How to Make Store-Bought Hot Chocolate Feel Like a Holiday Hug

Somewhere along the way, the holidays convinced us that joy requires twelve ingredients, a specialty whisk, and a minor identity crisis in the kitchen.

But let me remind you of something radical: store-bought hot chocolate is already doing the heavy lifting.

The secret to making it feel warm and cozy isn’t in reinventing it—it’s in romanticizing it.

Cozy Easy Hot Chocolate

Ingredients (Because Simple Is the Point)

• Swiss Miss Instant Hot Chocolate

• Sweetened condensed milk (just a splash of sweet cream magic)

• Marshmallows

• Crushed candy cane

That’s it. No syrups with hard-to-pronounce names. No seasonal pressure.

Prepare your hot chocolate as usual. Pour it into a mug you actually like—the chipped one counts.Stir in a small splash of sweetened condensed milk for richness. Top with marshmallows and a sprinkle of crushed candy cane for that unmistakable holiday feel.

Then stop. Sit somewhere soft. Put your phone down. Let the moment be enough.

The holidays don’t need to be louder, bigger, or more complicated to be meaningful.

Sometimes warmth comes from choosing ease. From sipping something familiar. From letting “good enough” be perfect.

Cheers to simple comforts, fewer steps, and hot chocolate that doesn’t ask too much of us—because December already does.