Spanish Hot Chocolate
Spanish hot chocolate is a thick, rich, flavorful homemade hot chocolate made with bittersweet dark chocolate, whole milk, a hint of sugar, and a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Your family will love this decadent and flavorful drink!
If you love hot chocolate, then you have got to try this version from Spain! Forget the overly sweet packets from a grocery store, this is the real deal! So thick its almost a pudding, rich and flavorful, with just a hint of spice to it, you won’t be able to drink hot chocolate any other way.
Also known as Chocolate Caliente, this velvety and deeply chocolate drink is often served with churros to dip into. This is much thicker than what you typically find in North America, and feels like such a luxurious and decadent drink because of its texture and the hint of spice from the cinnamon and cayenne pepper. This drink is NOT spicy hot, and the well flavored drink is perfect for kids to enjoy.
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What ingredients do I need for this?
You only need a few simple ingredients to make this amazingly rich and flavorful hot chocolate recipe. Because you only need 6 ingredients, make sure they are all the best quality you can get.
- Milk – I recommend using a really rich and creamy whole milk for this recipe. I always recommend AE Dairy milk because it’s so fresh and the quality is top notch. This is a decadent treat, so don’t substitute with a low fat milk or it won’t taste the same. You want full fat, fresh, quality, flavorful milk.
- Chocolate – You want to use a good quality bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate. Do not use milk chocolate as it is too sweet. Use the best quality you can get, and one that doesn’t have added ingredients that might melt funny or make your drink taste weird. I recommend using a chocolate with between 60-75% cacao. You can use a darker chocolate, but you will probably want to add a bit more sugar.
- Cornstarch – This helps to thicken the drink. You only need a little!
- Sugar – You only need a small amount of sugar for this recipe. Its not overly sweet, and you really want the chocolate flavor to shine. You can adjust for your flavor preferences, but don’t go too sweet.
- Ground Cinnamon – This helps to give it that spiced flavor that makes this hot chocolate just so good. Use a really good quality cinnamon for the best flavor.
- Ground Cayenne Pepper – You just want to add a tiny little pinch of ground cayenne for just the hint of flavor. This drink it not at all spicy, but you do want these spice notes!
How to make Spanish style hot chocolate
This homemade hot chocolate is so quick and simple to make! For the full set of directions, make sure you scroll down to the recipe card below.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the AE Dairy whole milk, cornstarch and sugar until the cornstarch has been dissolved.
- Place the saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the milk has heated and thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Do not allow the milk to boil as it can cause the milk to separate and the cornstarch to actually become thinner. You just want to gently heat it.
- Reduce the heat down to low.
- Add the chopped chocolate, ground cinnamon, and cayenne pepper.
- Whisk until the chocolate has melted and is fully incorporated into the milk.
- Turn off the heat and serve.
How to serve this hot chocolate
Unlike hot chocolate in America, this Spanish hot chocolate is never served with whipped cream or marshmallows. It is either enjoyed as it is or it is commonly served with churros to dip into.
Not authentic, but I imagine serving these with some homemade cinnamon sugar donuts would also be amazing!
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Spanish Hot Chocolate Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped small
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, cornstarch and sugar until the cornstarch has been dissolved.
- Place the saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the milk has heated and thickened. Do not allow the milk to boil.
- Reduce the heat down to low.
- Add the chopped chocolate, ground cinnamon, and cayenne pepper.
- Whisk until the chocolate has melted and is fully incorporated into the milk.
- Turn off the heat and serve.
I like aleppo pepper as a more nuanced, milder spice.
This recipe is so good! I tried making it at home and my family loved it! Thank you for sharing this flavorful and easy-to-make Spanish hot chocolate recipe. We’ll surely make this again.
Adding cayenne pepper to this hot chocolate really kicked it up a notch. It was delicious – thanks for sharing.