When the weather outside is wintry, 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!
Because chocolate can brighten your mood, a cup of hot cocoa is just the thing for the dark days of late fall and winter. Plus, the flavanols in cocoa powder are heart-healthy. (How appropriate is that for the food of love?)
Some cocoa powder, however, contains toxic heavy metals. I’ll tell you which are safer and give you a bonus recipe to make a hot cocoa mix you can gift or keep in the pantry!
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Ingredients
- Dairy or plant-based milk
- Regular cocoa powder
- Brown sugar
- Granulated stevia or monkfruit (optional)
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla extract
- Chile powder
- Cayenne pepper
Toppings
- Whipped cream, dairy or plant-based
- Marshmallows
- Chocolate shavings
- Cinnamon sticks
🥛Milk: This is the basis for hot cocoa, so choose your favorite. I like ultra-filtered milk because it's lactose-free and boasts a creamier taste with more protein and calcium and fewer carbohydrates.
Good plant-based choices are oat, soy, and protein-fortified almond milk.
🍫Cocoa powder: It's not an exaggeration to say that most cocoa powders contain heavy metals, some at high levels. Consumer Reports tested many and found that the popular Hershey's Cocoa exceeded the lead limit. 🥺
ConsumerLab.com's testing for cadmium showed many cocoa powders had high levels of this toxic heavy metal. These tests led me to avoid Hershey's and use (affiliate link) Ghiradelli Cocoa Powder in hot chocolate and baking. It tastes rich and delicious.
You could also choose ConsumerLab.com's top pick, Good & Gather Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (Target store brand), which is very affordable and contains many flavanols and less lead and cadmium.
I also use regular cocoa instead of Dutched, a process that smooths the flavor but robs the cocoa of flavanol nutrition.
Stevia or monkfruit sweetener: Choose a granulated sweetener. These are blended with the polyol erythritol. I like (affiliate link) Lakanto's Golden granulated monkfruit.
Some of Lankanto's monkfruit offerings contain allulose, which is a sugar that can't be digested but tastes sweet, of course. Stay away from non-digestible sugars if you have digestive concerns!
Want to know more about erythritol? Read Erythritol et. al. What the Heck is a Polyol?
Cinnamon: Similar to cocoa powder and chocolate, cinnamon can contain lead. According to Consumer Reports, (affiliate link) Morton and Bassett Organic Cinnamon and 365 Whole Foods Market organic have some of the lowest lead levels.
Choose (affiliate link) Ceylon cinnamon for a milder taste. Vietnamese (Cassia) cinnamon is more assertive.
Vanilla: Look for the word (affiliate link) Madagascar on the label for top-notch flavor.
How to make
Wash your hands, lathering with soap and rinsing with running water for 20 seconds, before starting.
1️⃣Pour about half a cup of milk into a small saucepan. On low heat, add the cocoa powder, sugar, sweetener (if using), vanilla, and spices. Whisk to make a slurry, dissolving sugar and blending the spices.
2️⃣Whisk away to make a slurry with the chocolate-sugar-milk mixture.
Alternatively, you can do this in a microwave, although you will have to remove the mixture and whisk periodically, being careful not to let it boil.
Keep whisking until all lumps are removed, tilting the saucepan to check the bottom of the pan.
3️⃣Add the remaining milk and continue to whisk, blending the concentrated chocolate-spice mixture with the additional milk.
4️⃣Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk until the contents are scalding hot but not boiling. Hold your hand over the pan to test the heat coming from the cocoa.
Pour into mugs and top with whip, chocolate shavings, and a cinnamon stick, if desired.
Serve immediately! ☕
The flavor of homemade hot chocolate can be a revelation--so much better than what you'll get from a store-bought mix!
Hot chocolate mix recipe 🎁
If you'd like to gift a friend for a holiday, such as Valentine's or Christmas, here is a recipe for two cups of powder mix. Use one Tablespoon of mix per cup of milk.
Keep in mind that the milk must be hot for the mix to dissolve.
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup stevia or monkfruit sweetener (or use twice as much brown sugar)
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon chile powder
Combine all ingredients in a pint-sized container.
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FAQs
You'll need a Tablespoon of cocoa powder. Add sweetener, honey, or sugar as desired (usually about a Tablespoon tastes right).
This is tricky. I heat about a half cup of milk on low heat and make a slurry, whisking in the cocoa powder and other ingredients. This incorporates the cocoa into the milk and melts any sugar.
You can choose from a wide variety of sweeteners, such as honey, maple syrup, date syrup, and no-calorie options like stevia, monkfruit, and aspartame. Liquid sweeteners blend more quickly, but for Mexican Hot Chocolate, I like the flavor of brown sugar.
Some recipes call for cornstarch, thickening the hot chocolate as it warms. I find hot chocolate is creamy enough without adding any extra starch.
Sure! A (affiliate link) handheld frother would give your hot cocoa more of a coffee-shop vibe. 😊
Health benefits of Mexican hot chocolate
💪🏽 A cup of this cocoa serves up nearly 30% of your daily need for calcium. It's also a good source of iron and has almost 10 grams of protein for strengthening your muscles and bones!
♥ 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 (affiliate link) CocoViaTM.)
♥ Cinnamon has benefits as an antimicrobial and for blood sugar control. Extracts of cinnamon have proved effective against 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, and given that lead is found often in cinnamon, it could be risky to consume this much cinnamon daily. )
♥ While you may appreciate the flavor of hot, spicy chiles, they also offer health benefits.
The capsaicin chemical in chiles is thought to fight inflammation, and when applied topically, it can help with arthritis pain.
Cayenne peppers improve heart health by reducing cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood clotting.
🥺Health concerns about hot chocolate
- Added sugar: Women should consume no more than 25 grams daily, and men can have up to 36 grams. A single teaspoon of sugar is 16 grams. So, consider this hot chocolate a healthy dessert.
A cup of Mexican Hot Chocolate has only 6 grams of added sugar. Other sugars come from the milk and the cocoa. Even with aerosol whipped topping, only a gram or two of extra sugar is added.
- Heavy metals in cocoa powder: Brands with fewer heavy metals include Navitas, Good & Gather, and Ghiradelli (only baking cocoa, not their hot cocoa mix).
- Lead in cinnamon: Brands to look for are Morton and Bassett Organic, 365 Whole Foods Organic, and McCormick.
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 sometimes enjoy 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 ultra-filtered milk for optimal nutrition. Compared to regular milk, ultra-filtered milk has less sugar and increased protein and calcium, and it doesn't contain lactose.
FairLife and Mootopia from H-E-B are commonly available brands of ultra-filtered milk. For more details on the nutrition of ultra-filtered milk, read my post with all the deets!
Looking for a vegan whipped topping? Many different coconut-based choices are available from aerosol cans to plastic tubs.
Mexican Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 2 cups 2% milk Choose a plant milk -- try almond or oat milk -- if you are a vegan.
- 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon sugar, use 2 Tablespoons if not using stevia or monkfruit
- 1 Tablespoon granulated stevia, or monkfruit (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon Choose Ceylon cinnamon for a milder taste. Vietnamese cinnamon is more assertive.
- dash chile powder
- smidgen cayenne You can omit this or increase it if you like hot spices.
Toppings
- Whipped topping Any whipped topping tastes great. Coconut whip in the tub or aerosol can is a delicious vegan-friendly whip.
- Chocolate shavings
- Chocolate sprinkles
- Nutmeg, grated
- Marshmallows A traditional choice, but my least because they are very sweet and add many grams of sugar.
Instructions
- Wash hands for 20 seconds before starting, lathering with soap and rinsing with running water.
- Pour ½ cup of milk into a small saucepan. Add the cocoa powder, brown sugar, stevia or monkfruit sweetener (if using), cinnamon, vanilla, chili powder, and cayenne. Gently whisk over low heat until sugar has melted and all ingredients are smooth.
- Slowly whisk in the remaining 1½ cups of milk. Turn the heat up to medium-low and warm the mixture for 5 to 8 minutes until hot but not boiling.
- Remove from heat and pour or ladle into two mugs. Top as desired with whipped topping, chocolate shavings, and/or nutmeg. Insert a cinnamon stick into each mug, and enjoy!
Notes
- I often use half sugar with half granulated stevia or monkfruit to save calories and carbs. Feel free to double the amount of sugar in the recipe and omit the stevia/monkfruit or to leave out the sugar and double up on sweetener.
- The nutrition facts are for regular 2% dairy milk. Ultra-filtered 2% milk will slightly increase the protein and calcium, while unsweetened almond milk will lower the calorie count.
- The nutrition facts also don't include toppings. Whip from aerosol cans only adds a small amount of fat and sugar. Chocolate shavings will add a few more calories and sugar, but beware of marshmallows, a traditional hot chocolate topping stuffed with sugar and calories!
Nutrition
Copyright © 2025 Jani H. Leuschel
Jani H. Leuschel
Let me know how you like it! 🩷
Ruth Hall
I will definitely make this one—thanks for the added incentive about using “real” ingredients!