Champurrado-Style Mexican Hot Chocolate
A thick, silky Mexican hot chocolate thickened with masa harina and spiced with cinnamon and piloncillo. A cozy, alcohol-free champurrado-style drink ready in about 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup masa harina not cornmeal or cornstarch
- 1 cup water room temperature
- 3 cups whole milk or oat milk for dairy-free
- 1 cinnamon stick about 3 inches
- 2 oz piloncillo chopped, or 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar; add more to taste
- 1 tablet Mexican chocolate about 3 oz, chopped; or 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus 2 extra tbsp sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla alcohol-free vanilla, or skip
- ground cinnamon for topping
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk the masa harina into the water until completely smooth with no lumps. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk with the cinnamon stick and piloncillo, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves, about 5 minutes. Don't let it boil.
- Whisk the masa mixture again, then slowly pour it into the warm milk while whisking constantly.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer, whisking often and scraping the bottom, until thickened to a silky, gravy-like consistency, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the chopped Mexican chocolate (or cocoa powder plus extra sugar) and whisk until fully melted and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and add more piloncillo or brown sugar if you like it sweeter.
- Remove from the heat, fish out the cinnamon stick, and stir in the salt and vanilla.
- Froth with a molinillo, whisk or milk frother until foamy, then pour into mugs, dust with cinnamon and serve hot.
Notes
How to order it out: Many Mexican bakeries (panaderÃas), taquerÃas and Mexican restaurants serve champurrado, especially in the colder months, so just ask: "Do you have champurrado?" No luck? At a cafe, ask for "a Mexican hot chocolate, or a hot chocolate with cinnamon" and add "with oat milk" for dairy-free. At a bar, ask for "a hot chocolate with cinnamon, no liqueur or spirits, please," since some bars spike their hot chocolate.
Allergens: contains dairy (milk) and corn (masa harina). Some Mexican chocolate tablets contain soy, milk or nuts or are made alongside nuts, so check labels.
Dairy-free: use oat milk or another plant milk and unsweetened cocoa or a chocolate labeled dairy-free.
Keep it alcohol-free: most vanilla extracts contain alcohol, so use alcohol-free vanilla or skip it.
Make ahead: refrigerate leftovers up to 3 days. It thickens a lot in the fridge, so reheat gently with a splash of milk, whisking until smooth.