Candied Pumpkin Hot Chocolate
I have a soft spot for pumpkin cooked slowly with cinnamon, cloves, and brown sugar—the kind that fills the kitchen with sweet, spiced air every fall. In my family, pumpkin isn’t for soups or savory pies; it’s for dessert, always. Every pumpkin season brings bubbling pots of doce de abóbora, or candied pumpkin, and one year, when my mom made more than even we could eat, I had a flash of inspiration: what if I made hot chocolate with it?
I usually thicken my hot chocolate with corn or extra chocolate, but the candied pumpkin turned out to be the perfect base—thick, velvety, and already full of flavor. I was genuinely surprised by how well it worked, like it had always meant to be hot chocolate. The final recipe was as simple as it gets: milk, chocolate, and candied pumpkin. No extra sugar needed, since the pumpkin brought just the right amount of sweetness—and those beautiful notes of cinnamon and cloves. If you don’t have candied pumpkin on hand, no worries—you can still make it by cooking pumpkin with your favorite warm spices and sweetener.
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Candied Pumpkin Hot Chocolate
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Description
When you want a fall hot chocolate or your mom made too much candied pumpkin, this recipe is it. A simple and filling pumpkin hot chocolate.
Ingredients
1 cup (250ml) of milk
20 grams of 100% cacao chocolate (just cacao)
1/8 cup (2 large spoonfuls) of candied pumpkin. You can also do this with pumpkin puree.
If you are using pumpkin puree instead of candied pumpkin, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 cloves, 1 teaspoon of ceylon cinnamon.
Instructions
- Add the milk and pumpkin to a small saucepan. Add sugar and spices if using.
- When it begins to steam, add the chocolate and blend with a hand held blender. OR when it begins to steam, add the chocolate to a blender then add the pumpkin puree to the blender and blend. Be careful, it is hot.
- Serve and add whipped cream if it makes you happy.
Notes
You can use canned pumpkin for this, just remember to add sugar and the spices.
You can substitute for any vegetable or nut milk.
The longer you boil it, the thicker it will get.
You can use any chocolate, it does not have to be 100% dark chocolate. But you would have to use more of it. For example, instead of using 20 grams of a 100% chocolate, you would use 25g of 90%, 30g of 70%, 40grams of 50%, etc.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Drinks
- Method: boil