Hot Tamales! This spicy Hot Chocolate gets its kick from cayenne pepper and cinnamon.
A hit of spice with chocolate has been all the rage for a while, and with good reason. The sharp spike of heat makes the chocolate flavor seem richer. When in hot chocolate, it also makes the drink seem hotter and more soothing. It’s a bit like spiking a hot drink with booze where you get that burn down your throat. Tastes so great, right?
Making Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix
Here’s how to do a nice spicy Mexican-style hot chocolate at home. You can make a batch for yourself or take it as a gift over the holidays. It’s really easy.
What you do is to mix together hot chocolate powder with some straight up cocoa. The hot chocolate powder makes the whole thing easier to dissolve in liquid and the cocoa gives extra richness. To that, you add in some ground cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne for a kick. Some people like a pinch of salt as well. If you’re gifting the cocoa mix, I think a few cinnamon sticks look so nice in there as well.
Do I Need To Use Hot Chocolate Powder?
No, you don’t. Using something like Quick chocolate mix gives you an easy start, but you could also use cocoa powder or use real chocolate. Try my Hot Cocoa recipe or my Hot Chocolate with chocolate chips. Then you would need to add cinnamon and a bit of cayenne to those recipes to make it similar to this Mexican hot chocolate recipe.
How To Use The Cocoa Mix
When you want to make a cup, just spoon two tablespoons of the Mexican hot chocolate mix into a mug and add a cup of hot water or hot milk to make it extra creamy. Then it’s time to enjoy!
Love marshmallows in your hot cocoa? You can get fancy and make homemade marshmallows. So fun.
It’s also wonderful to top your cocoa with whipped cream and extra cinnamon or chocolate shavings.
Print
Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe
Give this to your friends as a perfect and delicious holiday gift with this dry hot chocolate mix with a hint of spices.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 min
- Total Time: 2 minutes
- Yield: 16 servings 1x
- Category: Beverage
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups hot chocolate powder (such as Quick)
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
- 2–3 cinnamon sticks (optional)
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients except for the cinnamon sticks together in a jar.
- Add the cinnamon sticks to the jar as decoration, if you’d like. Seal with the lid.
- To serve heat up 1 cup of milk. Add 2 tablespoons of the Mexican Hot Chocolate Powder Mix. Stir.
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This post originally appeared in December 2015 and was revised and republished in December 2023.
What do you mean by 1/4 cup cocoa ? You already put hot cocoa powder
Hot cocoa mix does have cocoa powder in it along with sugar and powdered milk. We’re adding in some additional plain cocoa powder for extra chocolatey richness. Enjoy, Calleigh!
Such a great way to improve on hot cocoa mix. Delicious!
Glad you enjoyed, Marta!
Good place to find a good recipe
Thanks, Lucy!