What could possibly be more delicious than a mug of hot chocolate on a cool night? Before you reach for that pre-made hot cocoa mix in your pantry, however, consider being adventurous and whipping up your own spiced Mexican hot chocolate. We promise it’s not too difficult, and you probably have most (if not all) of the ingredients already on-hand. Give this Mexican hot chocolate recipe a try for yourself and we’re pretty sure you’ll never go back to the pre-made stuff again.

What You’ll Need

For this creamy, delicious hot chocolate recipe with a kick, you’re going to need:

• four cups of milk
• a cup of cocoa powder (preferably unsweetened)
• a quarter cup of sugar
• two teaspoons of cornstarch (to thicken, if desired)
• a teaspoon of cinnamon
• a half teaspoon of vanilla extract
• a quarter teaspoon of chile powder
• a pinch of nutmeg and cayenne

Please keep in mind that this particular recipe will yield about five mugs of hot chocolate, so if you’re making it just for yourself or for you and a friend, you’ll want to adjust these amounts accordingly. After all, leftover hot cocoa just isn’t quite as good.

Putting it Together

Once you’ve got all your ingredients together, it’s time to get to cooking. In a medium saucepan, add all of your ingredients and mix them together until well combined. From there, you’ll want to heat the saucepan over medium heat until the mixture is simmering, stirring frequently along the way. Be careful not to let the mixture boil.

You may want to try making this without the cornstarch at first. You can always add it later on to thicken the mixture if needed, but it really depends on your personal preference. Once the mixture has heated up sufficiently, remove it from the heat and use a ladle to transfer the hot chocolate to individual mugs. If you plan on adding toppings to your hot chocolate, make sure you leave a little bit of room at the top of the mug to do so!

Optional Toppings

This Mexican hot chocolate recipe is yummy enough on its own, but you can make it even better by adding some toppings to your mug. Some of our favorite toppings include whipped cream and hot fudge syrup. However, you can add anything you like, such as marshmallows, chocolate shavings, or anything else that tickles your fancy. For a minty flavor, consider adding some mint chocolate chips. For more of a dessert, you could even add some crumbled cookies. If serving for the holidays, you could garnish each mug with some chopped candy cane. The nice thing about this recipe is that each person can customize their own mug, adding the toppings they want after the hot cocoa is poured.

The next time you get the craving for hot chocolate, be sure to give this Mexican hot cocoa recipe a try. It’ll take five minutes of your time to throw together, but the taste is so much better than any store-bought, pre-made mix in a pouch!