How to Make Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

These festive #Choctoberfest Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes are packed with rich chocolate and cinnamon flavor and are perfect for Halloween, Day of the Dead, and Disney’s Coco parties.

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Sprinkle Pop.  All opinions are my own.

Welcome back to #Choctoberfest, where we celebrate all things deliciously chocolate. If you missed my welcome post, please take a minute and check it out. It lists all the other amazing food bloggers who are participating in this event as well as our generous sponsors: Imperial Sugar, Barlean’s, Sprinkle Pop,  Divine Chocolates, and Forte Chocolates.

The Welcome Post also contains the entry form for our BIG Choctoberfest Giveaway (Valued at over $400!), it also includes an Instant Pot!  What?! So great!
Click HERE to be taken to the Entry Form Page.

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My girls love Sugar Skulls— those beautiful Mexican skeleton faces that are part of Day of the Dead.

In fact, they even dressed as sugar skulls a couple years ago for Halloween.  My older daughter was a traditional Sugar Skull and my younger daughter was an Elena of Avalor Sugar Skull (see the special Elena scepter of light? Ok, it’s really just a regular royal scepter from Costco, but shhhhh, don’t tell her that!)

As you can imagine, they’re also big fans of the Disney/Pixar Movie Coco, so when I saw these gorgeous sprinkles from Sprinkle Pop (another awesome sponsor of #Choctoberfest) I couldn’t help but order them to make these Coco inspired Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes!

About Sprinkle Pop

Sprinkle Pop creates beautiful bespoke sprinkle blends.  They dye them in-house, so if you have a special request, give them a shout. They can probably make your sprinkle dream come true. If you can dream it, they can create it as a sprinkle mix.

In addition to the sprinkles being beautiful, they also taste really good. Nothing’s worse than sprinkles that taste bad or are hard on your teeth. But these taste great and have the perfect texture.

Visit them online and enjoy all their wonderful creations.

Day of the Dead and Disney Coco Sprinkle Combination

For these cupcakes, I used two different kinds of Sprinkle Pop sprinkles:  the Sorbeto Sprinkle Mix and the Dia De Los Muertos Sprinkle Mix.

The pink, blue and orange from the Sorbeto mix were perfect for the Coco look that I was going for, and I loved the festive colors in the Dia De Los Muertos mix.  You can also order sugar skulls separately if you need more.

How to Make Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

This recipe is adapted from two different recipes that I found from some fellow bloggers.  For the cupcake, I based my recipe on this simple one bowl- recipe from Sam at Sugar Spun Run.   It’s easy to make and results in a VERY light and fluffy cupcake.  She also has a nice video showing just how easy this recipe is using just ONE Bowl.  I, however, used my stand mixer, because that just worked better for me.

For my adaptation, I added cinnamon and chili powder to give it a Mexican Hot Chocolate flavor.

I got the whipped cream icing idea from Yellow Bliss Road. However, I adjusted it slightly so it would fit this recipe better.

For a Printable version of this recipe, scroll down to the end of this post. 

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of chili powder
• 2/3 cup canola oil vegetable oil would also be fine
• 1cup milk
• 2eggs lightly beaten (preferably room temperature)
• 2tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot water (or hot coffee or 1 tsp instant coffee dissolved into 1 cup hot water)

For whipped cream icing:

• 2 containers Cool Whip (defrosted)
• 4 tbsp powdered sugar
• 4 tsps cinnamon
• Sprinkle Pop’s Dia De Los Muertos and Sorbeto Sprinkle Mixes
• a few red hot candy sprinkles

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F, spray your muffin tin with nonstick spray, then add the cupcake liners. I used some fun Day of the Dead inspired colors.
2. In a large bowl or your stand mixer, whisk together the following ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and chili powder.
3. Next, mix in canola oil and milk, stirring until well-combined.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. Add hot water and stir until the mixture is evenly combined. It  might separate a little, just keep mixing until it’s mixed evenly.  This batter will be very thin and liquidy but that’s fine.  That’s what makes it very light and fluffy.
7. Fill the cupcake liners 1/2- 2/3 of the way full and bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes (use the toothpick test to check). If you fill them too high, they will over flow (see picture below).
8. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before icing.

For the Icing:

1. To make the icing, add the Cool Whip, powdered sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute or until well incorporated.
2. Take a spoon and add generous dollop to your cupcakes.
3. Finally—add the Sprinkles!!!!  The majority of the sprinkles I used were the gorgeous ones from Sprinkle Pop, but I also threw a few red hot candy sprinkles on to give it a little extra cinnamon kick.  The red hots also reminded me of the red roses so often seen in sugar skulls.

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Don’t forget to check out these other amazing #Choctoberfest recipes.

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admin

HI! I’m a Shana, self-proclaimed Media Mixologist, wife, and mom to two little girls. I love to mix up cocktails of crafts, recipes, wellness, family and business with just the right amount of sparkle to help you shine everyday. So, grab a glass, and let’s celebrate the cocktail of life!