Happy hot cocoa bomb season to those who celebrate! Who doesn't love a hot cocoa bomb? They're fun to use and the melted chocolate shell adds such a nice silky chocolate-y ness to the cocoa.
You don't need a ton of fancy tools to make hot cocoa bombs, but you do need a good set of food grade silicone hot cocoa bomb molds.
If you've never had one before, a hot cocoa bomb is a chocolate shell filled with hot cocoa mix (and marshmallows or any other fun additions). Put one in a mug and pour hot water or milk (or even coffee!) over it and the shell melts, releasing the hot chocolate mix.
You can buy hot cocoa bombs, but they're super easy and fun to make from scratch. And! They make great gifts.
When you make hot chocolate bombs you can get super creative with your cocoa mixes and types of chocolates and mix-ins! Get fancy and use high-end couverture chocolate tempered properly, or do what I do and use a high-quality grocery store brand of melting chocolate wafers.
There's tons of guides to making hot chocolate bombs already, but when I looked into making them, the hardest part was choosing the right hot cocoa bomb molds.
So this year I decided to pull together some of my favorite hot chocolate bomb molds to share with you.
What to look for in hot cocoa bomb molds
- Hot Cocoa Bomb Mold Size - A standard, 8 oz mug has an opening about 2.5" wide. So you want a silicone mold shape that is smaller than that. A 12 or 16 oz mug can have an opening closer to 3" wide. A jumbo soup-bowl style mug can be much wider. Make sure you check the width of each mold to make sure it will actually fit in a mug!
- Silicone Mold Capacity - How much hot cocoa mix can you realistically fit in the mold? Remember, you'll have two layers of chocolate inside each half of the hot cocoa bomb, and you can only put hot cocoa mix in one half before sealing it shut. You'll need to make sure there's enough room for the cocoa mix and mix-ins, or you'll need to use more than one cocoa bomb per mug!
- Silicone Mold Symmetry - A lot of food-grade silicone molds are designed to be used for cakes or mousses, which means they won't create a symmetrical seal when you try to close them up. Make sure the mold you're looking at is symmetrical!
- Level of Detail - The more detail your hot chocolate molds have, the trickier it is to spread thin layers of chocolate evenly. The more detail in the outer rim shape of the mold, the harder it will be to line the two halves up to seal. You may need to use a fine tip piping bag to close any gaps in the seal.
- Hot Chocolate Bomb Mold Material - If you're not using tempered couverture chocolate, you'll need flexible silicone hot cocoa bomb molds. All of the hot cocoa bomb molds on this list are made of flexible food grade silicone. If you are using properly tempered chocolate, you can use a hard acrylic mold or a flexible silicone mold.
1. Diamond Heart Shaped Molds | Amazon
Each of these funky geometric heart hot cocoa bomb molds are 2.2"x2.6" and .9" deep. Which means when sealed shut, they're almost 2" deep! That's pretty hefty for a hot cocoa bomb.
They will fit — tightly — in an 8 oz mug, but are big enough to make a satisfying jumbo mug of cocoa too.
There's plenty of room inside for heaps of hot cocoa mix and mini marshmallows. The exterior design is detailed but not so detailed that it'll be a pain to spread the chocolate around inside.
The silicone is BPA-free and freezer and oven safe, and each tray makes 4 hot cocoa bomb molds. This listing is for one hot cocoa bomb mold tray.
2. Flower Shaped Silicone Molds | Michael's
These flower-shaped hot chocolate bomb molds from Michael's are come in three different, symmetrical flower designs. Each one is about 2" across and 1.3" deep giving you enough room for cocoa mix inside.
As far as hot cocoa bomb molds go, these are a bit more advanced. They have a lot of detail, meaning you'll probably want a brush or piping bag to help get an even coating of the chocolate shell and to neatly seal the edges shut.
You could also fill them full with the chocolate, then flip the mold over a bowl and let the excess chocolate drip out. (This is how chocolatiers get even chocolate coatings in their molds, but can be messier if you've never done it before.)
3. Medium Sphere Molds (2.1") | Amazon
This is my hot cocoa bomb mold of choice. The food-grade silicone is thin and flexible, easy to clean, and the 2.1" diameter means they fit snugly in a standard 8 oz mug. The chocolate shells pop out easily, and their smaller size makes them easy to store even in a crowded kitchen.
You can fit 1 packet of hot cocoa mix in these hot cocoa bombs, though I recommend slightly less. One packet of hot cocoa mix will fill one half of the hot cocoa bomb mold right to the brim, which can make it tricky to seal shut. Don't worry — the chocolate shell more than makes up for there being slightly less hot cocoa powder.
This set of hot cocoa bomb molds makes 6 hot cocoa bombs at a time. Each mold makes 3 hot cocoa bombs.
4. Jumbo Sphere Molds (3.1") | Amazon
These giant, 3.1" silicone hot cocoa bomb molds make hot cocoa bombs perfect for those oversized mugs of cocoa.
If you want to hide a handful of mini marshmallows, or even a few regular sized marshmallows inside your hot cocoa bomb, these are the molds for you.
There's plenty of room inside each of these hot cocoa bomb molds to comfortably fit a packet of hot cocoa mix and any extra sprinkles or marshmallows your heart desires.
With five cavities in each tray, these giant hot cocoa bomb molds can make five hot cocoa bombs simultaneously. Each mold makes 4 and a half hot cocoa bombs.
5. Express Yourself Emoji Molds | Amazon
Hot cocoa bomb molds for every mood! These silicone emoji trays make the perfect hot cocoa bomb molds. The only one that isn't symmetrical is the p**p emoji, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your sense of humor).
I love these for hot chocolate bomb molds because they've got a small level of detail and lots of personality, but aren't so detailed that you need any fancy tools to get a nice even layer of chocolate coating.
This set comes with two silicone trays, each one with 16 (well, 15 minus p**p) cavities, meaning you can make 15 hot cocoa bombs simultaneously!
They're a bit smaller than some of the other molds on this list at 1.9" across. But that's okay — just like in reality, you can use two moods at once.
6. Diamond Heart and Sphere Silicone Molds | Amazon
You get the best of both worlds with these sphere and geometric heart silicone hot chocolate bomb molds. These are medium sized spheres and hearts, each with a 2.6" diameter, meaning they'll be a snug fit in a standard mug.
Like all the molds on this list these are BPA-free, food grade silicone. A set of two silicone mold trays makes 3 sphere hot cocoa bombs and 3 heart hot cocoa bombs simultaneously.
7. Round Flower Silicone Molds | Amazon
These flower molds are perfect for hot cocoa bombs because even with the beautiful floral patterns, they're actually totally round and symmetrical. You could even mix and match different floral patterns in your hot cocoa bombs.
These would be super cute with some colored white chocolate piping and colorful sprinkles on the outside!
These are jumbo sized hot chocolate bomb molds at 2.8" across and 1.2" deep. This set of 3 can make up to 9 hot cocoa bombs at once.
For more of my product roundups and gift guides click here. For a master list of my favorite kitchen tools click here.
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