Your Instant Mix Hot Chocolate Will Taste Like Heaven With One Extra Step

Instant hot chocolate mix is one packaged food creation that deserves accolades for its convenience, taste, and ease of use. A steamy mug of hot cocoa is never more than minutes away from reach. Though it's great served simply as-is, dolloped with whipped cream, or sprinkled with marshmallows, there is one extra step that can take hot cocoa to the next level: infusing your milk with spices, herbs, or essences.

Although it takes a little extra time and might sound a bit intimidating, infusing your milk before adding in the hot chocolate mix is totally worth it. To do so, you can simply add warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg to your milk and heat it in a saucepan on the stovetop. Then, let the milk steep before heating it again and adding in the contents of your hot cocoa packet.

Infusing milk with warm spices like cinnamon makes for an especially cozy and aromatic hot chocolate. Or, infuse it with both cinnamon and cayenne (or other chili peppers) for an easy homemade Mexican hot chocolate made with regular hot cocoa mix. In addition to spices, you can infuse your milk with an array of other ingredients, like herbs. Think mint-infused milk for a refreshing complement to the chocolatey goodness, for example. Really, the options are pretty much endless — and the result is a seriously elevated hot chocolate treat.

If you've experienced how much quicker using hot cocoa mix is compared to crafting your own homemade hot chocolate, you might scoff at the idea of an extra step. But infusing the milk is actually an easy and pretty hands-off process — and it makes a world of flavor difference. To start, you can use dairy milk or your favorite non-dairy milk alternative for the job. All you need to do is pour the milk into a saucepan and toss in your spices, herbs, or flavors, then bring the milk to a gentle simmer over low heat. Just be careful not to burn or boil it. Remove the milk and spice mixture from the heat right when it starts bubbling.

Then, it's important to let the heated milk steep like tea for about 15 minutes, so the flavors can fully infuse and meld together. Since your milk will cool down as it steeps, once it's infused, simply return it to the stovetop and heat it through again over low heat. Note that you'll want to strain off any herbs or ingredient pieces — like cinnamon sticks or star anise — prior to gently reheating the infused milk. Once the milk is heated through again, add in your hot cocoa mix as usual, whisk it all together, and pour the beverage into mugs. Top your hot chocolate with whipped cream if you please, and enjoy every soul-nourishing sip, infused with a twist.

Once you begin to elevate your hot chocolate mix with this one simple step, you might embark on a creative cocoa journey in the kitchen. Since single-serve hot cocoa packets are perfect for experimenting with different flavors, feel free to play around with your spices and infused milk ingredients. If you enjoy infusing your milk with cinnamon and cardamom, why not try adding in a little curry powder or turmeric for an earthy, pungent flavor pairing? Or, infuse your milk with lavender if you're feeling floral. You can even infuse your milk with ginger for a piquant hot cocoa. 

You can also take inspiration from classic chocolate flavor combinations, like chocolate and orange or chocolate and mint. To infuse your hot chocolate milk with a bit of citrus, just add some orange or grapefruit zest (or the peel) to the milk, heat it, then let it steep. Just strain out the zest or peel before heating the milk again and adding the cocoa mix. 

After you infuse your milk, you can always add in a dash of extract like vanilla or almond, too. Of course, there are many ways to take hot chocolate mix to a new level, such as adding in a swirl of Nutella or topping it with subtly sweet coconut flakes. But infusing the milk itself kind of takes the cake. Customizable and packed with flavor, it's definitely worth a try for your next mug or two.