Chai Tea Hot Chocolate
Combine your two favorite cozy drinks in this single serve Chai Tea Hot Chocolate! This easy recipe only requires 4 ingredients and brings together the comforting warmth of traditional chai tea with the decadent richness of hot chocolate!
If you’re looking for more homemade hot chocolate recipes, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like Easy Hot Chocolate Dip, Creamy Dark Hot Chocolate With Homemade Whipped Cream, Hot Chocolate Bombs Without a Mold, or Boozy Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Chai Tea Hot Chocolate
- Ready In: 5 minutes
- Makes: 1 serving
- Main Ingredients: milk, Dutch cocoa, cane sugar, chai tea bag
- Flavor Profile: cozy spice with rich chocolate
- Dietary Info: gluten free, eggless, no seed oils, vegan swap available
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: single serve chai tea hot chocolate
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Comforting Spices: This Chai Tea Hot Chocolate has the comforting spices of chai tea because I use a chai tea bag. The tea bag is steeped in the hot chocolate to infuse your favorite chocolatey beverage with familiar and comforting spices, like a warm hug.
- Caffeine & Cocoa: This chai spiced hot cocoa has all the coziness of chai tea, including the caffeine that is combined with the nostalgia of hot chocolate! This drink marries two of your favorite winter beverages into one for the perfect cozy drink on a cold day.
- Easy: Only 4 ingredients are needed to make this hot chocolate recipe. By using a chai tea bag, you can easily infuse so many delicious spices into this drink with minimal effort!
- Easily Make Vegan: If you are dairy free or vegan, you can easily substitute the milk for coconut milk, almond milk, or oat milk! I actually make this with coconut milk a lot, simply because I just love coconut milk just as much as regular milk!
Ingredients
- Milk: Make sure to use organic whole milk for the creamiest hot cocoa. You can also use coconut milk if you are dairy free. And, check out Hot Chocolate Versus Hot Chocolate Milk if you are curious about using chocolate milk.
- Dutch Cocoa Powder: My favorite cocoa for hot cocoa is organic Dutch cocoa powder, which results in a perfectly sweetened cocoa with a rich and bold chocolate flavor. Dutch cocoa powder is smoother and less acidic than unsweetened cocoa powder so you'll get a naturally sweeter cocoa.
- Whipped Cream: This is optional, but Homemade Organic Whipped Cream makes cocoa so much better!
- Cinnamon Stick: You can garnish with a cinnamon stick for stirring and a little boost of flavor, but this is totally optional.
- Star Anise: I top this with Organic Star Anise, which is optional, but it's so pretty and gives some additional flavor.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Variations
- Vegan: Use coconut milk (or almond, oat, cashew or pistachio) and Homemade Organic Vegan Whipped Cream.
- Caffeine Free: Use a decaf chai tea bag.
- Sugar Free: Remove the cane sugar and add in your favorite organic liquid stevia to taste after the cocoa is made.
Tips for Chai Tea Hot Chocolate
- I like to use whole milk for the best flavor, but if you prefer a lower fat option you can use that too.
- If you want to make this dairy free or vegan, just use your favorite nondairy milk. I think coconut milk tastes the best, but almond, oat, pistachio, cashew all work too!
- If you don't have a drink thermometer, test the milk with your finger. You want it to be warm but don't let it boil. Milk can burn when it boils and that flavor will transfer to the hot chocolate, which is why using a drink thermometer is best.
- Whipped cream is optional, but I think it makes it!
- I used cinnamon sticks and star anise in the photos. This was just for show, while it may add a tiny bit of flavor, it's not necessary and when I make this just to drink, I leave these off! But, if you're serving at a party, it's a nice touch.
- You could also top this with chocolate shavings or little bits of dark chocolate.
How to Make a Single Serve Chai Tea Hot Chocolate
- Add the tea bag into a mug.
- Add In a small pot, add the milk, cane sugar, and cocoa powder.
- Put over medium/high heat, stirring with a whisk to ensure the sugar and cocoa all mix together. Continue to heat until the milk is 140°F to 160°F.
- Pour into a mug over the tea bag. Allow to steep for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add a dollop of Homemade Organic Whipped Cream and a cinnamon stick (optional). Serve immediately.
- Enjoy!
Cookie and Cocoa Pairing Ideas
I love this Chai Tea Hot Chocolate with an afternoon cookie! Try it with some of my favorites!
- A bakery favorite is Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies With Homemade Caramel, we sold this combo almost daily!
- For a cozy Halloween treat, enjoy with Crunch Bar Cookies.
- I personally love this cocoa with Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies, as these are one of my favorite cookies I make weekly (yes, even when it's not pumpkin season!).
- For a holiday treat, try Eggless Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies.
Chai Tea Hot Chocolate FAQ's
Yes, this combination of creamy hot chocolate and spicy, cozy chai is a match made in heaven. I use organic chai tea bag to steep chai tea flavor into hot chocolate. Though, if you have a favorite chai mix you could use that as well.
This tastes like a combination of hot cocoa and your favorite chai tea. The tea adds a warm and slightly spicy flavor to the hot chocolate which makes it warm and cozy.
I use a chai tea bag, which includes black tea along with spices like cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and black pepper. Though different chai teas can vary in spices depending on the brand.
No, these are different. I prefer to use a chai tea bag as you get a more natural flavor as chai concentrates can have added sugars and flavors I don't think are necessary. But, if you want to use a concentrate in place of a tea bag, you'll want to use about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup.
You can, but I don't like doing this as chai concentrate has additional sugars, which I don't think are necessary.
Yes, because chai tea is made with black tea.
Use whole milk for the most creamy hot cocoa. If you want to make this dairy free, I recommend coconut milk as I think it's the creamiest option.
Yes, you can use your favorite dairy-free milk such as coconut milk, almond milk, or oat milk.
Yes, feel free to add in a shot of espresso for an extra boost if you want. It will make this taste like a chai latte hot cocoa!
You can use honey or maple syrup instead of cane sugar if you want. The maple syrup flavor would go really well with this flavor profile. I would start with 1 tablespoon and taste, adjust if needed.
More Single Serve Hot Chocolate Recipes
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Chai Tea Hot Chocolate
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Small Pot
- Whisk
- Drink Thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 Chai Tea bag
- 1 cup milk
- 21 grams cane sugar
- 7 grams Dutch cocoa powder
- Homemade Organic Whipped Cream (optional)
- Organic cinnamon sticks or star anise for decoration (optional, just for garnish)
Instructions
- Add the tea bag into a mug.
- Add In a small pot, add the milk, cane sugar, and cocoa powder.
- Put over medium/high heat, stirring with a whisk to ensure the sugar and cocoa all mix together. Continue to heat until the milk is 140°F to 160°F.
- Pour into a mug over the tea bag. Allow to steep for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add a dollop of whipped cream (optional). Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- I like to use whole milk for the best flavor, but if you prefer a lower fat option you can use that too.
- If you want to make this dairy free or vegan, just use your favorite nondairy milk. I think coconut milk tastes the best, but almond, oat, pistachio, cashew all work too!
- If you don't have a drink thermometer, test the milk with your finger. You want it to be warm but don't let it boil. Milk can burn when it boils and that flavor will transfer to the hot chocolate, which is why using a drink thermometer is best.
- Whipped cream is optional, but I think it makes it!
- I used cinnamon sticks and star anise in the photos. This was just for show, while it may add a tiny bit of flavor, it's not necessary and when I make this just to drink, I leave these off! But, if you're serving at a party, it's a nice touch.
- You could also top this with chocolate shavings or little bits of dark chocolate.
- Vegan – Replace the milk with coconut, almond, pistachio or oat milk.
- High Altitude — Follow the recipe as noted.
Nutrition
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Rich and creamy, a little spicy, I love this cozy drink!