Pop Rocks Hot Cocoa Bombs

At a glance

What stands out: Pop rock hot cocoa bombs will rock your hot chocolate world! You’ll experience tiny explosions of fun as the pop rocks are released into a warm creamy strawberry drink.

How long it takes: just under an hour and a half, includes time to set the chocolate
Equipment you’ll need: half sphere silicone mold (for 6), pastry brush, microwave safe bowl and microwave oven
Servings: 6

White hot cocoa bombs, colorfully decorated with pink and purple drizzles, hold a big surprise. Instead of chocolate, these bombs are filled with strawberry milk powder. And even more surprising, hidden inside are the unique fizzy exploding candies called “Pop Rocks.” So much fun!

What happens when you pour hot milk over these Pop Rocks bombs? The colorfully decorated vanilla spheres begin to melt, releasing rich pink strawberry milk powder, Pop Rocks, and mini marshmallows.

And then the fun begins! The warm drink turns a beautiful shade of pink, Pop Rocks start popping, and mini marshmallows bob to the top. You’ll enjoy the excitement and drama of these fun hot cocoa bombs. The bombs are a fun gift idea, too.

Once the bomb casing has completely melted, stir everything up, and sip on this sweet, smooth, and creamy warm beverage with marshmallows. Oh, so good!

How it comes together

This is a speedy explanation of how to make these bombs. The complete instructions are in the recipe card below.

Buy silicone molds. This recipe makes six bombs. You’ll need a half sphere silicone mold for six hot cocoa bombs. The diameter of each bomb is just over 2 ½ inches. The molds are available at stores like Michael’s or Walmart, or you can order one from Amazon.

Microwave the white chocolate to make the shells. Each bomb is encased in a white vanilla flavored casing. After you’ve melted the wafers, use a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to completely cover the molds. Once the candy hardens, remove the shells from the molds.

Add colored drizzle. Decorate the outside of six shell halves with pink and purple drizzles. It’s straightforward to do. Simply pour the melted candy into a baggie, cut a corner off, and squeeze it over the outsides of the shells. Isn’t that so pretty?

Fill the bombs. Spoon strawberry milk powder, Pop Rocks, and mini marshmallows into the other six plain halves.

Join the halves. Now put the halves together and seal them up. Warm a plate in the microwave and set an empty top half on the warm plate to just slightly melt the edges. Join it to a filled half and run your finger around the edges to complete the seal. That’s it!

You might think these are too pretty to eat! They taste as good as they look, though, and we bet you can think of a special someone who would love to receive a prettily wrapped hot cocoa bomb, especially during the cold winter months. The bombs are fun and rich!

What goes in

• White Vanilla Melting Wafers – Ghirardelli’s is a great brand to use!
• Pink and Purple Candy Melts – We recommend using Wilton candy melts. You could use any color you want!
• Strawberry Milk Powder Drink Mix – This recipe uses Nesquick drink mix.This will give the fun pink color! Want to use traditional hot cocoa? Go for it! Keep in mind it will affect the final color of your beverage.
• Pop Rocks Candy – This is such a fun twist! If you have children, they are going to go nuts over these bombs.
• Mini Marshmallows – Because what’s hot chocolate without ‘mallows?

Possible Recipe Variations

• Choose your favorite flavor. Pop Rocks come in a variety of colors and flavors. Choose which one you like.
• Choose your favorite color. Change the color of the outside of the bomb (to match your Pop Rocks or a special occasion) by choosing different colored melting wafers. Candy Melts come in all sorts of colors.
• Make it chocolate. You can make these hot chocolate bombs with melted dark or milk chocolate and fill them with dry traditional hot chocolate mix.
• More hot chocolate recipes: Try crockpot hot chocolate, from-scratch ginger spiced hot cocoa, or this straightforward oat milk recipe. For an adult drink, try a hot white Russian. If you like hot chocolate mixes, try our from-scratch hot cocoa mix. It’s straightforward and tastes so much better than commercial mixes.

Giving Cocoa Bombs as Gifts

Keeping leftovers

Cocoa bombs don’t have to be refrigerated. Wrap them well and store them up to two months in your pantry. Avoid direct sunlight or warm locations.

Go ahead, have a little fun with your food! You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy these recipes. Here are a few more ideas to play around with!

• Yield: 6
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 5 minutes
• Total: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups white vanilla melting wafers, such as Ghirardelli’s
• ¼ cup purple candy melts (Wilton)
• ¼ cup pink candy melts (Wilton)
• 6 tablespoons strawberry milk powder mix (Nesquick)
• 2-3 packages Pop Rocks, assorted flavors
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• Half sphere silicone mold
• Milk for serving

Method

1. In a medium sized, microwave safe bowl, melt the white vanilla flavored melts in 30 second increments, stirring in between. It should take about 1 minute for them to completely melt. Once melted, using a pastry brush or the back of a spoon, coat each mold with a thick layer of the white vanilla. Let set on the counter or in the fridge for a quicker set time. Once hardened, brush over any thin spots and the top edge to reinforce against fragility. Once hardened, carefully remove from the silicone mold.
2. In two small microwave safe bowls, melt the purple and pink candy melts separately, stirring every 30 seconds. Again, it should only take about 1 minute for them to melt. Once they are melted, spoon into two separate baggies and cut a small hole in one corner of each baggie. Drizzle each color over 6 halves of the candy spheres and let set.
3. In the other 6 plain spheres, place 1 tablespoon of the strawberry milk powder. Spoon some Pop Rocks on top of the hot chocolate mix. Top with several mini marshmallows.
4. To seal the bombs, warm a small plate in the microwave for 45 seconds. Set a decorated, empty sphere on the warm plate for a few seconds to melt the edge. Join each empty sphere with its corresponding filled half. Run a clean finger around the seal to clean it up.
5. Serve and enjoy, or package up to give away!
6. To make hot cocoa, place cocoa bomb in the bottom of a mug and pour warm milk over it. Once the bomb has melted, stir to mix the ingredients into the milk.

Notes

For best results, use vanilla flavored melting wafers. The regular white melting wafers like Wilton brand are too candy-like and combat the sweet fruit flavors of the candy.

For variety, try different flavored Pop Rocks, and vary the color of the drizzles.

Nutrition information is for cocoa bomb only and does not include the added milk.