This Champurrado recipe is made with Mexican chocolate, masa harina, milk, water, cinnamon, and vanilla. Thick and creamy, this cozy drink is best enjoyed on a cold winter night during the holiday season.
This Champurrado recipe is warm and comforting, and sure to fill you up this winter season! Just like Mexican atole, champurrado is made with masa harina but has the fun addition of Mexican chocolate.
This chocolate-based atole is prepared with milk, Mexican chocolate, and cinnamon. Sweetened with a little piloncillo and vanilla extract, every sip is creamy, thick, and satisfying and will warm you up from the inside out!
Enjoy a mug of champurrado with some Mexican bunuelos for a festive dessert or some tamales for a filling meal!
What is Champurrado?
Champurrado is a warm Mexican drink made by heating milk, Mexican chocolate, piloncillo, and Mexican cinnamon together. It’s then thickened with a mixture of water and masa harina. When it’s ready, champurrado is smooth, thick, chocolatey, and creamy!
It’s a seasonal drink you can enjoy on a chilly evening, for breakfast, or around the holidays. Because of its thick texture, champurrado is filling, satisfying, and can be used as a nutritious meal replacement.
What’s the difference between atole and champurrado?
Champurrado is a type of atole that’s made with Mexican chocolate, whereas the basic atole recipe does not include chocolate.
Both atole and champurrado recipes are made with masa harina, piloncillo, vanilla extract, cinnamon, milk and water.
Ingredients you’ll need for champurrado
- Milk – I like using whole milk for the thickest and creamiest texture and flavor. You can use 2% or even almond milk if you prefer.
- Piloncillo – This whole cane sugar has an earthy and caramel-like taste and is a staple in Mexican baking. (Learn more about piloncillo.)
- 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. My favorite brand is Abuelita, which you can usually find in grocery stores or ethnic markets. (Learn more about Mexican chocolate.)
- Masa harina – This Mexican staple and necessary ingredient when making corn tortillas or tamales is made from dried maize corn. You can usually find masa harina in large grocery stores or your local Hispanic store.
- Warm water – This is mixed with the masa harina to thicken the champurrado.
- Cinnamon stick, vanilla extract, and salt – For flavor!
How to make champurrado
- Heat the milk and chocolate mixture: Add the milk, piloncillo, Mexican chocolate, and cinnamon stick to a medium saucepan. Heat on the stove until the piloncillo and chocolate has 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. Then add the masa harina mixture, vanilla extract, and salt to the saucepan and whisk to combine.
- Heat it up and serve: Bring it up to a simmer, then lower the heat. Cook and whisk until the champurrado is thick, creamy, and smooth. Pour a large mug full of the finished champurrado and top it with a touch of cinnamon!
Tips and Substitutions
- Don’t have piloncillo? You can use 2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar instead.
- Can’t find Mexican chocolate? Look for it in the Hispanic food aisle at. your local grocery store or go to a specialty Hispanic grocery store. If you still can’t find it, you can order it online here.
- Is your champurrado grainy? Put in some elbow grease and keep whisking! Get the smoothest champurrado possible by whisking it vigorously throughout the whole cooking process. You’ll want it velvety smooth for the best texture.
- Want to make it dairy free? Use almond milk instead of dairy milk.
- To make this completely vegan, use a vegan Mexican chocolate brand like Taza or Ibarra.
Storing and reheating
To store, keep the finished and cooled champurrado in the fridge for up to 4 days. The longer it sits, the thicker it will become.
To reheat, mix in a little more water or milk into the drink first. Give it a good stir, then heat it up in the microwave or on the stovetop.
More Mexican recipes
Ingredients
- 4 cups milk
- 2 ounces piloncillo, plus more to taste
- 2 (3-ounce) discs Mexican chocolate (I used Abuelita brand)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1/2 cup masa harina
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Add 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, using a strainer if it has broken into pieces.
- In a small bowl, add warm water and masa harina. Whisk together until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the masa harina mixture, vanilla extract, and salt to the saucepan. Whisk to combine.
- Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and continue to cook, whisking frequently, for 25-30 minutes until thick, creamy, velvety, and smooth. The champurrado should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Serve and garnish with a touch of ground cinnamon or a cinnamon stick.
Isabel’s Tips:
- 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 to make it dairy free.
- Don’t have piloncillo? You can use 2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar instead.
- Don’t forget to whisk! Make sure to whisk vigorously throughout the whole process to help get the drink as smooth and velvety smooth as possible. The champurrado should be completely smooth and not grainy. If it’s still a little grainy, continue whisking until it becomes smooth.
Nutrition Information
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.
Wow, excellent! Just like the drink you get in Mexico fixed by the locals at the local kitchens. Brings back great family memories enjoying Champurrado on a cold day/night. Thank you!!
Good recipe. The only thing missing are the quantities of the ingredients.
Easy to follow reading instructions
Simple and easy to follow reading instructions
Great champurado recipe!
We made the champurrado & it was awesome!
Wonderful recipe. Thank you! I tried it for the first time tonight and it was great. Next time I will simmer the cinnamon for a shorter amount of time because I am not a great fan of the flavor. But that is personal taste. Altogether a great find and so easy to make! Thanks again!
Isabel & blog readers,
This is my third time making your champurrado. I made this as a surprise for my boyfriend, who is Mexican-American and he said this was better than his mom’s.. which is probably the highest complement he’s given to date.
I used almond milk and did not miss the dairy although it is noticeably thinner than the more traditional dairy champurrado I’ve had before. (Could be fixed by adding more masa harina if texture is your thing). I’m more of a flavor person.
This recipe was pretty awesome as it is, however, the second time I made this, I added twice the water needed and the regular amount of cinnamon and boiled until the water reduced by half. Highly recommend if you are a fan of cinnamon as my boyfriend and I are.
I did find it a bit too sweet with the piloncillo as the Ibarra drinking chocolate (and cinnamon) is already pretty sweet. If you aren’t a lover of all things sweet, add a little less piloncillo. Or maybe, as another reader suggested, some kind of mix between dark chocolate and the Ibarra? No sé.
Miss my Abuela, she made this for me when I was a little girl. Something so simple and fairly easy to make, yet so flavorful, so comforting. Thank you so much for sharing.
So Ibarra/Abuelita is made with sugar and the piloncillo is essentially brown sugar. So I find that if I use both the Ibarra/Abuelita discs and the piloncillo, it comes out WAY too sweet for my liking. Should I use unsweetened cocoa powder and a piloncillo to taste?
Hi Samantha! Yes you can definitely try that if its too sweet. If you do, let us know how it turns out!