Mi Huerta Market
By: Sarah Chovanetz
Ole for Atole!
With all the holiday spirit and Christmas cheer spreading around, it’s time to share a recipe that matches perfectly with the season itself.
Atole, pronounced ah-TOH-leh, is a comforting, hot drink meant for the soul. It’s actually native to Mexico and Central America, where it is consumed as a breakfast drink or sipped as a comforting warm-up food during cold weather. Children and often times the elderly depend on it as an easy nutritional supplement. The flavors are some of our favorites of course, including our very own authentic vanilla extract and piloncillo. Cinnamon, chocolate, or even fruit can be incorporated if interested. The drink is meant to soothe you while putting a smile on your face because it simply tastes that good—which pretty much happens every single time. It’s a recipe to be shared and loved no matter what age, which is another reason why it’s an excellent choice during the holidays. Did we mention it’s absolutely delicious?
Atole can be paired with quite a bit. Tamales are a popular choice to make an uplifting breakfast or even late night snack. We highly recommend you pair it with one of our other favorite recipes we’ve shared in order to get the abundance of flavors with each sip.
Atole Drink
What You’ll Need:
1. 3 Cups of water (we prefer milk)
2. 1 8oz Mi Huerta Piloncillo cone
3. 1/3 Cup Masa Harina blended with 1/4 Cup warm water
4. 1/4 Teaspoon ground cinnamon OR 1 Cinnamon stick
5. A pinch of salt (really try to be accurate here don’t over do it otherwise it will overcome the sweetness and won’t taste as good, of course)
Directions for Atole:
1. Heat the milk in a medium-sized saucepan and add our Mi Huerta Piloncillo — Cook AND stir until it is completely dissolved.
2. Add the Masa Harina slurry, our Mi Huerta Vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt to the pot.
3. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook, stirring frequently for 20-25 minutes until thickened. (don’t stir your arms off but just keep an eye on it and be consistent, you don’t want it clumping up or forming a top)
4. Remove the cinnamon stick if using-
5. Pour into mugs (for traditional purposes we enjoy rustic clay ones), or thick glasses
A little advice on this special traditional drink; Sip Atole carefully. Stir it often as it tends to stay very hot. Always make sure hot drinks like this one are cooled down more for the kids!
A little bonus for those curious about the fruit!!
To Make Fruit-Flavored Atole:
Stir ½ cup of pureed fruit into the mixture while cooking. Fruits
commonly used for this purpose in Mexico include
strawberries, guava, pineapple, blackberries, plums, and
mangos.
We can’t wait for you all to try this and look forward to continuing this holiday spirit with
more recipes to follow!
