This creamy, decadent slow cooker salted caramel hot chocolate is the dream hot cocoa recipe. Super easy and so richly delicious, this salted caramel hot chocolate recipe has limited prep and fuss. Made with dark chocolate instead of milk or semi sweet chocolate, this hot cocoa recipe isn’t too sweet to enjoy with your favorite cookie. Perfect for fall, the holiday season, and all winter long, this warm cozy drink will brighten up chilly nights.

Post originally published 10/18/2018. Updated 11/13/19.

Is it finally cool and crisp by you? After the never ending summer weather we had in the northeast this year, temperatures have finally dropped off and the days are brisk and in the 50s and 60s. Not exactly chilly, but nights are perfect sleeping weather.

If only I could sleep. This twin pregnancy insomnia thing is no joke. But I digress. (PS. Any twin moms out there, if you have tips on getting comfortable enough to sleep PLEASE leave me a suggestion.)

Ok so for everyone else nights are perfect sleeping weather with the chill in the air and being able to snuggle under the covers. For me, nights are perfect cozy weather. I like to light a candle and throw a fuzzy blanket across my lap and enjoy the sounds of the leaves blowing outside my windows. The only thing that makes this better?

A cozy drink of course. Like this slow cooker salted caramel hot chocolate. So cozy. So much yum. The perfect treat at the end of a long week.

How to Make the Best Slow Cooker Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Caramels and dark chocolate chips on black — I love these caramel chews for this recipe. You can also use the caramel nibs if you can find them.

This hot cocoa recipe is sort of similar to my slow cooker peppermint hot chocolate recipe. Except I changed a few things to account for the extra sweetness from the salted caramel, since caramel is basically just cooked sugar. Most slow cooker hot cocoa recipes have a few key ingredients: milk, some have heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, sugar and chocolate.

Milk, evaporated milk, sea salt, dark chocolate chips, caramels, vanilla all in bowls and containers on a black surface — Ingredients for Slow Cooker Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Well this recipe switches up slightly. So if you have a favorite crock pot hot cocoa recipe and want to add salted caramel consider doing the following to make the drink delicious without it being overly sweet:

Switch evaporated milk for sweetened condensed milk. I made this with sweet condensed milk the way I normally make my peppermint hot cocoa and it was just too much sweetness for me. The evaporated milk still gives it that extra creamy feel though.
Sub good dark chocolate chips for milk or semisweet chocolate. Dark chocolate has less sugar so it will be less of that over the top sweetness. If you prefer milk or semisweet chocolate, perhaps try using a blend of chocolates so it doesn’t get too sweet.
If you are making this for more than 2-4 people, this recipe doubles and triples easily. Just use a bigger slow cooker.
Get the good sea salt! This is a must. Table salt just won’t be the same.
While this recipe is meant to be made in a slow cooker, you can also make it on the stove top. Just be careful while heating the caramels up not to overheat the candies and burn them.

Looking for other hot chocolate recipes? Try these:

Looking for other cozy drink recipes? Try these: