Velvety Champurrado (Mexican Drinking Chocolate) Recipe

The Mexican culture is known for its fine cuisine made up of delicious food and drinks. Champurrado, or Mexican drinking chocolate, has been a part of the region's cuisine for hundreds of years and is often enjoyed during holidays like Dia de los Muertos and las Posadas. It can be sipped to satisfy your sweet tooth or to warm you up on cool evenings and chilly days. It is often served with churros for breakfast and tamales for dinner. 

Recipe developer Miriam Hahn says, "I first had champurrado when visiting Mexico and loved how thick and creamy it is compared to American hot chocolate which is on the thinner side. It involves two special ingredients that can be ordered online but beyond that, it is simple and easy to throw together." 

With its extra velvety texture and lusciously rich taste, this thick drink is sure to impress. Read on to learn how to make this cozy treat!

To make this recipe, you'll need some standard American hot chocolate ingredients like milk, ground cinnamon, cinnamon sticks, vanilla, salt, and hot water. To make true Mexican drinking chocolate you'll also need to gather piloncillo sugar, Mexican chocolate, and masa harina. 

Piloncillo is a Mexican brown sugar that has a rich caramel taste. Mexican chocolate is sold in discs and is made with sugar, cinnamon, and cacao chocolate. "You will most likely need to buy piloncillo sugar and the Mexican chocolate online. Both are very important ingredients to give us that velvety, creamy texture," Hahn explains. 

While you'll need to be more particular with these ingredients, Hahn explains that masa harina, or corn flour, is easy to find at most grocery stores, and you should feel free to swap the milk out for any type that you like.

Since the chocolate and sugar are in solid form, we'll start by combining them with the milk and the cinnamon stick in a medium pot over medium heat. "The piloncillo is very hard and can be tricky to break apart. Use a heavy knife to cut into it and keep sawing back and forth until a chunk breaks free," Hahn remarks. Stir for about 5 minutes until everything is dissolved, then remove the cinnamon stick.

To make the champurrado nice and thick we'll be using masa harina. In a small bowl, combine the hot water and the masa harina. Stir the mixture until it is smooth. "I like to use a small whisk to blend these two because the masa harina tends to clump," Hahn explains.

Now go ahead and add the masa harina mixture to the pot along with the ground cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 25 minutes. "You'll want to stay close by and give this a stir every few minutes so that it doesn't overheat. It will magically thicken up as it cooks," Hahn shares. Now you are ready to pour the velvety mixture into mugs and enjoy. We think you just found a new and indulgent way to enjoy chocolate!