The Perfect Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Recipe

I LOVE HOT CHOCOLATE. For the past two winters I was a frequent visitor of Starbucks. Why? Salted. Caramel. Hot. Chocolate….With Whip. There is something so delicious, so tasty, so “warms your stomach just right” about that hot chocolate, that if I could, I would probably drink it all day, every day until it became too hot, and then I’d drink it as a cold chocolate drink. Yes, it’s that good.

Yet again, though, one of my shopping habits started rubbing against my Asian side. “It’s just hot chocolate,” that side would think. “Why should you go and spend $3.55 for one cup of hot chocolate when SURELY you could make something for yourself for less.” And me being….me…that’s what I go about trying to do.

At first I got thrown off. You might think that a salted caramel hot chocolate is just caramel and hot chocolate, topped with a little sea salt. Well, you’d be WRONG, just as I was. In fact, Starbucks has a “secret” ingredient in their hot chocolate…and the secret ingredient is *whispering* toffee nut syrup.

I was so excited to learn this fact, that I promptly went out and bought a bottle of toffee nut syrup. If there is a Starbucks nearby, you could probably buy a bottle direct from them, which is what I did. If that’s not convenient for you (or for some reason they don’t sell it to you) I found this toffee nut syrup on Amazon.

I took my new bottle of toffee nut syrup home and mixed up a batch of hot chocolate. After my first glass, I KNEW I’d hit the nail on the head for the recipe. It was OOOOOH so good and tasty and salty and sweet. It tasted just like Starbuck’s Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, but it didn’t cost me $3.55. Over the subsequent weeks, I drank so much of this stuff, that I’ve made up for the upfront costs of the chocolate and toffee nut syrups. So really, I’m saving tons of money, right?

So without further ado, here is my recipe for the perfect salted caramel hot chocolate! If you get the chance to make this for yourself, I’d love to hear what you think.

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Recipe

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
(serves 1 )
Ingredients:
1 cup of milk
2-3 tablespoons Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
1 teaspoon Toffee Nut Syrup
Whipped Cream
Caramel Syrup (like for ice cream)
Sea Salt

Directions:
1. Combine milk, chocolate syrup, and toffee nut syrup.
2. STOVETOP:  Mix ingredients in pot over low-medium heat until milk is hot. MICROWAVE: Heat milk and syrups in a microwave-safe bowl and nuke until hot.
3. Stir once more, and then pour hot chocolate into mugs. Top with whipped cream.
4. Drizzle caramel syrup on top.
5. Sprinkle a dash of sea salt on top.