A rich, creamy, and slightly spicy traditional Mexican Hot Chocolate. After one sip of this hot chocolate, you'll never want to drink store-bought hot cocoa ever again!
This hot chocolate recipe is so easy to whip up, and it uses normal, everyday ingredients (none of those strange ingredients that come in the store-bought hot cocoa mixes) that you probably already have on hand.
The cinnamon, chili powder, and bittersweet chocolate give this hot chocolate a nice spicy taste that will warm you up on a cold day!
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☕ What is Mexican Hot Chocolate?
Mexican Hot Chocolate has a more noticeable rich chocolate taste, it's not overly sweet, and spices like cinnamon and chili are added to it to give it a unique flavor profile. If you like a treat that's not sickly sweet, you'll also love my Mexican Hot Chocolate Lava Cake recipe!
🥘 Ingredients
- Bittersweet chocolate: Do not use milk chocolate in this recipe. It will overpower the hot chocolate and make it too sweet, which is not what we want.
- Cinnamon
- Sugar
- Milk: I recommend using cow's milk for the best results, but non-dairy milk would also work!
- Heavy cream
- Chili powder: This adds a really subtle spiciness that elevates the drink's flavor.
🔪 Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the hot chocolate ingredients.
- Stir the mixture until the chocolate is melted and the desired temperature has been reached.
- Pour the hot chocolate into mugs and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
🌟 Top Tip
I know it may be tempting, but do not substitute milk chocolate in this recipe. This will overpower the hot chocolate and make it too sweet, which is not what we want.
🍫 Serving Suggestions
Add toppings right before serving! A few ideas include:
- Whipped cream
- Chocolate shavings
- Dulce de leche
- Marshmallows
- Cinnamon sticks
- A few Mexican Churros on the side would be the perfect treat!
💭 FAQs
Mexican hot chocolate contains spices like cinnamon and chili and chopped bittersweet chocolate to create a very rich but less sweet flavor. Whereas traditional American hot chocolate is usually made with a combination of cocoa powder and/or chocolate and tends to be more on the sweet side.
🥛 More Drink Recipes
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📋 Recipe
Traditional Mexican Hot Chocolate
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate see notes
- 1 teaspon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- whipped cream optional
- chocolate shavings optional
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine chocolate, sugar, cinnamon, milk, cream and chili powder.
- Stir the hot chocolate mixture until the chocolate is melted and the mixture has reached the desired temperature.
- Pour hot chocolate into mugs and serve with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, if desired.
Notes
- Do not use milk chocolate in this recipe. It will overpower the hot chocolate and make it too sweet, which is not what we're looking to achieve here.
- Store leftover hot chocolate in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (depending on the freshness of the ingredients used.) Reheat in the microwave, and add garnishes before serving.
N. Richardson says
Hi! I’m very excited to try the Mexican Hot Chocolate recipe, but I have a dumb question. For the bars of chocolate measurement, do you mean an entire bar, or the divided smaller pieces within that bar?
Ashley says
Hi! That's a great question! It would be 8 ounces of chocolate (I used the Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate that come in 4 ounce bars.) I've updated the recipe to better clarify that.