We love mixing up specialty drinks for the holidays. Whether sipping on a Butterbeer Latte or whipping up a Gingerbread Cookie Christmas Cocktail from Disney’s Very Merrytime Cruise, we’re always on the lookout for festive flavors. This year we decided to whip up one of our favorite drinks from Walt Disney World. Typically found in Hollywood Studios, this Black Cherry Bourbon Hot Chocolate is typically found at Hollywood Studios. Luscious and creamy, you can make this drink with bourbon, or without. And even skip the dairy with our recipe.
As specialty drinks from Disney Parks go, you can often find them at a random drink cart, a Festival of Holidays kitchen, or even the swankiest Disney Lounge. What makes this Disney Recipe perfect is the ability to make it at home! Where you have full control over what you put in it! From sugar-free syrups to alternative milks like almond, oat, or coconut, you get to decide! Better yet, you can even include the kids just by skipping the bourbon. Which makes this Disney cocktail recipe perfect for a Disney Christmas Movie Night.
Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
This 2-ingredient Hot Chocolate Mix is actually non-dairy and doesn’t require anything more than what you probably already have in your kitchen. We typically whip up a big batch of this at the beginning of the season and store it in an airtight container. If you’re looking to mix this with water, instead of your choice of milk, then you will need to include powdered milk to the mix. However, we’d rather just add whatever fresh milk we have on hand, usually almond or oat, instead. Double, Triple, and Quadruple this recipe as Needed! A serving size is 3 tbsp of mix to 8 oz. milk.
- 6 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1 c. brown sugar or coconut palm sugar
Whisk together the 2 ingredients until all lumps have disappeared and the mix is a fine powder. Store in a container. To serve, add 3 tbsp of the hot chocolate mix to 8 oz of warmed milk. We recommend just adding the mix to the saucepan of milk on the stove, on medium-low heat until warm. But, you can also heat your milk, right in your mug in the microwave and then add the mix, once it’s to your desired temperature. Once your hot chocolate mix is made you’re ready to add the ingredients for this fabulous Disney Christmas drink.
Black Cherry Bourbon Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Hot Chocolate Mix
- 5 oz. water or milk of choice
- 1 oz toasted marshmallow syrup
- 1 oz. black cherry syrup ( Torani or homemade)
- 1 jigger bourbon
- 2 oz whipped cream for garnish
- 1 maraschino cherry for garnish
Instructions
- Heat your milk of choice in a saucepan. 5 oz of milk is about 2/3 c. so plan accordingly if making this drink for more than just yourself.
- Add 3 tbsp hot chocolate mix once the milk is warm, close to hot, but not boiling.
- Remove from stove.
- Add toasted marshmallow syrup and black cherry syrup.
- Add bourbon. If making a mocktail, skip this step.
- Stir until combined or add to a hot cocoa machine.
- Top with 2oz. whipped cream ( regular, or non-dairy)
- Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Recipe Notes
For this recipe, we used Makers Mark Bourbon, Homemade Cherry Syrup, Torani Toasted Marshmallow Syrup, and Almond Breeze Almond Milk ( though we also like Chobani Oat Milk).
Black Cherry Syrup. If you’d rather not spring for the premade black cherry syrup, you can make your own. Check out this homemade cherry simple syrup recipe. You’ll get the same rich flavor and can adjust as needed in your hot chocolate.
Black Cherry Hot Chocolate
This is a super simple recipe and really only calls for the addition of a few things you may have to grab on amazon. We love it even more because it’s wonderful for a group that may have both mocktail and cocktail drinkers, as you can simply leave the bourbon as an optional add-in. Check out all our Disney Recipes for the Holidays!
Rochelle Mariah is a writer, designer and photographer with an MLIS in Information Science and a B.S. in Arch and Design. Determined to make Planning a DIY Disney Vacation easier she makes lots of lists and drinks lots of coffee. When not designing apparel at Polka Dot Pixie Shop, she's watching old movies and planning the holidays. She has been traveling to Disney destinations since 2010.
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