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Champurrado is a rich and creamy Mexican drink made from Mexican chocolate, masa harina, and piloncillo. It’s traditionally served during Christmas and New Year’s and is perfect when paired with a pan dulce or some tamales!
If you love cozy and warm drinks like this one, you’ve got to try my ponche, atole, and rompope!
Growing up, every holiday season, my family would get together to sing posadas, and the highlight for me was always ending the night with a warm mug of champurrado and a piece of pan dulce (marranitos are my personal favorite). It’s a tradition that continues to this day and brings me so much joy and happiness.
This champurrado recipe is an easy way to bring a little extra warmth to your holiday season, and it’s one of those treats that always feels like home.
Here’s why I love this recipe:
- It’s a holiday classic! Champurrado is the perfect drink to make your holiday get-togethers feel extra cozy and special.
- Super simple to make. You don’t need anything fancy – just a few ingredients and easy steps to whip up this classic Mexican drink at home.
What Is Champurrado?
Champurrado is a traditional Mexican drink served during the fall and winter months, especially during the holidays. This warm beverage is made by heating milk, Mexican chocolate, piloncillo, and cinnamon together and is then thickened with masa harina, which adds a warm and earthy corn flavor that compliments the spices and sweetness of the Mexican chocolate and piloncillo.
Because of its thick texture, champurrado is filling and satisfying, and it is the perfect comforting beverage for those cold winter nights.
Ingredient Notes
- Milk: I recommend whole milk for its creamy flavor and thick consistency, but you can use 2% or nonfat milk or your favorite dairy-free milk alternative.
- Piloncillo: Piloncillo is unrefined whole cane sugar. It has an earthy and caramel-like flavor that adds lots of warmth and sweetness. It’s easily found in Mexican grocery stores, but can also be purchased online. If you can’t find any near you, dark brown sugar is a good substitute.
- Mexican chocolate: Mexican chocolate is a paste made from cacao nibs, sugar, and cinnamon. It has a rougher texture than milk chocolate and is usually not intended to be eaten on its own. Popular brands like Abuelita and Ibarra are becoming more and more readily available in large grocery stores, but you can also purchase them online if you can’t find any near you.
- Water: Warm water is mixed with the masa harina to thicken the champurrado and give it its signature thick and creamy texture. You could use more milk for an even richer champurrado, but I find that water works well.
- Masa harina: This Mexican corn flour is traditionally used to make corn tortillas and other goodies like gorditas and masa for tamales, but it’s also used in this recipe to thicken the champurrado and add a really delicious earthy corn flavor that compliments the spices and sweetness of the piloncillo and Mexican chocolate. There are lots of different brands and varieties that you can choose from. I like Masienda, but Maseca also works.
- Cinnamon, vanilla, salt: Ceylon cinnamon sticks (aka Mexican cinnamon), vanilla extract, and salt add more layers of flavor to the champurrado and help balance the sweet and chocolatey flavor. If you can’t find Ceylon cinnamon near you, regular cinnamon sticks also work.
How to Make Champurrado
Heat the milk and chocolate mixture: Add the milk, piloncillo, Mexican chocolate, and cinnamon stick to a medium saucepan. Heat over low-medium heat until the piloncillo and chocolate have completely dissolved. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick.
Combine the water and masa harina: Whisk together warm water and masa harina until it’s a smooth mixture.
Pour the masa harina mixture, vanilla extract, and salt into the saucepan and whisk to combine.
Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and continue to cook, whisking frequently, for 15-20 minutes until thick, creamy, velvety, and smooth. The champurrado should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. For an extra velvety texture, blend the champurrado with an immersion blender to get it super smooth.
Recipe Tips
- How to get your champurrado as smooth as possible: Put in some elbow grease and keep whisking. Better yet, use an immersion blender if you have one. This mimics the traditional Mexican molinillo tool that’s used to froth atoles. Mexican chocolate takes longer to dissolve than American cocoa powders or mixes, so if you see flecks of chocolate, keep whisking or blending. You’ll want it velvety smooth for the best texture.
- Adjust the sweetness. Mexican chocolate is already sweetened with sugar, so if you prefer to make a very lightly sweetened champurrado, omit the piloncillo. You can always stir it in at the end if you want to add more sweetness.
- Don’t have piloncillo? You can use ¼ cup of dark brown sugar instead.
- Make this dairy-free. Use almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk, or your favorite milk alternative.
- To make this completely vegan, use a vegan Mexican chocolate brand like Taza.
- Add more warmth. You can add ⅛ teaspoon of ground cloves or 1-2 star anise pods for a more spiced flavor.
- Add fruit. Add an orange peel for a slight citrus taste!
Frequently Asked Questions
Champurrado is thicker and creamier than hot chocolate because it’s made with masa harina, which adds a unique flavor and texture. While both use chocolate, champurrado includes piloncillo and cinnamon for extra flavor, giving it a traditional Mexican twist. It’s also rooted in Mexican culture as a type of atole, unlike the more universally known hot chocolate.
Champurrado and atole are both traditional Mexican drinks enjoyed in colder months, and they share a similar thickened base using masa harina or cornstarch. The key difference is that champurrado is a type of atole that’s always made with masa harina and flavored with Mexican chocolate. Atole, on the other hand, comes in many flavors like fruit, cookies, or vanilla and is typically thickened with cornstarch.
Here are some common issues to address if your champurrado isn’t thickening. Make sure the masa harina is fully dissolved in warm water before adding it to the pot, as lumps can prevent proper thickening. Also, double-check your measurements – too little masa harina will leave the drink too thin. Lastly, ensure that it has simmered for at least 15 minutes to give it enough time to thicken properly. If it’s still not thick, dissolve a bit more masa harina in warm water, add it to the pot, and cook until it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Serving Suggestions
Champurrado has a thick and satisfying texture and flavor that can be enjoyed on its own as a dessert or can be paired with other traditional Mexican holiday recipes like buñuelos, tamales de rajas, pozole rojo, and my family’s famous empanada recipe.
You can also pair it with your favorite pan dulce like donas, conchas, or cortadillo.
Storing and Reheating
To store, refrigerate the champurrado in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The longer it sits, the thicker it will become.
To reheat, mix in a splash of milk or water into the drink first. Give it a good stir, then heat it up in the microwave or on the stovetop.
More Mexican Recipes
If you tried this Champurrado Recipe or any other recipe on Isabel Eats, don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how it went in the comments below! I love hearing about your experience making it!
Champurrado
Ingredients
- 4 cups milk
- 2 ounces piloncillo
- 2 (3-ounces) discs Mexican chocolate
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- ½ cup masa harina
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
Instructions
- Add the milk, piloncillo, Mexican chocolate, and cinnamon stick to a medium saucepan or pot. Heat over low-medium heat until the piloncillo and chocolate have completely dissolved. Stir frequently to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the saucepan.
- Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. You may need to use a strainer if it has broken into pieces.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the warm water and masa harina until smooth.
- Pour the masa harina mixture into the pot along with the vanilla extract and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and continue to cook, whisking frequently, for 15-20 minutes until thick, creamy, velvety, and smooth. The champurrado should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. For an extra velvety texture, blend the champurrado with an immersion blender to get it super smooth.
- Serve and garnish with a touch of ground cinnamon or a cinnamon stick.
Notes
- Milk: Using whole milk is best since it provides a thicker and creamier texture and flavor, but you can use 2% if you prefer. You can also use almond milk or another milk alternative.
- Don’t have piloncillo? You can use ¼ cup of dark brown sugar instead.
- Cinnamon stick: I recommend using a Ceylon cinnamon stick, sometimes referred to as Mexican cinnamon. This is the kind that’s brittle and can be easily broken in half. You can find it in Mexican grocery stores or online. However, a regular cinnamon stick (Cassia cinnamon) is okay to use as well.
- Don’t forget to whisk! Make sure to whisk throughout the whole process to help get the drink as smooth and velvety as possible. The champurrado should be completely smooth and not grainy. You could also use an immersion blender if you have one to make it really smooth without having to use all your arm strength. It’s a great substitute for a molinillo which is traditionally used when making this Mexican drink.
- Too thick? Champurrado will thicken as it cools. If it thickens too much, mix in a warm milk as needed.
- Make this dairy-free. Use almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk, or your favorite milk alternative.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published in December 2020 and has been updated with more helpful recipe tips and new photos.
Photography by Ashley McLaughlin.
My son loved it
Best champurrado ive ever had. Made it for a family full of Mexicans and they devoured it
Delisioso the hardest part? Waiting the 30 minutes.
Easy to make, loved the easy to follow instructions. My family loved it!
Gracias! Thanks for the recipe!! I love champurrado!
I think I will finally try this drink. This recipe looks good. I do prefer La Popular Mexican chocolate over the grandma one. I will be looking at more of your recipes for Christmas. ’23
Having a real Mexican house husband and he knows these authentic flavors his only complaint was it was way too sweet! One thing of chocolate would have been good enough but thanks for trying to help me learn.
this recipe is sooooooooo good but looks like dog poop
Great recipe reminds me of when I was a little girl visiting my grandmother and she would make this for me and my cousins.
I used creamy oat milk and it turned out fantastic. Thank you for this easy recipe.