How to Create a Hot Cocoa Gift Basket Everyone Will Love

The best gift is something everyone will love, and who doesn't love hot chocolate in the winter? A luxury hot chocolate kit is both creatively customizable and easy to make in just a few steps.

To put together a hot chocolate kit, it's about choosing a few great items that combine into a luxurious and delicious gift. Start with a few basic items, like high quality chocolate and marshmallows, then build from there. You can add a mug, cookbook, or whatever - the choice is yours! Let's start with some ideas to let your imagination run wild.

Step 1: Decadent Hot Chocolate

The key to a good hot chocolate gift basket is finding the best cocoa. If you're really looking for something that feels luxurious and indulgent, you'll want to look for a cocoa formula that uses real chocolate and is meant to be dissolved in milk, not water. This way you will get a creamier and richer taste and texture.

The Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Premium Hot Cocoa is a high quality hot chocolate that gives you a rich and chocolatey drink. Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate Mix uses quality ingredients, including real cocoa and vanilla, which gently dissolve and blend into a hot, creamy drink.

For a slightly different approach, you can try a cocoa / chocolate powder mix like Ghirardelli Ground Chocolate and Cocoa Powder. Perfect for hot chocolate or for mixing into drinks like homemade mokas, the mix includes both chocolate shavings and cocoa powder. The set also comes with a 'white chocolate' mix, and both can be used for drinks and for baking.

Step 2: delicious marshmallows

You can't have hot chocolate without marshmallows (unless, of course, you're more of the whipped cream type)! Marshmallows are a place where you can have a little fun with a hot chocolate gift basket. Maybe you choose something colorful or with a unique flavor; maybe you'll find luxury marshmallow treats that go above and beyond. Use your imagination!

If flavor is what you're looking for, then Hammond's Candies Vanilla Bean Marshmallows should be on your radar. These gluten-free gourmet marshmallows are perfect for a gift box: made in smaller batches, they're fresher and more chewy, with a real vanilla bean flavor that adds dimension, rather than quick-dissolving sugar, to your cocoa.

You can really take the idea of ​​marshmallow to the next level with Trader Joe's Double Chocolate Mixing Spoons. Even mixing cocoa can be fun and delicious with these spoons! These are basic wooden mixing spoons, but they have a base made of solid chocolate and mini marshmallows, which blend into your cocoa for even more chocolatey goodness.

Step 3: Fun mugs

If you want to create a more “luxury” gift basket, the next thing to add would be a fun mug. There are seemingly endless options for personalized and creative mugs, but you can also go for something a little more classic.

There is something very modern and fun about LUXU glass coffee mugs. These wide mouth mugs hold up to 14 oz of liquid, and it's actually quite fun to be able to watch the cocoa inside, especially if you're melting marshmallows, whipped cream, or other toppings!

Sometimes you want to take your cocoa on the go, and that's where the YETI Rambler Insulated Mug comes in. With a double-walled vacuum seal, it's a super insulated construction that will keep your hot chocolate hot for as long as you want, and the colorful exterior colors add a bit of personality.

Step 4: A cocoa cookbook

For true cocoa connoisseurs, hot chocolate can mean more than just your take-out basics! Upgrade your giveaway by including a cocoa cookbook with tons of ideas for making hot cocoa drinks with unique twists.

The comfort of hot cocoa: 50 recipes for comforting cups of chocolate take hot chocolate to the next level. This cookbook by Michael Turback features 50 unique recipes, all of which incorporate different combinations of flavors, types of chocolate, and toppings for a variety of comforting drinks that will warm even on the coldest winter days.

Go even further in personalization with 120 hot chocolate recipes. Not only does this Bonnie Scott cookbook feature lots of creative hot chocolate recipes, but it also includes several flavored homemade whipped cream recipes to garnish every mug.

Some tips for finishes

Once you have everything you want to include, it's time to build the basket itself! Even if you are not the most crafty type, you will find that it is surprisingly easy to put together. All you really need is a properly sized basket, filler paper, and maybe a cellophane gift bag - any other touches are up to you!

To make things super easy, you can get a ready-made kit like the Hallmark Packing Kit. Featuring a 24 '' wide by 28 '' high clear cellophane gift bag, gift tag, crumpled shreds of paper and a neutral cord to tie it all in, it holds almost everything you need to create a nice professional looking gift basket without the hassle.

All you will need then will be the basket itself. Try a cute basket with a slightly rustic look like the Rurality Gift Basket. With a variegated wicker weave, plenty of space, and a relatively sturdy construction, this is a solid option to put together your cocoa gift basket.

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You can make a cocoa kit with these suggestions, or get creative and choose more options yourself! For another dose of chocolate goodness, you could even try trendy hot cocoa bombs. Whatever you choose, chocolate is always a good idea (and festive)!