Mexican Hot Chocolate

Spicy dark chocolate is a bridge between the sweets loving people and the savory loving people. It has everything! Sweets, little hint of heat from the chili pepper, warm spiciness from the cinnamon, and of course chocolate. I went through a couple online hot cocoa mix recipies before using this one from Smitten Kitchen. I like that it doesn't have powdered milk. That isn't something I keep on hand, and found it strangly expensive to purchase.

I used semi sweet chocolate chips in my mix and dark cocoa powder. I wondered if it would be insanely bitter, but it wasn't at all. If you'd prefer yours without the Mexican spices just omit the last three ingredients. You can also decrease or increase them to your liking! This version isn't too heavy on the cayenne. I'd start here and work your way up. You can get a pretty good idea of what the cocoa will taste like when it's still powder.

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE MIX

3 oz semi sweet chocolate

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark cocoa powder

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/8 tsp fine salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ancho chili powder

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne

The cornstarch helps the mix be light and free flowing. You can't taste it at all. It feels strange to add a liquid to an all powder mix, but it blends in easily.

To get three ounces of chocolate, weigh it out.

Pulse the chocolate in the food processer for a while before adding the rest of the ingredients. Pulsing between ingredients to continue breaking up the chocolate.

Sugar and vanilla extract added.

I only keep kosher salt. If you also have kosher or sea salt, use a morter and pestle to grind it up fine.

Our Mexican spices. The ancho chili might sound strange at first, but it's super good.

If you're not sure about the added spices, you can add them slowly. Tasting as you go.

Sift your finished mix to make sure no big chunks of chocolate made it through.

I ended up with a few little pebbles of chocolate.

I chose to add them into the mix, I haven't noticed them melting differently.

This amount of mix fits in a 12oz jar or a pint jar works too.

To actually make the hot chocolate (!) heat 1 cup of milk in a sauce pan till hot and steamy. Whisk it and watch it though, it can develop a skin if left alone too long.

Once hot, whisk in 3 tablespoons of mix. Whisking and heating until it's at your desired temperature.

It will have a slight grey tinge, but it's so freaking good. It doesn't matter. If you'd like an adult twist on this hot chocolate, set aside your peppermint schnapps and go for bourbon instead. 1 ounce bourbon and a little shake of ground cardamom on top. Delightful.