Serve Football Hot Chocolate Bombs at your Super Bowl or tailgating party. Each of these football-shaped chocolates is filled with hot cocoa mix and tiny marshmallows and can be stirred into a mug of hot steaming milk to make a deliciously creamy hot chocolate.
Earlier this week a friend asked me for some fun Super Bowl recipes that she can serve to her family while they are watching the big game.
I have created over 50 festive football-themed Super Bowl recipes but every year I like to create something new and I thought it would be nice to make something for her and her kids for game day.
Earlier this week I made and shared a recipe for Conversation Heart Hot Chocolate Bombs and when I was looking through all my candy molds, I found a football mold.
As soon as I picked it up, I knew I just had to use it to make these Football Hot Cocoa Bombs.
I used a Spinning Leaf football candy mold to make these Football Hot Chocolate Bombs.
Spinning Leaf makes their molds specifically for chocolate-covered OREO Cookies but they work great for hot chocolate bombs too.
Football Candy Mold
- You will need at least one Spinning Leaf football candy mold.
- This mold makes chocolate footballs that are 2 ¾" long by 2" wide by ¾ thick which is perfect for making football-shaped hot cocoa bombs. They fit nicely in a coffee mug or in a paper cup and have just enough chocolate to flavor 6-8 ounces of hot milk.
- I chose to cut my mold into 4 smaller molds so that I could paint or fill one mold at a time. You can keep your mold in one piece if you prefer. If you do cut it, use heavy-duty kitchen shears and be sure to cut off the pointed edges.
Choosing Chocolate
You can use pure milk and white chocolate or light cocoa and white candy melts (compound chocolate/confectionery coating) to make your chocolate footballs.
You will get the best flavor using pure chocolate but, pure chocolate needs to be tempered in order to firm up properly so you can remove it from the candy mold.
Candy melts can simply be melted.
Check out my chocolate making tips page for a more detailed tutorial discussing the differences between the types of chocolates and their melting methods. I'll give you some brief information below.
Pure Chocolate
- Pure milk chocolate and pure white have a deliciously rich flavor.
- Pure chocolate contains cocoa butter which melts at body temperature giving it a luxuriously smooth texture when it melts on your tongue.
- Any chocolate that contains cocoa butter must be tempered (heated and cooled properly) in order to harden properly.
- When pure chocolate is in temper it has a wonderful snap and shine and retracts from a candy mold easily.
Compound Chocolates (confectionery coating)
- Candy melts, melting wafers, and almond bark are all types of compound chocolate. They are made using vegetable oil, typically palm kernel oil, instead of cocoa butter.
- They were formulated to melt easily and harden without any extra effort (no need to temper).
- Their melting point is higher than that of pure chocolate which means they will take longer to melt on your tongue (an in a mug of hot milk) which can give them a waxy feel. However, there is no wax in them, as some people believe. What you are feeling on your tongue is palm kernel oil, not wax.
- Compound chocolates have a nice flavor, that many people really love, but are not as luxurious as pure chocolate.
Any chocolate that you purchase from the store that contains cocoa butter is already in temper but once you melt it, it can go out of temper if it gets too hot. If you are very careful when melting your chocolate you can keep it in temper if you do not allow your milk chocolate to go above 88 degrees Fahrenheit and your white chocolate to go above 84 degrees F.
Easy Microwave Chocolate Tempering
- Finely chop or grate 12 ounces of chocolate and place it in a microwave-safe bowl.
- Heat on high for 30 seconds, then remove the bowl and stir.
- Heat on high for 15-second increments, stirring after each, until melted. As you get close to melting, cut the heat to 50% power.
- When using this tempering method you want to be very careful not to get your chocolate too hot. You want the chocolate to be between:
- 86-88 degree Fahrenheit for milk chocolate
- 82-84 degrees Fahrenheit for white chocolate
- If the temperature of your chocolate goes above these numbers, you will have to heat it up to 110-115 degrees and use the seeding method below.
Seeding Method of Tempering Chocolate
It can be challenging to make sure your chocolate stays in that temperature range, so you can use the seeding method if the chocolate gets too hot.
- Melt 10 ounces of milk chocolate to 110°-115° F (or white chocolate to 105-110° F).
- Begin to cool the chocolate by stirring in about 1 ounce of milk (or white) chocolate. Continue to stir, scraping down the sides of the bowl until all of those chocolate pieces have melted.
- Check the temperature of the chocolate. Your goal is to cool the milk chocolate to 86-88°F (or white chocolate to 82-84°F).
- Continue to sprinkle in small amounts of chocolate and stir to cool the bowl of chocolate.
- Be sure to always scrape the sides of the bowl. You do not want the chocolate to harden around the edge of the bowl.
- Once the chocolate reaches the correct temperate, remove any unmelted chocolate pieces. If there aren't many pieces you can also just dissolve them using an immersion blender. If there are too many, however, you don't want to do that as you will run the risk of cooling the chocolate too much.
Can you melt chocolate without a microwave?
- Yes.
- Alternatively, you can melt your chocolate in a double boiler set over low heat.
- Fill a pot with 1-inch of water and set a tight-fitting bowl over the opening of the pan.
- Fill the bowl with chocolate and heat on low stirring often until melted.
- Continue to heat until the chocolate reaches the appropriate temperature.
- Then remove from the heat and follow the instructions above.
How to know if chocolate is in temper?
- Test the temper of the chocolate by dipping a metal spatula, spoon, or knife into the chocolate.
- Shake it, to remove the excess chocolate then set it aside at room temperature.
- In 3-5 minutes, the chocolate should harden and look shiny.
- Alternatively, you can spread a small amount of chocolate on a piece of parchment paper and allow it to air dry for 3-5 minutes. It should peel off the paper and snap when broken.
- While you are waiting, be sure to stir your bowl of chocolate, to make sure it doesn't cool too much around the edge.
- If your test chocolate has hardened and looks shiny be sure to check the temperature of your bowl of chocolate before proceeding to make your chocolate balls.
- The chocolate will have cooled slightly and will need to be warmed slightly!
- Heat it in the microwave for about 5 seconds then remove and stir and check the temperature. Do not let it go above temper temperature (88° milk or 84° white). If it does, you have to start this whole process over again.
- You are now ready to fill your molds with chocolate.
Can I skip tempering pure chocolate?
- NO, do not skip tempering pure chocolate!
- Most importantly, chocolate that is not properly tempered will not harden and retract from the plastic football mold, so you will not be able to get the chocolate out of the mold. You will need to wash it out using hot water and start over.
- Chocolate that is not tempered properly will be soft, streaky, spotty, or even chalky. The chocolate that is pictured above is all out of temper.
If you do not want to deal with tempering pure chocolate you can opt to use candy melts or any other compound chocolate instead. They are easy to melt and set up properly.
Just not that if you allow candy melts to harden at room temperature they can become spotty and streaky. I recommend you harden your candy melts in the freezer. They harden quickly and come out really shiny.
Some popular brands of compound chocolate are
- Wilton Candy Melts,
- Ghirardelli Melting Wafers,
- Merckens Confectionery Coating
- Great Value Almond Bark.
- Peter’s White Caps - I particularly enjoy the flavor of these wafers but they only available to purchase at cake/candy decorating stores or in 25-pound cases, which is what I buy.
How to melt candy melts.
- Pour your candy melts into a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high power for 30 seconds then remove and stir.
- Repeat this process until most of the chocolate is melted.
- Then heat at high power for 15-second increments, stirring after each, until completely melted.
- Alternatively, you can melt candy melts in a double boiler set over low heat.
- Fill a pot with 1-inch of water and set a tight-fitting bowl over the opening of the pan.
- Fill the bowl with chocolate and heat on low stirring often until melted.
Now, that we have our chocolate melted, let's make some footballs!
Paint white laces.
- Using a clean, dry, food-use-only fine-tip paintbrush, paint white laces in each football mold cavity.
- These molds are really nice as they have deep indentations so it's easy to paint on the laces.
- Dip the paintbrush into the bowl of melted and tempered pure white chocolate or melted white candy melts.
- Brush the white chocolate over the indentations in the mold to create the laces.
- Pop the painted mold into the freezer, if using white candy melts, and in the refrigerator, if using pure white chocolate, and chill for 2-4 minutes until hardened.
- Remove the mold and allow it to come to room temperature before filling with milk chocolate.
Create chocolate shell.
It's important if you are using candy melts that you allow the melted candy melts to cool slightly so they do not feel hot to the touch, as hot candy melts can melt the white laces.
- Spoon 1 ½ tablespoons of milk chocolate or light cocoa candy melts into a football cavity.
- Use a food-use-only paintbrush to brush it up the sides of the mold.
- Wipe off any chocolate that is on the flat part of the mold so your football has a clean edge.
- Then flip the mold upside down to see if there are any air bubbles. Pop them using your paintbrush if needed.
- Set the mold upside down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- If using pure chocolate, place the mold in the refrigerator and allow the chocolate to harden for 5-10 minutes. You can also allow pure chocolate to harden at room temperature.
- If using candy melts, place the mold in the freezer for about 5 minutes just until hardened. Do not leave in the freezer for too long or the chocolate may crack.
NOTE: Do not allow your candy melts to air dry at room temperature. Get the filled mold into the freezer right away (cutting the mold into 4 pieces makes this easy). Candy Melts can become spotty and streaky if they are allowed to harden at room temperature.
Pour and dump method.
- If you are using pure chocolate, you can fill the entire mold with chocolate, then turn it upside down, and allow the excess chocolate to drip out.
- Then scrape the excess chocolate off the mold so the top edge of the football is clean.
- You can watch my video in the How To Make Hot Chocolate Bombs post to see this process in action.
Fill your hot chocolate bomb footballs.
- Sprinkle tiny dehydrated marshmallows over the bottom of each football-shaped chocolate shell.
- Then, sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of hot cocoa mix over top.
- You can find the recipe to make homemade hot chocolate mix on my How To Make Hot Chocolate Bombs post.
- Press the hot chocolate mix into an even layer, so that it is at least ⅛-inch from the top edge of the chocolate football.
- Pour some milk chocolate or light cocoa candy melts into a squeeze bottle, a pastry bag, or a zip-top bag.
- Pipe chocolate over the powdered cocoa mix.
- Gently tap the mold on the table a few times to allow air bubbles to escape.
- Pop the air bubbles and make sure the entire surface of the football is covered with chocolate.
- Chill in the freezer if using candy melts and in the refrigerator, if using pure chocolate until hardened, about 5 minutes.
Serving a football hot chocolate bomb.
- Bring 6-8 ounces of milk to a boil on the stove or in the microwave.
- Fill a coffee mug or football-themed hot beverage cup with half of the hot milk.
- Add the football hot chocolate bomb.
- Pour the remaining steaming milk over top.
- Allow the chocolate football to melt for a minute or so then stir until completely melted.
- Serve hot and enjoy.
These will make such a fun treat to share with family and friends at a football game if you are tailgating. You can bring your hot milk in a thermos then serve these hot chocolate bombs to keep everyone warm.
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While this Conversation Heart Hot Chocolate Bombs video is not actually of me making these footballs, it does show you the exact same technique you'll use to make these footballs.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id="apAJiSYi" upload-date="2021-02-03T20:19:05.000Z" name="Conversation Heart Hot Chocolate Bombs" description="Conversation heart hot chocolate bombs make fun Valentine's day treats. Serve them in a hot steaming mug of milk and they'll melt into a delicious hot beverage. " player-type="default" override-embed="default"]
Printable Recipe
Serve these football-shaped chocolates filled with hot chocolate mix and marshmallows in a cup of steaming hot milk to create a delicious hot beverage.
- 2 ounces melted and tempered white chocolate or melted white candy melts
- 12 ounces melted and tempered milk chocolate or melted light cocoa candy melts
- ¼ cup tiny dehydrated marshmallows
- ⅔ cup hot cocoa mix
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Paint white chocolate or white candy melts into the lace indentations in each of 8 Spinning Leaf football candy molds.
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Freeze, if using candy melts, and refrigerate, if using pure white chocolate, until hardened, 2-5 minutes.
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Let the molds come to room temperature before filling with chocolate.
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Pour 1 ½ tablespoons of milk chocolate or light cocoa candy melts into the bottom of a football cavity.
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Brush the chocolate up the sides of the mold.
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Freeze, if using candy melts for about 5 minutes or refrigerate for about 10 minutes if using pure chocolate until hardened.
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Sprinkle about ½ tablespoon of marshmallows in the bottom of each football.
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Then, sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of hot cocoa mix over top.
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Press the powdered mix into an even layer about ⅛ inch from the top edge of the chocolate football.
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Pipe a layer of milk chocolate or light cocoa candy melts over top.
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Tap the mold gently on the table a few times to allow air bubbles to rise to the surface of the chocolate.
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Pop the air bubbles and smooth out the chocolate.
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Freeze, if using candy melts for about 5 minutes, or refrigerate if using pure white chocolate for about 10 minutes until hardened.
- To serve, stir each chocolate football into 8 ounces of hot milk until melted.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 months.
If you are looking for more football-themed recipes including more chocolate recipes,
be sure to check out my Super Bowl Party Food Recipe roundup
featuring over 50 festive desserts, appetizers, and meals.
You might also want to check out my very detailed tutorial showing you
How To Make Hot Chocolate Bombs,
or my tutorial showing you how to make these colorful Conversation Heart Hot Chocolate Bombs.
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The Partiologist
My family loves football and chocolate so this is a win win!