Chai Hot Chocolate

This Chai Hot Chocolate is extra creamy, comforting, and perfect for a cold winter evening. It's sweetened with homemade chai simple syrup that's really easy to make with just 3 ingredients! The drink can be made both hot and iced.

Jump to:

• Why This Recipe Works
• Ingredients
• Variations and Substitutions
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Serving Suggestions
• Storing
• FAQs
• Other Hot Chocolate Recipes
• 📖 Recipe

Why This Recipe Works

Perfect for cold days - This chai hot chocolate is full of warm spices and it's the perfect drink to snuggle up with when it's extra cold and gloomy outside during the winter months. If you love a classic mug of chai latte, you'll love this hot chocolate version of it!

Make it iced - If you're craving the flavors of this hot chocolate in the summer, you can serve it over ice instead of hot! You can even make some chai tea ice cubes to enhance the chai flavor without watering your drink down.

Creamy and comforting - The combination of creamy almond milk and melted dark chocolate yields creamy hot chocolate as is but you can also use a handheld milk frother to froth the mixture to make it extra creamy and frothy!
Homemade syrup - The drink calls for homemade chai syrup made with chai teabags, cane sugar, and water. It's really easy to make and you can use leftovers in coffee, matcha, cocktails, or as a syrup for pancakes!

Easy to make - You don't need any special ingredients or equipment to make this hot chocolate. Just your everyday ingredients, a saucepan, and a mug! You can also make the chai syrup ahead of time to speed things up even more!

Ingredients

• Dark chocolate - Choose whatever good chocolate bar you like, I used 85% chocolate. I always recommend using a chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips because it melts better but you can use either.
• Cacao powder - I double up on the chocolate in the recipe by adding cacao powder as well as dark chocolate. It makes it even more decadent and delicious!
• Chai syrup - The syrup is made with chai teabags, cane sugar, and water. Alternatively, you can also make it using black tea, and whole spices like fresh ginger, green cardamom, cloves, and black peppercorns.
• Almond milk - You can use whole milk, almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk (from a carton), or any other plant-based milk you prefer.
• Flavorings - I highly recommend adding vanilla extract, cinnamon, and a small pinch of sea salt. Salt balances out the sweetness of the syrup and the vanilla and cinnamon round out the flavors and add that little something. You can also use vanilla bean paste or powder.

Variations and Substitutions

• Chai concentrate - If you don't want to use syrup, add some chai concentrate instead! Tazo is a classic but my new favorite is Say When brand as well as Spice Girl Eats. Both are only available in Canada at the moment I believe.
• Store-bought syrup - Don't have time to make your own syrup? you can use store-bought! Homemade syrups usually have more "real" flavor but when I buy syrups, Monin is usually my go-to brand. Try this Monin Chai Concentrate or this Torani Chai Spice Syrup.
• Milk chocolate - If you don't like dark chocolate, add some milk chocolate instead! This recipe also works with white chocolate. Keep in mind that milk chocolate will contain more sugar than dark chocolate.
• Cocoa powder - If you don't have raw cacao powder, you can use cocoa. They differ in flavor and nutrient content but can be used interchangeably. Cocoa is roasted while cacao is raw.
• Sweetener - The hot chocolate is made with chai syrup so it doesn't need additional sweetener but if you use chai concentrate instead, you might need to sweeten it a little bit. Maple syrup, coconut sugar, brown sugar, or cane sugar are all great options.

Step-by-Step Instructions

If you're using homemade syrup for this drink, I recommend making it ahead of time to speed things up. If you make the syrup the night before, the hot chocolate takes just 5 minutes to make! The syrup will last 2 weeks in the fridge.

Chai Syrup

1. Add water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Take off the heat and add chai tea bags. Steep the tea for 10 minutes and remove the tea bags. Squeeze as much tea out of the bag as possible.
3. Add cane sugar and bring the mixture to a boil stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves.
4. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Take the syrup off the heat and stir in vanilla extract.
6. Store the syrup in an airtight jar or a bottle in the fridge and make your chai hot chocolate whenever you want!

Chai Hot Chocolate

1. Add everything to a small saucepan and warm up over medium heat.
2. Whisk the mixture until everything is well mixed and the chocolate melted to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
3. It shouldn’t boil or simmer, just steam.

4. Serve the hot chocolate in a mug topped with whipped cream and a dusting of chai spice if desired. Enjoy!

Serving Suggestions

This hot chocolate is meant to be served hot but you can always serve it over ice as well if you prefer! You might have to add a little more chai syrup or maple syrup because iced drinks often need more sweetener than hot drinks to achieve the same level of sweetness.

Serve the hot chocolate as it is or add some whipped cream, a dusting of chai spice blend or ground cinnamon on top, and some chocolate shavings. You can also serve it with a cinnamon stick to make it extra fancy!

Storing

The hot chocolate is best consumed right away. If you're making your own chai simple syrup, any leftovers can be stored in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

FAQs

Other Hot Chocolate Recipes

If you're looking for other hot chocolate ideas, check out the four below! Each can be made both hot and cold. To see all the latest ones, check out Hot Drinks.

• Christmas Spiced Hot Chocolate
• Peppermint Hot Chocolate
• Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha
• Easy Vegan Hot Chocolate

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