Craving some hot chocolate today but want something a little spicy and special feeling? Make yourself a creamy and dreamy snickerdoodle hot chocolate. Pair it with a good book, some fluffy socks, and maybe a real snickerdoodle or two, and have yourself a perfectly cozy night in.
OR (and even better) you can make it at home with just a couple of ingredients in less than 15 minutes.
Ingredients
Milk: Starbucks uses 2% milk by default in their drinks, but you can use whatever milk you have. Plant-based is good too. The higher fat the milk, the creamier your hot chocolate will be. For an extra creamy drink, add a splash of half and half or heavy cream to your measuring cup when measuring out the milk. Good-quality white chocolate: All the sweetness and chocolate flavor here comes from white chocolate so be sure you’re using good-quality white chocolate that you enjoy the flavor of. High-quality chips are fine, but I don’t recommend cheap white chocolate chips as their flavor isn’t great in drinking chocolate. I typically use a chopped up Lindt bar because I like the taste of the chocolate and it’s always available at my local grocery stores (sometimes you have to go to the candy aisle to find them instead of the baking aisle.) Cinnamon sticks: Instead of using ground cinnamon, which doesn’t blend completely in milk, I prefer to use cinnamon sticks and steep them in warm milk to infuse it with their flavor.
How to Make a Snickerdoodle Hot Chocolate
Does this taste like Starbucks’ snickerdoodle hot chocolate recipe?
Like my white hot chocolate, this recipe incorporates all the flavors of the Starbucks version but is quite a bit richer. Since this recipe is flavored with real white chocolate instead of white chocolate syrup, it creates a thicker, creamier drink.
Can I make this in the microwave?
Sure. Just heat your milk in the microwave until steaming and follow the recipe as written. Before you add your white chocolate, reheat the milk for about 30 seconds until it is steaming hot again and stir in the chocolate. If using a bar, chop your chocolate extra fine so it melts more easily.
Can I use ground cinnamon instead of cinnamon sticks?
I don’t love using ground cinnamon in hot chocolate recipes as it doesn’t fully dissolve into the liquid and you can’t strain it out easily. That being said, if you’re really craving this and want to do it, you absolutely can. Replace the cinnamon sticks with 3/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. The last sip or two of hot chocolate at the bottom of your cup will have quite a bit of cinnamon in it, but it will be a good time along the way. 😉
Can I double this recipe?
Yes! BUT if doubling the recipe, you don’t need to double the cinnamon sticks. For each extra cup of hot chocolate you’re making, add 1 extra cinnamon stick. So for 2 cups use 3 sticks total, for 3 cups use 4 sticks total, etc,. To double the recipe ingredients, hover over the serving size in the recipe card below or click if you’re on mobile, and slide the slider. Because of the way the recipe card works, this will double/triple the number of cinnamon sticks too, but ignore that and use the measurements above. No other cooking changes are needed.
More Starbucks Copycat Recipes
Homemade Mocha White Chocolate Mocha Caramel Latte Salted Caramel Mocha Iced Caramel Macchiato Chai Latte Caramel Macchiato
More Hot Chocolate Recipes
Rich and Thick Hot Chocolate Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate Chai Hot Chocolate Baileys Hot Chocolate The BEST Crockpot Hot Chocolate
A Note on Serving Size: This recipe makes one cup of hot chocolate, enough to fill an 8-ounce mug. It’s quite rich, so I find one cup to be plenty, but if you’d like to fill an oversized mug, 1 1/2 or double the recipe. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
