecipe. Or share your photos in the Pastry Chef Online Facebook group.

Thanks for spending some time with me today.

Enjoy your drinking chocolate, take care, and have a lovely day.

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