Sweet tamales are like light, fluffy sponge cake wrapped in a corn husk package. These rich Mexican chocolate tamales are best served warm with a drizzle of spicy honey.
{First posted on October 29, 2019. Last updated December 14, 2022}
If you haven’t heard by now, I’ve got a thing for tamales. Spicy, sweet, pork or pineapple, I love them all! When thinking about which tamales to make for the holidays, I knew tamales dulces (sweet tamales) were definitely going on the menu.
They are one of the most traditional Mexican desserts but many people have never even heard of them, let alone tasted one before.
These Mexican chocolate tamales are flavored with rich chocolate, cinnamon, and a touch of chipotle chili powder with extra chocolate chips folded into the masa at the end. This dough gets wrapped in corn husks and steamed until soft and fluffy.
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What Are Sweet Tamales Made Of?
These Mexican desserts are similar to savory tamales in that the base is a masa, or dough, made with corn flour.
The masa harina, or corn flour, is mixed with sugar and any number of sweet ingredients like jam, raisins, or chopped pecans. In this case they are flavored with cocoa powder, butter, and milk instead of salt, lard, and broth like in pork tamales or a chicken tamal.
The biggest difference between sweet and savory tamales however, is the way they are made. The savory tamales are typically masa dough that is wrapped around a filling.
With these chocolate tamales, the dough is made more like a cake batter where the butter and sugar are creamed together until super light and fluffy then the flour and milk are mixed in little by little to create an airy dough.
Sometimes the sweet dough gets filled but here the chocolate chips are folded in and the masa gets rolled up just as it is in the corn husks, making these a much easier version to make!
The last thing that makes them special are their bright, rich colors. I love the gorgeous brown of these chocolate tamales but other sweet tamales recipes use food coloring to make festive shades of pink, yellow and even green.
Ingredients
- Dried corn husks
- Masa harina flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Ground cinnamon
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Chipotle chili powder
- Unsalted butter or coconut oil
- Granulated sugar
- Whole milk or plant-based milk
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips
- Cinnamon sugar or hot honey for drizzling (optional)
How To Make Them!
step one
Soak the corn husks. Make sure to soak the corn husks in really warm water. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the corn husks. Push them under the water so they are completely submerged and soak until they are soft.
step two
Combine the flour mixture. Whisk together the masa harina, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and chipotle powder in a large bowl.
step three
Whip butter. I can’t stress enough to really whip the butter (or coconut oil) and sugar together really well, some say for as long as 10 minutes in a KitchenAid or hand-held mixer. I think 3 or 4 minutes seems to be enough. Beating the fat like this is what make light, airy tamales, without this step the tamales can be dry and crumbly.
step four
Stir together wet ingredients. Combine the milk, vanilla, in a liquid measuring cup.
step five
Make the masa. Alternate between the wet and dry mixtures, adding them in batches to the mixer with the butter to make the masa.
step six
Add the chocolate chips.
step seven
Fill the corn husks. Place the masa in the corn husk, roll the edge of husk around the filling then fold the bottom up like the pictures below.
step eight
Prepare the steamer. Fill the bottom half of the steamer with water. Insert the steamer basket or steamer rack. Cover with the lid and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Place the tamales in the steamer, cover with a damp towel then the lid, and steam for 30-45 minutes.
How Do You Eat Them
Sweet tamales like these are best eaten warm right out of the steamer when the chocolate chips have melted into gooey pockets. Serve with a cup of coffee or atole.
I like to take it a step further however and make some hot honey to drizzle on top. Other topping options might be:
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Mexican Hot Chocolate Sauce
- Boozy Salted Dulce de Leche
- Toasted shredded coconut
More Mexican Dessert Recipes To Try!
- Classic Tres Leches Cake Recipe
- Authentic Churros Recipe with Chocolate Sauce
- Strawberry Tamales with Horchata Sauce
- Pumpkin Spice Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Mangonada {Spicy Mango Slushy}
- Blackberry Bread Pudding with Cajeta Sauce
- Sweet Lime Tamales
Love and Joy and Sweet Tamales
It’s what the holidays are all about! I hope you give these a try—and don’t skip the hot honey. When you do, snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so I can see or leave me a comment below (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating) ! Also, make sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!
Mexican Chocolate Sweet Tamales
Sweet tamales are like light, fluffy sponge cake wrapped in a corn husk package. These are flavored with rich chocolate and drizzled with spicy honey.
Ingredients
- 25-30 dried corn husks
- 3 cups masa harina flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter or coconut oil, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups whole milk or unsweetened plant-based milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (one 12-ounce bag) chocolate chips (I like bittersweet)
- Cinnamon sugar and Spicy Honey, for serving
Instructions
- Soak corn husks. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat and soak the corn husks, pushing them under water with kitchen tongs. Let soak 30 minutes then remove from the water and wipe clean. You will need 24 corn husks that are at least 4-5 inches wide at the bottom.
- Combine dry ingredients. Meanwhile, combine masa harina, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and chipotle powder in a large bowl. Whisk until completely incorporated.
- Beat butter. Combine butter or coconut oil and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium until very fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Don't skimp on this step, this is what gives you fluffy tamales.
- Mix wet ingredients. Combine milk and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup.
- Make the masa. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl then add 1/3 of the masa mixture. Mix on low until combined. Add half of the milk, mix to combine, then repeat until all the masa and milk mixtures have been added, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.
- Add chocolate. Add chocolate chips and mix on low just until combined.
- Fill corn husks. Scoop 1/4-1/3 cup of the chocolate masa and roll into a 3-4 inch log with your hands. Place the corn husk on a clean surface with the wide side closest to you. Place the masa log on one side of the corn husk and roll the corn husk around the log, covering completely. Fold the skinny top half over the bottom half and place seam-side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining corn husks and dough.
- Prepare tamales steamer. Fill the bottom of a tamales steamer with water then place the steamer rack on top. You can also use a pasta pot that has a removable liner or a large stock pot with a steaming basket. Place over high heat.
- Steam tamales. Once pot is filled with steam, carefully stand the tamales, open-side-up, in the pot so they are leaning on each other and don't fall over and unravel. Cover tightly and steam for 45 minutes or until the dough is firm and cooked through. Check the water level occasionally to make sure the pot doesn't dry out.
- Serve! Serve warm with cinnamon sugar and spicy honey. Enjoy!
Notes
Tamales can be frozen uncooked or cooked for up to 3 months. Keep sealed tightly in freezer bags.
If you freeze them before steaming, follow the steaming instructions above to cook before eating. If you freeze them already steamed, rewarm them by heating a couple tablespoons of water in a frying pan, adding the tamales and cover until warmed through, about 15 minutes. They also can be reheated in the microwave, although the ends tend to get a little crusty.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 562Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 49mgCarbohydrates: 74gFiber: 8gSugar: 26gProtein: 11g
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Drop the presses!!! This is the find of the year. The tamales look amazing and I would Ear the entire batch myself!
Que rico Kate!! Sweet tamales are my favorites, and these with chocolate are so yummy!!! So easy to make.
Wow! The chocolate with the spicy chipotle touch it’s super! Great recipe, thanks for sharing!
Wow this look so delicious i’ll try it. Thank you.
I’m not so fond of chipotle, can I use cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger?
Thanks!
Hi Andrea! Absolutely. You could substitute any one of those or a combination of all three.
Do you think adding some pecans would be good and could I omit the cocoa powder?
Hi Mary Ann! Yes, you could add pecans. I would toast them first, then chop them and add them with the chocolate chips. You could omit the cocoa powder, but then they wouldn’t be chocolate tamales. They would be more like chocolate chip tamales—which wouldn’t be a bad thing. 🙂 Let me know how it goes.