How to make homemade chocolate milk mix: such a fun and easy recipe drink for Halloween kids activities or anytime you want DIY chocolate milk. You can drink this as cold chocolate milk recipe or heat it up for homemade hot cocoa! Many learn how to make chocolate milk with chocolate syrup, but this is easy chocolate milk using cocoa powder. We turned ours into Monster Milk with marshmallow faces for a drink treat perfect for Halloween recipes or chocolate monster drink for monster theme parties or a Halloween party. Great for a Halloween preschool activity, too!
How To Make Homemade Chocolate Milk Mix
This is a fun kids drink for anytime or a Halloween drink for children!
How To Make Chocolate Milk From Scratch
Ingredients for cold monster chocolate milk or a homemade hot chocolate recipe:
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- White sugar
- Whole milk
- Large marshmallows
- Whipped cream (optional)
- Colored sprinkles (optional)
Get the full chocolate milk homemade recipe below. KEEP SCROLLING for the homemade quick chocolate milk recipe!
You can make homemade chocolate milk with a variety of things:
- Cocoa powder
- Chocolate powder (like Nesquick)
- Chocolate bars (like a plain melted Hershey bar)
- Chocolate chips
- Nutella
- & MORE!
Any of these are great options for how to make chocolate milk like store bought and they all taste a little different.
Can you make chocolate milk with Nutella?
You can make chocolate milk with Nutella (or Nutella hot chocolate). Just add a spoon of Nutella to a mug of milk and stir until combined. It will have a different flavor from hot chocolate made from cocoa powder, but it’s good!
CHECK OUT THIS FRIENDLY MONSTERS ACTIVITY PACK – A PERFECT KIDS’ PRINTABLE TO PAIR WITH THE HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE MILK RECIPE!
Kid Printables Coloring Pages & MORE!
Can you make chocolate milk with cocoa powder?
YES, you can make homemade chocolate milk with cocoa powder with a bit of effort. Since the cocoa powder and milk separate easily and tend to clump, you must mix vigorously and drink immediately.
In fact, that’s the what’s in our Monster Milk recipe that we’ll share in just a bit! If you heat it up, you also have a hot chocolate milk recipe!
(Some people also add a pinch of salt for salted chocolate milk.)
Now, let’s talk about how to dissolve chocolate in milk — which can be a challenge sometimes when learning how to make homemade chocolate milk powder.
Does cocoa powder mix with milk?
What happens if you put cocoa powder in milk? Cocoa powder and milk can be hard to stir and remain mixed. A problem with mixing cocoa powder into cold milk is that it can turn lumpy. Mix your dry ingredients and then gradually the milk, almost like a paste. If it remains lumpy or clumpy, this just means that you haven’t continued stirring it enough! One way to combat this is to put your milk and cocoa powder in a jar with a lid and shake before drinking.
How to keep cocoa powder from clumping (how to dissolve cocoa powder):
The trick is to add the cocoa powder, sugar, and a little milk first, then stir. You will get a thick, sludge mixture. Just continue stirring quickly until the lumps are gone. (This is how you make your own homemade chocolate milk syrup!) Then, pour in the rest of the milk and stir until smooth.
If the milk sits for a bit, the cocoa powder may be clumpy at the bottom of the cup. Just stir again, or shake in a container with a lid, until the chocolate is dissolved to get your homemade hot chocolate milk recipe.
However, it’s best to drink this chocolate milk right away after making it.
After you learn how do you make chocolate milk from scratch,
CHECK OUT THESE DRINK RECIPES NEXT:
How To Make Homemade Hot Chocolate Recipe with Toppings
How to Make Jack O Lantern Halloween Smoothies
Can you make chocolate milk with water?
You can make chocolate milk with water, but it will not have that same creaminess that makes chocolate milk so yummy. If you have allergies or intolerances, try to find alternatives to milk (almond milk or substitute milk powder) to make chocolate milk for a smooth and creamy chocolate milk.
How To Make Chocolate Milk Thicker
If you like a homemade chocolate milk just a little thicker (not as thick as a chocolate milkshake, but thicker than regular chocolate milk), simply add a little cornstarch before mixing. Blend all ingredients together. You can also heat it up in a microwave safe cup.
How long does homemade chocolate milk last?
You can keep homemade chocolate milk for a week or longer. However, you may find that the cocoa powder starts to clump again. If it does, use an immersion blender or blender to mix again. Or, use a container with a lid to shake the ingredients to mix together.
Want to know how to make chocolate milk better? Add little monsters with marshmallows (and even make it into monster hot chocolate or a fun Halloween monster drink!).
Making Marshmallow Monster Milk
If you want to make your homemade chocolate milk into Monster Milk (like we did for fun Halloween kids’ drinks), you’ll also need:
- Large marshmallows (for cocoa monster milk)
- Black food gel or baking markers
- Yellow decorating sugar (or Halloween sugar color of choice)
Let’s get to our homemade milk chocolate recipe with marshmallow monster faces!
How Do You Make Homemade Chocolate Milk?
This homemade chocolate milk is how I remember making milk with chocolate as a kid. I really do think this makes the best homemade chocolate milk, but part of that may be nostalgia.
This homemade chocolate milk mix recipe will soon become a favorite for your kids, too!
(I mean, learning how to make chocolate milk at home is like a rite of passage, right?)
RECIPE TIP: The homemade chocolate milk powder has a tendency to clump, so mix the dry ingredients first and then slowly add the milk to create a paste. If you have it, use an immersion blender (or regular blender) to blend the ingredients.
We. made this as a homemade dairy milk chocolate recipe for milk, but you can also make non-dairy chocolate milk by using oat milk, almond milk, or even a substitute milk powder.
You can also make this recipe for milk homemade chocolate with cocoa powder and milk powder (instead of liquid milk).
If you like dark chocolate, you can now get dark chocolate cocoa for homemade dark chocolate milk.
Here’s how to make chocolate milk powder for a cold glass of chocolate milk (or homemade hot chocolate with milk)…
Homemade Chocolate Milk (aka: Monster Milk)
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 8 ounces whole milk
- Large marshmallows (optional, if making Monster Milk)
- Colored decorating sugar we used yellow, (optional, if making Monster Milk)
- Black decorating gel or black food marker (optional, if making Monster Milk)
- Whipped cream optional
- Halloween colored sprinkles optional
Instructions
- In a jar or container with lid, add cocoa powder and sugar. Stir or shake to mix.
- To the cocoa powder and sugar mixture, pour just enough milk into glass to cover mixture. Vigorously shake or stir mixture until all clumps have disappeared and you have a thick mixture.
- Slowly add remaining milk, stirring or shaking until as you go until all milk has been added and is completely mixed, with no clumps remaining.
- Serve immediately.
TO MAKE MONSTER MILK
- Before adding ingredients to glass, dip rim of glass into water.
- Place colored sugar in a saucer. Roll rim of wet glass in sugar until rim is covered. Set aside to dry.
- Using the decorating gel, draw faces on the marshmallows. Set aside to dry. (The gel will still have a sticky texture, even after it sits.)
- Follow the instructions above for making the homemade chocolate milk. Carefully pour into the prepared glass. Add "monster" marshmallows, face up. ENJOY!
- If you are making this as homemade hot cocoa, heat the milk in a microwave-safe cup for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then, top with monster marshmallows and/or whipped cream.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Note
Nutrition calculations are approximate. If you're following a special diet, please calculate your own nutrition values.
If you’re warming this up to make into hot cocoa, you’ll definitely want to add our homemade whipped cream to it!
(Just leave out the secret ingredient when using it for hot chocolate.)
What about some fun activities for kids to pair with a recipe for homemade chocolate milk?
RECIPE AND READ FOR KIDS ACTIVITIES: Chocolate Monster Milk paired with Leonardo, the Terrible Monster Children’s Book
While learning how to make chocolate milk from scratch (Monster Drink), pair it up with Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by the fabulous Mo Willems.
Leonardo, is really a terrible monster.
I mean, really terrible.
Can you imagine how awful it would be for a no one to think you are scary as a monster?
Well, that’s what happened to poor Leonardo.
From the book:
Leonardo is truly a terrible monster-terrible at being a monster that is.
No matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to frighten anyone.
Determined to succeed, Leonardo sets himself to training and research.
Finally, he finds a nervous little boy, and scares the tuna salad out of him!
But scaring people isn’t quite as satisfying as he thought it would be.
Leonardo realizes that he might be a terrible, awful monster-but he could be a really good friend.
Listed Age Range: 3-6 years
This book pairs perfectly with learning how to make homemade chocolate using milk powder or cold milk, especially when you add our monster face marshmallows!
Hi, for some reason, I tried this recipe multiple times, but every time, the cocoa powder and sugar never dissolve into the milk no matter how long i mix. Why is this? Thank you!
Hey Samantha,
Thanks for the feedback. I remember we did have to mix the cocoa and sugar quite a bit to get it to dissolve. I’ll make it again soon and see if I can make some updates.