Sweet Corn Gruel with Cinnamon (Atole Dulce)

You can find different versions of atole throughout Mexico. Some prefer to cook the masa harina (a type of corn flour that has been treated with slaked lime) in milk instead of water. Others add vanilla for flavor. Here, we use a combination of white hominy and masa harina to achieve the thick porridge consistency of Oaxacan atole.

Read Related: Pozole Verde: Pork, Hominy & Vegetable Stew

Ingredients
½ c cooked or canned white hominy
3 T masa harina
1 T light brown sugar or more if desired
Pinch of salt
1/8 t ground cinnamon

Instructions

1.  Coarsely grind the hominy in a mortar with pestle or place it in a food processor and pulse several times until broken down into small bits.
2. Combine the masa harina with 1 cup water and stir until you have a smooth paste. Pour the masa paste into a small pot, add 2 additional cups of water, the sugar, salt, and cinnamon, and bring to a boil.  Stir in the hominy, lower the heat to low, and simmer, partially covered, until the mixture is thick and most of the hominy has broken apart, about 20 minutes. Add more sugar, if desired, and serve hot or warm.