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It’s not Christmas until there is a tamal in one hand and a cup of champurrado in the other. I have seen different recipes for this drink, but there is none better than my mom’s.
During one of her visits, I asked her to teach me her secret on how to make this authentic Mexican drink.
More Mexican Drink Recipes: Atole de Chocolate, Café de la Olla, Agua de Plátano
How to Make Champurrado
- Add water and cinnamon in a large stock pot.
- Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes.
You start by making a cinnamon tea in a large stock pot. There is no way around it. You must use whole cinnamon.
None of the ground stuff. You can’t make it quick. You gotta use the stick.
While this is happening, work on the masa mixture.
Masa harina is a type of corn flour used in many Mexican recipes like corn tortillas, sopes, masa for tamales.
That’s why this drink is so often had with tamales.
It will help thicken your Champurrado. You CAN’T substitute masa harina for corn flour. Accept no substitute. If they don’t use masa harina, it is not champurrado.
- For those of you in Mexico, you can buy a small amount of masa from the tortillería for just a few pesos.
- Here in the US, make your own as we are doing here, or you can buy it at a local Mexican restaurant.
It’s seriously easy to make. Masa harina and water. That’s it!
My mom and I made gorditas that day and had leftover masa dough.
I love this picture of my mom’s experienced hand covered with masa and all.
My mother is old school. She makes the masa mixture by hand. That’s the way she was taught, and that’s what she’ll do.
Never mention store-bought masa to her if you want to remain welcomed in her kitchen.
- Add water to the masa.
- Mix thoroughly to get out all the lumps.
For all of you who enjoy good food but don’t want to spend hours cooking, make this in blender or use a hand mixer.
It’s much faster and not as messy.
Mexican Joke for the Holidays:
Question: What state makes the best tortillas, tamales, and champurrado?
Answer: Masa-chew-sets 🙂
Back to our cinnamon tea…
Do you see the color? It’s an auburn brown color and smells incredible. It’s not a sin. It’s cinnamon. 🙂
Don’t worry about the champurrado getting too cold. It retains its heat because of the thickness.
That’s another reason why you need to let it rest for a few minutes before serving. You do not want to burn anyone’s tongue.
- Add the masa mixture to the cinnamon tea.
- Then, add a little water to the container.
- Just enough to get any remaining masa mixture and add that to the pot as well.
Leave no masa behind. Good to the last drop.
Don’t stop stirring, or it will form lumps. No Lumpy Dumpty. Or your champurrado will have a great fall.
Are you an Abuelita or Ibarra fan? The debate rages on throughout Mexico and beyond. Truth is, Abuelita is not made in Mexico. Ibarra is the only true Mexican chocolate.
That said, I like Abuelita better. I was raised on it, and I can’t abandon the traditions that I know and love.
How to Make Your Own Mexican Chocolate:
- Use 1 bar of dark chocolate
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Drop of almond extract for every ounce of chocolate
- 4 cups of milk go into the pot.
- Continue stirring.
Pour it alllll in and look what you’ve got.
Types of Milk to Use: You can use skim milk, whole milk, 2% milk. Whatever you choose as long as it’s 100% milk.
Soy milk, coconut milk, goat milk, almond milk, none of those will do. Only cow juice to make an authentic Mexican champurrado.
- Add sugar to the pot.
- Continue stirring.
- Taste it. Add more sugar if needed. If it’s too sweet, add more milk.
Sugah. Sugah. No honey, honey.
Pro Tip:Instead of sugar, some people will make the cinnamon tea with piloncillo to sweeten their champurrado. I say, whatever works!
Atole vs. Champurrado
They are not the same thing no matter what you may have heard.
- Atole de Chocolate or just regular Atole is thickened with cornstarch.
- Champurrado is thickened with masa.
Both are equally delicious and great for the Holidays.
What to eat with this yummy Mexican champurrado?
Beef Tamales, Pork Tamales, Chicken Mole Tamales
Champurrado
Ingredients
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 8 cups of water
- 1 cup of masa harina corn flour
- 1 Mexican Chocolate tablet 6.5 ounces
- 4 cups milk
- 1 cup of sugar
Instructions
- Place 6 cups of water in a large stock pot along with the cinnamon stick.
- Bring to a boil.
- Let simmer for 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, in a medium bowl, add the remaining 2 cups water and mix with the masa harina.
- You can use a blender or a hand mixer to dissolve any clumps.
- Add the masa mixture to the stock pot with the cinnamon tea.
- Stir constantly.
- Add the Mexican chocolate tablet to the stock pot.
- Melt the chocolate while stirring. About 3 minutes.
- Add the milk and sugar.
- Stir constantly.
- After about 8 minutes, the mixture will begin to thicken.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
My mom used to make this all the time. Brings back so many memories. Looks so good!
Hope you try it!
Hello! I really want to try this and the Atole, but it’s just me and my husband. Will either of them keep in the fridge and reheat well? Conversely can either be made in a crockpot to take to a party?
Yes, the champurrado will last up to 4 days in the fridge. Or freeze it to make it last longer. Never tried making it in a crockpot.
We call it champorado in the Philippines and it’s one of our fave snacks. We just add milk and sugar. Yum!
Sounds amazing too! Hope you try this recipe
What an interesting drink! I have never heard of this before. I would love to give this a try. I will have to see where I can find those ingredients.
Interesting and delicious. Hope you try it
This drink was SO delicious! It snowed here and my kids wanted a warm sweet drink. This was delightful and enjoyed by all of us.
So glad you enjoyed this Sara!
Mine never thickend for some reason. However, it was still good.
If you want it really, really thick, add more masa harina.
I definitely want to sample this Mexican drink, champurrado is not something I was familiar with.
It’s delicious. Hope you try it!
This is delicious, thank you for the recipe! I always imaged this was hard to make. Question though, if I wanted to sub sugar with piloncillo, how much piloncillo would I use?
Use a regular piloncillo size cone. Not the small ones. Dissolve when boiling the cinnamon and water. Then omit the sugar. Sometimes, you might need sugar though. Depending on how you like it. Enjoy! 🙂
The chanpurrado its so tasty with a tamalito omg you guys if you haven’t tray this you are going to love it that’s a good breakfast hope you people tray it ok……. lancaster ca
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the champurrado!
Champuurado with your favorite tamale is the complete experience! 🙂
I can’t agree with you more. I love champurrado and tamales!!
Question- in the recipe you said 1 tablet (6.5 ounces) but each tablet is actually 2.1 ounces. Just clarifying thanks!
They come in different sizes. I used the ones that I bought in Mexico when I wrote the recipe. 😉
Me encantó. No lo había preparado nunca, ya que pensé que era muy difícil. Me recuerda las Posaditas.
Gracias por compartir tus recetas, todo un éxito. #mamamaggieskitchen#champurrado
Gracias. Saludos. 🙂
The best and easiest recipe, by far. We really enjoyed it and will be making it often 😋
Glad you liked it.