The best hot chocolate recipes for Christmas

Down with processed, powdery single-serve packets! With just a few ingredients and five minutes to spare, real-deal hot cocoa — made with chocolate chips, milk and tasty trimmings of your choosing — is a cinch to make and delivers far more rich, chocolatey flavor.

Take it from Molly Yeh, host of Food Network’s “Girl Meets Farm.” On a recent episode, the chef and blogger whipped up a mugful of magic with extra special sauce — tahini, specifically.

“I love what it does to chocolate,” says Yeh of the Middle Eastern spread, made from toasted and ground sesame seeds. When you add it to a cup of cocoa, you get a brew that’s “rich and nutty and not too sweet,” she says. “It is perfect for cookie dunking.”

Try it yourself — and if you’re craving extra variety (or are tahini-less at present), you can nix the sesame and swap in another flavor-upper from one of NYC’s top chefs below.

Tahini hot chocolate

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips, milk or dark
• 1 cup tahini, or your preferred nut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• 8 cups milk

Heat the milk in a saucepan, stirring frequently, until steaming.

While the milk is warming, melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring often so it melts evenly.

Stir tahini, vanilla and salt into the melted chocolate. Mixture will thicken as it cools.

Add chocolate mixture to warm milk; stir to combine. Makes six to eight servings.

More tasty twists on hot chocolate

Here’s how NYC’s food pros dress up this dessert drink.

Spice it!

“Add a few drops of cold-pressed green Sichuan peppercorn oil (available at specialty grocers) in hot cocoa. The tingling sensation and fragrant aroma is sensationally fun and addictive.” — Simone Tong, owner and chef of Little Tong Noodle Shop

“Add a bit of spice like cinnamon, nutmeg, even cayenne pepper if you’re adventurous or zest a little orange for brightness.” — Kelly Nam, executive pastry chef at Electric Lemon

Spike it!

“I love adding a generous pour of old-school Frangelico.” — Priscilla Scaff-Mariani, executive pastry sous chef at Gabriel Kreuther

“Jazz it up a little more with a wee dram of excellent cognac or peppermint schnapps. If you’re feeling adventurous, try adding a shot of absinthe or Pernod.” — Ron Silver, owner and chef of Bubby’s

“My longtime secret is tequila. With a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne pepper, the flavors blend well with the caramel notes of our tequila (I like to use Chamucos).” — Anthony Henirquez, beverage director at Lumaca

“In your mug, flambé orange peel in Cointreau or Grand Marnier, and then pour in hot chocolate after the orange peel is slightly charred along the edges. The burnt orange goes great with hot chocolate, and your drink will have a boozy kick.” — Bryan Schneider, bar director of Quality Branded restaurant group

Sweeten it!

“Steam Nutella with milk, along with the chocolate, to add depth to the traditional cocoa flavor. Then top it with whipped cream and crushed hazelnuts.” — Richard Iannone, food & beverage director at Benjamin Hotel

“Add melted white chocolate chips and fresh raspberry purée. It’s like biting into a raspberry chocolate bar.” — DJ Brown, general manager of Añejo, Hell’s Kitchen

“I like to add whatever real chocolate I have lying around the pantry. Could be leftover from gifts, or that little amount I have left from baking chocolate chip cookies. I’ve used up a lot of random gifted chocolates this way.” — Kelly Nam

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