The Dirty Snowman is like a cocktail in a dessert! This delicious adult hot chocolate drink recipe is made by combining rich hot chocolate, ice cream, and liqueurs such as Kahlua, creme de cacao, or Bailey’s.
Complete with a chocolate syrup coated rim and topped off with fluffy whipped cream, this is an adult dessert drink that for sure will help you forget about the cold outside!
Dirty Snowman: The Adult Hot Chocolate Drink!
My kids can’t get enough of hot chocolate when it comes to wintertime. Every time I watch them as they sip on a warm mug of this delicious chocolatey drink, I have instant nostalgia for when I was a young girl and could drink hot chocolate by the gallons! So, I decided that this classic drink needed a serious adult upgrade.
Cue the Dirty Snowman cocktail. This is the grown-up version of hot chocolate that we all need in our lives! Now as the kids sip on their own hot cocoa, overflowing with mini-marshmallows and whipped cream, I can enjoy my very own adult drink, complete with a chocolate-coated rim, and my favorite type of liqueur!
This is the perfect drink for those that are not huge fans of strong drinks. Don’t get me wrong, this drink packs a punch! Word of caution… you won’t taste a lot of liquor going down, but it will warm you up, if you know what I mean!
What Is the Dirty Snowman Drink?
The Dirty Snowman drink is basically an adult version of hot chocolate on steriods. It’s your classic cup of creamy, rich hot cocoa–with a boozy twist.
It can be made in a variety of ways using any type of hot cocoa, ice cream, and your liquor of choice. This yummy cocktail can be made using liqueurs such as Kahlua, creme de cocoa, Bailey’s, or any type of chocolate vodka.
Start of drinking this delicious adult cocktail with a straw, but don’t be surprised when you finish it off with a spoon – don’t worry…. this is a no-judgement zone!
Why We Love This Recipe
- Fun and unique winter cocktail recipe
- Quick and easy to make
- Rich and tasty, like a dessert in a cup
- Can easily be doubled or tripled for a group
- Simple to change up ingredients and add your favorite liquors
- Impressive presentation with toppings and garnishes
- Easy ingredients list, that can be used to make multiple servings
Ingredients/Shopping List
- Chocolate syrup
- Chocolate sprinkles
- Vanilla ice cream (½ cup)
- Kahlua
- Dark creme de cacao liquor
- Hot chocolate
TIP: you want to use a nice quality hot chocolate – I use the hot cocoa recipe on Hershey’s cocoa powder container. - Whipped cream, mini chocolate chips, coarse sanding sugar, and/or additional chocolate syrup and chocolate sprinkles for garnish
How to Make a Dirty Snowman Adult Hot Chocolate
It’s super easy to make this delicious, chocolatey adult drink. You can even double or triple the ingredients listed above if you want to make more than one serving.
- Place chocolate syrup on a small plate and dip the rim in the chocolate syrup and then into a shallow tray of chocolate sprinkles.
- Place a scoop of ice cream into the glass.
- Add Kahlua and creme de cacao to the glass.
- Pour hot chocolate over the ice cream and liquor.
- Top with any of your desired garnishes.
- Serve immediately.
Variations & Add-ins
- LIQUOR: Feel free to mix things up and use your favorite liquors in this drink. You could use rum, coconut rum, or Bailey’s. All of these would be fabulous. A chocolate vodka would also work. If you want to go for a peppermint flavored hot chocolate, you could even use peppermint schnapps or a mint flavored vodka.
- ICE CREAM: If you are a chocolate lover, you could swap out the vanilla ice cream for chocolate ice cream and make this double chocolatey!
- GARNISH/TOPPINGS: As listed in the ingredients, there are any number of garnishes and toppings you can use to make your drink look beautiful and taste delicious! Whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate chips, syrups, as well as sanding sugar are all fabulous ways to decorate your final drink.
Tips
- The ingredients listed will yield 1 drink. However, this recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to make multiple drinks for a group.
- This drink is pretty rich. I found that the liquor taste is present, but not overpowering. So, you could add more alcohol to it if you’d like. The hot chocolate and ice cream are heavy enough to support a stronger drink.
Making Ahead and Serving
You want to prepare this drink just before you will serve it. However, the hot chocolate and liquor can be stored and used to make another serving later on.
You can even double or triple the amounts of these ingredients and combine them in advance when storing. However, when making your drink you should pour the mixture over individual glasses with an ice cream scoop in them, just before serving.
More Of Our Favorite Drink Recipes
Hot Chocolate Bombs | Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte | Strawberry Mint Moscow Mule | Cotton Candy Champagne Cocktail | Best Butterbeer Recipe Ever (Frozen Version) | Harry Potter Butterbeer (Hot Version) | Frosé (Frozen Rosé Recipe) | Frozen Hot Chocolate | Starburst Jell-O shots | Whipped Hot Chocolate | Grinch Punch
Dirty Snowman (Adult Hot Chocolate Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
- 1 tablespoon chocolate sprinkles
- ½ cup vanilla ice cream 1 scoop
- ¼ cup Kahlua
- 1 tablespoon dark creme de cacao liqueur
- 1 cup hot chocolate
- Whipped cream mini chocolate chips, coarse sanding sugar, and/or additional chocolate syrup and chocolate sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Place chocolate syrup on a small plate. Turn glass upside down and dip the rim in the chocolate syrup.
- Dip the syrup-coated rim into a shallow tray of chocolate sprinkles until it is coated.
- Place one scoop of ice cream into the glass/mug.
- Add Kahlua and creme de cacao to the glass.
- Pour hot chocolate over the ice cream and liquor.
- Top with whipped cream and any garnish/toppings.
Jenn’s Notes
- Prepare drink just before serving.
- Hot chocolate, and liquor amounts can be doubled, tripled, etc. and combined in advance, but pour over individual glasses with ice cream scoop just before serving.
- You could really mix things up and use your favorite liquors in this drink – rum, coconut rum, or Bailey’s would all be yummy. A chocolate vodka could also work. You could also substitute chocolate ice cream or use a combination.
- This is a pretty rich drink. The liquor taste is present, but not too overpowering; you could add more alcohol if you’d like – the hot chocolate and ice cream are heavy enough to support a stronger drink.
- Use a nice quality hot chocolate – I use the hot cocoa recipe on the Hershey’s cocoa powder container.
I’m partaking in this delicious drink now! Having a hard time falling asleep so hoping it will help. If not, I will have to try another!
Thank you for sharing this . . Awesome
Did you use milk for the hot chocolate or water?
I prefer milk, but you can do either.
What size (in ounces) mug did you use?