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Hot cocoa 'charcuterie' boards are a sweet spin on a savory favorite

Forget cured meats and chunks of cheese — it's all about bowls of chocolate pieces and marshmallow piles.
/ Source: TODAY

Gingerbread houses got a savory twist this year with "charcuterie chalets," so it's only fitting that charcuterie boards would get their own sweet spin.

Typically, the aesthetically appealing snack features carefully arranged breads, meats and cheeses, but a new trend on Instagram, hot cocoa "charcuterie" boards, swaps the salty snacks for hot cocoa toppings like chocolate pieces, marshmallows and more.

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager even talked about them on Wednesday morning during TODAY with Hoda and Jenna.

"This is everything you’d want for your hot cocoa,” Hoda said.

“Look at all those marshmallows!” Jenna added.

The boards range from simple, including just chocolate and marshmallows, to more elaborate, with different candies and snacks, allowing for the perfectly customized drink. Where traditional charcuterie boards use jams and honey to add flavor, the hot chocolate variety uses peppermint pieces, coconut flakes and squares of caramel.

If you're looking for even more sweetness, switch out spoons for long pieces like candy canes, cookie straws or cinnamon sticks, which can be used to stir drinks while adding flavor.

The reinvented boards are perfect for the winter, too — who doesn't want to sip a piping hot mug of hot cocoa while watching their favorite holiday movie?

Some users have even added cookies or large pieces of candy to their boards for the ultimate snacking experience.

If gathering and organizing the ingredients for a hot cocoa charcuterie board feels like too much work for a sweet treat but you still want to join in on the trend, some small businesses are already producing sets: Hot Chocolate Charcuterie, a small business located in California, started selling sets online earlier this fall, and Oakville Charcuterie in Ontario, Canada added hot chocolate boards to their existing lineup.

Hot chocolate charcuterie boards aren't the only way to sip in style this year. Hot chocolate bombs made waves on TikTok earlier this year as a fun, easy way to make the perfect mug of cocoa. Each "bomb" is a hollow chocolate sphere, filled with mini marshmallows, cocoa mix and any other flavor you desire. You just drop it in a mug, pour hot milk on top, stir it until the chocolate shell is completely melted and you've got yourself a creamy, customized cup of hot cocoa.

Some popular brands have also embraced the classic drink in a year when everyone is craving comfort: Dairy Queen is bringing back its Frozen Hot Chocolate dessert, and Pillsbury launched a line of Hot Cocoa Rolls, guaranteed to make any morning sweet.