How to Make Your Own Unicorn Hot Chocolate Bombs

Hot chocolate is a staple at our house.  My kids will make themselves a cup of hot cocoa before they go to bed or to drink when they wake up in the morning.  Because I’m a Cool Mom, we jumped on the hot cocoa bomb train at our house.  After I bought a few from a friend’s bakery, my daughter wanted to give it a try herself.  Me being me, I agreed… Here’s how you can make your own unicorn hot chocolate bombs at home!

What Do I Need to Make Unicorn Hot Cocoa Bombs?

First things first, you need to find yourself a silicone half circle mold.  Check out your local craft or “one stop shop” stores that have a craft section.  You can also order them on Amazon if you can’t find them locally.  We got a smaller mold for a couple of reasons.  The bigger molds looked harder to handle and I was worried about breaking the shells still in the mold while I was trying to get the others out of the mold.  I also don’t need a million unicorn hot chocolate bombs sitting around my house… Now if you’re planning to make a lot of hot chocolate bombs, a bigger mold (or more of the smaller ones) might be better for you.

You’ll also need some melting chocolate to make the shells of your hot chocolate bombs.  For your first try, I suggest using some chocolate melts.  Once you’ve tried a couple of times, if you want to use nicer chocolate, that’s ok.  You just don’t want to waste it if you’re not happy with your first batch.

To decorate the outside of your unicorn hot chocolate bombs, you’ll also need some cute unicorn accessories.  Try checking the baking aisles of your local craft or big box stores.  If you’re lucky enough to have a bakery that sells things like this near you, check them out too.  Worst case, Amazon’s got you.  Every unicorn needs a horn.  These flowers are super cute. If you’re really brave, grab these molds and make your own accessories. 

What Goes Inside a Hot Cocoa Bomb?

Now that you’ve got the outside of your cocoa bomb shell ready to go, you’ve got to figure out what to put inside.  This is where you can be super creative.  You’ll want some of your favorite hot chocolate mix but everything else is your preference.  Regular marshmallows are fun.  Crunchier marshmallows like you might find in cereal are fun too. To keep the unicorn theme going, you can add in some unicorn sprinkles or even edible glitter.

Since the outside shell is white chocolate, if you put anything inside that’s colored, it’s going to change the color of the milk or water you use to make your hot chocolate.  One thing to keep in mind – don’t over fill your hot cocoa bombs!  Add in one tablespoon of the hot chocolate mix and use the rest of the space to fill with your other goodies.  Just don’t go overboard or you won’t be able to close your unicorn hot chocolate bombs.  You also don’t want them to break when you pick them up if they’re too heavy. 

Making Unicorn Hot Chocolate Bombs at Home

Start out by melting your candy melts in the microwave.  Do this by heating the chocolate in short intervals.  If you try to melt it all at once, you could wind up burning your chocolate and that will make it seize up instead of melting. It’s also super help Using a glass bowl will help keep your chocolate melted for you while you’re work so use one if you’ve got one.  Keep in mind you can always melt more chocolate too so you don’t have to dump the whole bag in to melt it.  One common theme you’ll see in this process is that you’ve got to have some patience.

Once you’ve got your chocolate melts fully melted, spread the melted chocolate into the molds.  This is a great step for the kids to help with.  Start out taking a tablespoon of the melted chocolate and put it into the first mold.  It will be easier to do this mold by mold so the chocolate doesn’t cool too quickly on you.  Spread the chocolate around the mold.  Make sure it’s all covered.  You’ll want to have a sturdy shell but if it’s too thick, it’ll have a hard time getting it to melt to make your hot chocolate so adjust the amount of melted chocolate you’re using if you need to. When all the molds are filled up, you’re done with this step.  

Keep an eye on your cooling chocolate.  After a few minutes, you might need to spread the chocolate around again if it started slipping towards the bottom of the mold.  If you need to do another layer to cover any thin spots, that’s ok too! 

And now you wait… while you’re waiting for your shells to harden, you can get your filling around.  Grab your hot chocolate powder mix, marshmallows, sprinkles, edible glitter, or whatever else you’re wanting to include.

Once your shells are hard, it’s time to pop them out of the mold.  This part is specifically why I recommended a silicone mold.  It’s going to help make this process easier.  Put half of the shells you made onto a plate and put the other half aside.  

Fill half of your shells with your hot chocolate mix and other goodies.  To help with portion control, use a spoon, scoop, or measuring spoon to get equal amounts into each unicorn hot chocolate bomb.  The only requirement here is the dry hot chocolate mix (I suggest one tablespoon but add more or less for your taste).  No one says they all have to have the same fillings (or decorations) so fill them all however you’d like! 

Dump your excess sprinkles or hot chocolate mix back into the container if they spill over onto the plate you’re using.  Putting a layer of paper towel down on the plate might help if you’re anticipating lots of spillage.  If you’re having an issue with your hot chocolate bomb shells rolling around, put them in an empty egg carton or cupcake liner to help keep them still and standing up while you fill them.  

When they’re filled up (remember not to overfill them), it’s time to put the top on and close it up.  You can seal up your unicorn hot cocoa bomb a couple of different ways:

• If you want to have nice smooth edges or don’t have chocolate left over, warm up a small glass plate in the microwave.  It will need to be glass to get hot, and you’ll need to be careful when you’re taking it out because it’s hot.  One more time: it’s hot y’all.  Please be careful. Take your chocolate shell that will become the top and put the flat edge on the warm plate to melt the chocolate.  Put the empty shell with the melted edges on top of a filled shell to make a complete chocolate bomb.  Repeat until you’ve put all of your hot cocoa bombs together.
• If you’ve got leftover chocolate, dip the flat edge of your empty shell into the melted chocolate (pop it back into the microwave to melt the chocolate again if you need to).  Put it on top of the filled shell to seal in your goodies and make your hot chocolate bomb.

If you’ve got any holes in the area where you’ve connected the two half circle shells, take a bit of your extra melted chocolate to fill them in.  You can use your finger or a warm spoon to help smooth things out.

 

Now comes the fun part.  It’s time to decorate!  Use your favorite unicorn decorations to make the outside magical.  There’s no “right” way to do this so have fun.  The extra melted chocolate can come in handy here to help you attach your decorations to the unicorn hot chocolate bombs kind of like edible glue.  Depending on your level of decoration, your unicorn hot chocolate bombs might need some time to settle for a bit and harden.  

After everything’s finished up, it’s time to enjoy your fruits of your labor.  You can use either milk or water to make your hot chocolate.  Again, there’s no “right” way to do this part.  Sometimes we put the hot chocolate bomb into the cup and pour warm milk or water over it.  Other times we’ll warm up milk or water and drop the hot cocoa bomb into it.  Watching everything explode as the chocolate shell melts is so much fun.  And don’t forget you can make your hot chocolate a Mommy Drink too if you need to. 

If you’ve got extra chocolate, you can put it into a small container with a lid or plastic baggie and let it harden then remelt it to use next time you want to make hot chocolate bombs, dip some pretzels or Oreos into it, drizzle it on popcorn, or just throw it out and start fresh next time.  Don’t throw it out until you’re completely finished in case you need it to repair or glue anything together.  

What to Do with Your Finished Unicorn Hot Chocolate Bombs

After you’ve made your unicorn hot chocolate bombs and got them all decorated, what should you do with them?  Well of course you’ll want to enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate. (Need a cute unicorn mug to enjoy your hot chocolate in? Try these out!) These hot cocoa bombs will also make adorable gifts or favors.  Put them in a cute cupcake liner inside a clear bag and tie a bow on top.  If you want to do a little extra, include a cute mug and spoon to go along with it.

We store our hot chocolate bombs in the fridge.  Technically you’re supposed to keep them in a cool, dry place.  Well, we live in the south so that’s not always an easy place to find so our fridge works.  They’ll be fine if you make them and don’t use them right away.  

Putting Your Spin on Hot Cocoa Bombs

If unicorns aren’t your thing, don’t worry! You can take these unicorn hot chocolate bombs and make it into something that will better fit your taste.  These are made with white chocolate so they’re really a blank canvas.  Remember, you can put whatever you want on the inside too.  Here are a few ideas:

• Add pink or blue drizzle and sprinkles to the top for a baby shower
• Add a drizzle, flower, or other colored embellishment to use them for a bridal shower
• Use edible markers to draw/write on the outside (think encouraging phrases or things you’re letting go)
• Add the colors of your favorite sports team with a chocolate drizzle or sprinkles

Remember that these can be so many other things too.  Use your chocolate shells to hold a mini cupcake with icing, fruit, pudding, or your favorite sweet dip.  These would be perfect to hold a special gift (engagement ring perhaps) too.