Authentic Mexican Hot Chocolate Recipe

How to make authentic Mexican Hot Chocolate. A rich and spicy sipping chocolate recipe with cinnamon that is perfect for the holidays.

Homemade hot chocolate is the ultimate in cozy. It’s one of my favorite winter treats, and traditionally I’ve turned to hot chocolate mixes from the grocery store.  Let’s face it though, the ingredient list in the traditional single serve hot chocolate powder packets is a little…alarming. This is directly from the nutrition label of a well-known brand of hot chocolate: 

Sugar, corn syrup, modified whey, cocoa (processed with alkali), hydrogenated coconut oil, nonfat milk, calcium carbonate, less than 2% of: salt, dipotassium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, artificial flavor.

OH MY GOD WHAT!?

How many non-food items does it take to make hot chocolate? To me, this is completely unacceptable. When you look at the ingredient list of a real hot chocolate recipe, like the one you’ll find below, it’s completely different. You’d never guess that they are making the same drink!

For this recipe for Mexican hot chocolate, you only need four ingredients – chocolate, milk, water and cinnamon. Who needs crazy chemicals and artificial flavor when you can use real ingredients to make real food?

Making Your Own Hot Chocolate on the Stove

Now that I’ve mastered making my own hot chocolate on the stove, I don’t think I can ever go back to the powdered packets. It’s so easy and just feels…luxurious. The consistency is quite thick and earns its name as a sipping chocolate. This drink is truly meant to be savored. It’s one of those small steps you can take at home that really makes you appreciate how rewarding it is make things yourself. Even though this treat is indulgent, you can feel good about the ingredient list and making it by hand.

A few notes about the recipe: Look for high quality chocolate that has a high amount of cacao in it. The original recipe states 75% or more. You can control the sweetness by adding sugar and better chocolate requires less added sugar. If you’re using pre ground cinnamon instead of grinding your own cinnamon sticks, I recommend adding more cinnamon than the recipe calls for (see recipe notes) to get a strong spicy flavor.

Authentic Mexican Recipes

This recipe is for Oaxacan hot chocolate and comes from  Lonely Planet’s new From the Source – Mexico: Authentic Recipes From the People Who Know Them Best cookbook. The cookbook features recipes chefs from all over Mexico. I love the idea of cooking authentic Mexican food. Most of the Mexican recipes that we make are more Mexican-inspired than actually Mexican. Seriously. I have recipes for breakfast tacos and taco rice on my blog! This cookbook is a really fun way for me to explore truly Mexican cuisine.

Oaxacan Hot Chocolate vs. Mexican Hot Chocolate

Chocolate Oaxaqueña, or Oacaxan Hot Chocolate is enjoyed daily in the Oaxacan region, especially in Teotitlán del Valle, where Reyna Mendoza, the recipe’s author, is from. Traces of chocolate have been found in architectural sites in that region that show people there have been enjoying it for thousands of years. Cacao beans were even used as currency.

Oaxacan hot chocolate generally has more water than its traditional Mexican hot chocolate counterpart. It’s often made with specially prepared blocks of chocolate that are already spiced, but the recipe below allows you do the process from scratch.

Oaxacan hot chocolate is traditionally prepared in clay jugs and whisked with a molinillo (wooden whisk) until it is frothy. It also doesn’t have cayenne or chili pepper in it. In Oaxaca, people traditionally take their cacao beans to a mill to get them processed or do the process at home by soaking the beans in water and then roasting them over hot coals.

About the Author, Reyna Mendoza

Reyna Mendoza is the founder of El Sabor Zapoteco, a cooking school based in Teotitlán del Valle, southeast of Oaxaca. She offers her students intimate hands-on cooking classes out of her home there.

Thanks so much for reading! For more Sweet in your life, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube, or subscribe to receive a weekly email with new posts and musings from me.

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