One-Pot Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies
Updated Oct 06, 2025
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Think of these Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies as your favorite fudgy brownies that went on a vacation to Oaxaca and came back with some flair. Deep chocolate flavor meets cinnamon and a whisper of cayenne, creating that signature “sweet heat” balance. They’re rich, chewy, and dangerously easy to make – one bowl, minimal effort, maximum payoff.
If regular brownies are your comfort zone dessert, then you are due for a little adventure with the Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies. They start like your standard fudgy brownie – melted butter, chocolate, butter, sugar – but then a pinch of cinnamon and a touch of pure ground chile join the party, and suddenly you’ve got depth, warmth, and a little kick that makes you sit up straighter and pay attention. These bar cookies taste like a mug of Mexican Hot Chocolate decided to wish itself into brownies, and very successfully, I might add
And yes, yes, I get the humor in having the word “pot” and “brownies” in the title. I have another one pot brownie recipe in The Mom 100 Cookbook (please tell me you know that – it’s one of the best reasons to buy the book), and I’ve had to answer for the word choice more than a few times. Tee hee, very funny, but seriously they are just made in one pot. What you do after that is up to you.
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If you’re wondering what makes this brownie recipe Mexican Hot Chocolate, it’s the addition of cinnamon and a bit of cayenne, both adding warmth and a touch of actual heat. The size of the pinch of cayenne should be substantial, but the first time around exercise some restraint; you will be making these again, and you will have the chance to add more the next go round.
The kick from the spices – cayenne and cinnamon — is at first subtle, then more pronounced, and then fades, which means of course that you must go back and have another bite. And another. You could also add a pinch of pure ancho chile powder instead of the cayenne, or in addition, if you’re feeling frisky as all get out.
Don’t be tempted to substitute regular chili powder, or chili spice blend, for the cayenne. These spice mixes have additional spices in them that may work wonderfully in chili or enchiladas, but won’t bring anything to the party here, and will in fact confuse things.
Baking Tip
When you add the eggs to the warm brownie batter, do this one at a time and beat them in quickly. This allows each egg to fully incorporate into the batter, and also ensures that the eggs blend in and don’t scramble while they sit waiting to be mixed in.
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One-Pot Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 cups sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- large pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×13-inch square baking pan or spray generously with nonstick baking spray.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the butter and unsweetened chocolate over low heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate and butter have melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, then the cocoa powder. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Stir in the vanilla extract, and then the flour until completely incorporated. Stir in the cinnamon and cayenne until blended. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the pan comes out clean.
- Cool completely (really, completely) on a wire rack. Cut into 24 squares.
