Add 1 Ingredient To Your Hot Chocolate For The Creamiest Possible Cup

It's hard to think of a drink that's more comforting than hot chocolate. Whether it's a dreary day or you're simply craving something sweet, a mug of rich, creamy cocoa is the perfect pick-me-up. Unless you have the time and willpower to make it from scratch, chances are you're combining hot water or milk with a powdered mix. While there are store-bought hot chocolate mixes that stand out for their quality and chocolatey taste (Ghirardelli is Chowhound's go-to brand), they can often benefit from a little extra something for the creamiest cup possible.

There are plenty of ways to improve hot cocoa, from adding a dollop of fresh, homemade whipped cream to infusing the milk with flavors like cinnamon or even lavender. But to make it extra delicious, turn to a single ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. Used in desserts and drinks from key lime pie to Thai iced tea, the shelf-stable, dairy product is made by heating milk until much of its water evaporates and adding sugar for preservation. While its invention is credited to Gail Borden Jr. in the 1850s, condensing milk for storage and transportation dates back to the Tatars in the 13th century, as documented in Marco Polo's writings. Considering that hot chocolate is about as old (or much older if you count the cold chocolate that the ancient Maya sipped on), the two are practically a match made in history. After all, hot cocoa with sweetened condensed milk checks all the boxes: thick, rich, and creamy.

So, what exactly does this sweet substance bring to the table — or, rather, the mug? While the French add butter to hot chocolate for its flavor complexity and high fat content, sweetened condensed milk can be stirred in to achieve a similar level of richness while staying true to the drink's classic taste. Because of its syrupy consistency, it's also a great way to thicken hot cocoa that's too watery, making it more velvety smooth and satisfying to sip on.

When adding sweetened condensed milk to hot chocolate, treat it as a mix-in rather than a replacement for milk. If you're making hot chocolate from a mix, you're best off using whole milk for maximum richness, then thoroughly stirring some of the concentrated dairy into the hot drink. Since sweetened condensed milk is super sweet (it's in the name, after all), you may want to be judicious about how much you spoon into your cocoa — especially if your mix is already fairly sugary. A couple of tablespoons could be all you need to make hot chocolate creamier and thicker. However, if you're using a dark chocolate mix or preparing the beverage from scratch with bitter unsweetened cacao powder, a little more sweetened condensed milk might be best.

For a dairy-free alternative, many stores carry sweetened condensed coconut milk. You can also lean into the bright, tropical flavor by sprinkling coconut flakes on your hot cocoa for a heavenly treat.

If you're a fan of caramel in your coffee or chocolate, there's another way to use sweetened condensed milk when making a cup of hot cocoa. Turns out, if you condense the sweet, sticky stuff itself (either by simmering it on the stovetop or putting some in the microwave), you'll end up with caramelized milk — commonly referred to as dulce de leche. Similar to caramel in color and consistency but more like toffee in terms of its mellow flavor, it can also be stirred into hot chocolate or drizzled over whipped cream.

Like sweetened condensed milk, dulce de leche has a long history that spans the world and has been hotly debated. While the confection is commonly associated with Latin American cuisine, historian Daniel Balmaceda, in his book "Food in Argentine History," suggests it could have been created in Indonesia, before spreading to the Philippines in the 16th century. From there, Spanish trade and colonization brought caramelized milk (which was well-suited to storage and transportation) to Europe. Today, dulce de leche is used for desserts from alfajores to flan to cheesecake.

Naturally, it tastes delicious in drinks, too. While peppermint syrup is the star of cozy, wintery cocoa, dulce de leche is perfect for fall; move aside, caramel macchiatos. And if you're partial to Mexican hot chocolate, which often includes cinnamon and chile powder, this confection adds creaminess to the beverage. Clearly, sweetened condensed milk is worth alongside hot chocolate in your pantry.