Holiday Hot Chocolate Bar How To

There’s nothing more crowd-pleasing and festive than a holiday hot chocolate bar! But what do you actually put on a hot chocolate bar (besides hot chocolate of course)? I kept mine super simple and focused on making it cute but also functional. Keep scrolling for more details and sources! P.S. this bar is both kid and adult friendly!

I purchased my bar cart this time last year, and since then I’ve made it a point to keep it styled seasonally. I love the size of it and think it’s perfect for decorating, but also large enough to actually be functional as a bar or food cart. If you don’t have a bar cart, you could easily set up this hot chocolate station on your kitchen island or a folding table with a tablecloth (which is what I used to do for the holidays before I found this bar cart!). You can see how I’ve styled this cart through the seasons here, here, and here!

Ok, so let’s dig in to what we’ve got goin’ on here! The most important part of the hot chocolate bar is, of course, the hot chocolate! I opted to pre-make my hot chocolate and display them in carafes. I used two different flavors of hot chocolate mix, salted caramel and dark cocoa, and I also added a third carafe of eggnog, because who doesn’t love eggnog?

To keep the carafes hot throughout the day, I use these warmers (not pictured) and they work like a DREAM! I found them on Amazon just before Thanksgiving and I was able to test them out with some hot cider and mulled wine for turkey day. You guys, these little warmers kept the carafes hot for HOURS. I was so impressed! I love these because they are easy to blend in on the cart, and they allow me to use my own glass carafes and not a bulky insulated one, though I did find this thermos which I thought was also a sleek alternative.

You could also opt to use hot chocolate stir sticks instead of pre-mixing which would make for a cute display!

There are few treats I enjoy more than a hot chocolate and Irish Cream, so I knew I had to include that on the display. I added little bottles of Bailey’s and Peppermint Schnapps for the hot chocolate, and some bourbon for the eggnog. I’ve had these dispensers from World Market for a while now, and they made perfect displays for the various liquors!

There are so many ways to jazz up your hot chocolate, it’s really just personal preference! I added lots of marshmallows, peppermint sticks, York peppermint patties, and dark chocolate chips for guests to add into their mugs. You could also have caramel or butterscotch candies, whipped cream, more flavored syrups and liquors, gingerbread cookies…the possibilities really are endless!

I made and decorated the gingerbread mug toppers using this mini gingerbread cookie cutter. I think they turned out so cute and have a distinct homemade feel. Plus, I had no idea gingerbread smells so good while it’s baking! The whole house smelled like Christmas after! That said, you can buy pre-made gingerbread mug toppers here.