When the weather outside is frightful, hot drinks help you feel cozy inside! Nothing warms a belly like Mexican hot chocolate! My recipe is a spicy blend of chocolate, cinnamon, and chile -- tasty, and good for your health!
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Ingredients and how to prepare
- Dairy milk or plant-based milk
- Good quality cocoa powder
- Sugar
- Truvia or another stevia blend sweetener
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla extract
- Chile powder
- Cayenne pepper
- Whipped topping
- Chocolate shavings
- 4 cinnamon sticks
The stevia-blend sweetener Truvia is granulated stevia plus erythritol, a polyol. For more infomation on polyols, read Erythritol et. al. What the Heck is a Polyol?
Choose Ceylon cinnamon for a milder taste. Vietnamese cinnamon is more assertive.
Omit the cayenne pepper if you use spicy chile powder or prefer milder spicing.
The whipped topping, chocolate shavings, and cinnamon sticks are optional, but they make the hot chocolate more festive and delicious!
- Pour ½ cup of milk into a small saucepan. Add the cocoa powder, sugar, Truvia, cinnamon, vanilla, and spices. Whisk to dissolve sugar into a smooth mixture.
- Add the remaining milk and continue to whisk to incorporate into the chocolate-spice mixture.
- Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk until the contents are scalding hot but not boiling. Pour into mugs and add whip, chocolate shavings, and a cinnamon stick, if desired.
- Serve immediately! ☕
Health benefits of Mexican hot chocolate
♥ Chocolate can enhance your mood and your blood pressure. Because chocolate contains the amino acid tryptophan, it is thought to increase serotonin production in your brain. This can make you feel calmer.
Chocolate may also affect the brain's dopamine pathways, which may be why we derive pleasure from eating or drinking it.
If the chocolate contains enough flavonoid compounds, it may lower your blood pressure. Some studies have found that the flavanols found in cocoa, in particular, have a small but noticeable ability to open your vessels wider.
For the best results, you would need to include cocoa in your diet every day. (Eating chocolate every day is not difficult for me, but cocoa? That requires more planning or a supplement like CocoViaTM.)
♥ Cinnamon has benefits as an antimicrobial and for blood sugar control. Extracts of cinnamon have proved effective against some bacterial big-hitters, like Salmonella, Staphylococus, E. coli, and many others.
As for reducing blood sugar and improving glycemic control, cinnamon's helpfulness is less definitive.
A recent study looked at the effects of differing amounts of cinnamon on blood sugar. This research found that regular use of 1 to 6 grams of cinnamon will lower blood sugar immediately following a meal, but it will not reduce HbA1c levels.
(The HbA1c test measures blood sugar levels over a longer period of time.)
♥ While you may appreciate the flavor of hot, spicy chiles, they also offer tremendous health bonuses.
The capsaicin chemical in chiles is thought to fight inflammation, and when applied topically, it can help with pain from arthritis.
Cayenne peppers improve heart health by reducing cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood clotting.
Vegan hot chocolate
To make this Mexican hot chocolate a vegan treat, use your favorite plant-based milk. Even though we are not a vegan household, we enjoy plant-based milk, especially almond or oat milk.
Oat milk is an excellent choice if you have allergies. It is free of nuts, soy, lactose, and gluten.
If lactose intolerance is your main concern, choose ultrafiltered milk for optimal nutrition. Ultrafiltered milk has less sugar and increased protein and calcium compared to regular milk, and it doesn't have any lactose.
Commonly available brands of ultrafiltered milk are FairLife, Mootopia, and Ultra from Organic Valley. For more detail on the nutrition and flavors of ultrafiltered milk, read my post with all the deets!
Looking for a vegan whipped topping? Many different coconut-based choices are available. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have aerosol cans, or try the plastic tubs from SoDelicious and TruWhip.
Making hot chocolate from scratch
Hot chocolate -- Mexican, plain, mocha, or peppermint -- is easy to prepare from scratch, and making your own allows you to customize your cup. You get to choose the type of milk, flavorings, and toppings.
Of course, the flavor of homemade hot chocolate is almost always superior to hot chocolate made from a commercial powder.
(You can find recipes for homemade hot chocolate powder mix that stir up a deliciously decadent potion! Here's a recipe for a vegan hot chocolate mix from Veggies Don't Bite. Mixes make terrific holiday gifts!)
To make a quick Mexican hot chocolate, browse the grocery aisles for AbuelitaTM. The Abuelita line includes a chocolate tablet you can stir into hot milk and powdered drink mix. All are flavored with cinnamon and vanilla.
If you like your hot chocolate sparked with chile, you'll have to make your own. It's the perfect way to celebrate the Day of the Dead!
Mexican Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 4 cups 2% milk Choose a plant milk -- try almond or oat milk -- if you are a vegan.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup good quality cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Truvia or another stevia blend Truvia is a granulated blend of stevia and erythritol.
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon Choose Ceylon cinnamon for a milder taste. Vietnamese cinnamon is more assertive.
- ⅛ teaspoon chile powder
- pinch cayenne You can omit this or increase the amount depending on how much you like hot spices.
- Whipped topping
- Chocolate shavings
- 4 cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- Pour ½ cup of milk into a small saucepan. Add the cocoa powder, sugar, Truvia, cinnamon, vanilla, and spices. Gently whisk over low heat until sugar has melted and all ingredients are smooth.
- Slowly whisk in the remaining 3 ½ cups of milk. Turn the heat up to medium-low and warm the mixture for 5 to 8 minutes until hot, but not scalding.
- Remove from heat and pour into four mugs. Top with whipped topping and chocolate shavings. Insert a cinnamon stick into each mug.
Notes
Nutrition
Copyright © 2020 Jani H. Leuschel
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