Winter Coffee Drinks
My winter coffee drinks are sure to keep you and your family warm and cozy this season! These are healthier versions of the favorite coffee drinks you find at coffee shops so you don’t have to feel guilty when you enjoy them!
Similar to my fall coffee drinks, I bring in the flavors of the season to make these winter coffee recipes so they add to the magic of the holidays!
Related: Fall Coffee Recipes
Related: Salted Caramel Cold Foam
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winter coffee drinks video
what makes a great winter coffee drink
There are a few criteria for the perfect winter coffee drink.
- First, it should be warm! You want something to keep your hands cozy and your belly toasty while you stroll around looking at the beautiful holiday lights!
- Second, it should have the flavors of the season – peppermint, gingerbread, and eggnog are all great options!
- Third, it shouldn’t be too high in calories – save that for the baked goods and home cooking!
A quick note: none of my winter coffee recipes have alcohol – for delicious spiked winter coffee drinks head here!
Winter Coffee drink ideas
Each one of these winter coffee recipes uses cleaner ingredients than the traditional refined sugars and chemically created flavors that you’ll find at coffee shops. The best part is that you can make them in your own home and even save some money!
Peppermint Mocha winter coffee recipe
This winter coffee recipe uses peppermint extract and cocoa powder for the flavoring and to sweeten it I used coconut sugar. The creamy chocolate paired with the cool peppermint is the perfect winter combination. This is a healthier (and more delicious) version of the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha.
prep the milk
- In a saucepan over medium heat your milk, cocoa powder, coconut sugar until sugar is disolved.
- Turn off heat and add peppermint extract and stir to combine.
brew the coffee
- Brew your espresso using whichever method you have available. I just did the easy button and used espresso concentrate which I just poured directly into the mix I made above.
Assemble the Drinks
- Froth your peppermint mocha milk you just made until it has a nice foam.
- Pour your shots into a coffee mug and then your frothed milk overtop.
- Enjoy your frothy Peppermint Mocha as you stroll through nearby neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights!
Dirty Chai Winter coffee recipe
Dirty chai is the name you call a chai tea latte that has shots of espresso added to it. This drink is spicy, sweet and so tasty! You’ll want to watch out for this one because it has a ton of caffeine if you don’t use decaf. You’re getting caffeine from the black tea and the coffee. I don’t mind, but if you’re limiting caffeine then you can opt-out of either the black tea or coffee all together or use decaf for one or both.
- Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until starting to bubble on sides of pan then add tea bags.
- Turn off the heat and let your tea bags steep for about 5 minutes.
- Remove the tea bags when the milk turns a desired color or once the tea has been fully steeped.
- Add your date syrup, maple syrup, and spices whisking until combined.
- Make your espresso any way you have available to you (percolator, Nespresso, espresso concentrate, etc.).
- Pour your chai into your coffee mugs and then your espresso over top.
- Stir and enjoy as you wander through Zoo Lights!
Gingerbread latte winter coffee recipe
This gingerbread latte is rich and full of flavors like molasses, nutmeg, and cloves – the perfect winter spices! I use date syrup in this recipe because it’s a natural sweetener, and it sort of has a gingerbread-like flavor already so it’s the perfect sweetener!
- Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat and add spices, molasses and date syrup.
- Stir until well combined and warm.
- Make espresso shots using whatever method you have available to you (percolator, concentrate, Nespresso, etc.).
- Froth milk until it’s nice and foamy.
- Add shots to your mugs and pour frothed gingerbread milk overtop.
- Enjoy your gingerbread latte as you bake homemade gingerbread cookies!
Healthy Eggnog winter coffee recipe
Even your treats can be made with clean ingredients this winter – like my healthy eggnog winter coffee recipe! You won’t even know this is made with clean ingredients because it’s still so rich and creamy with the yummy spices we love about eggnog.
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a glass bowl until creamy.
- In a saucepan over medium heat whisk the milk, cream, salt and nutmeg until it comes to a simmer.
- Scoop a little bit of warm milk over the egg and sugar mixture. Keep doing this until all the milk is combined with the egg/sugar (you’re tempering the eggs to prevent them from scrambling).
- Add mixture back to the saucepan over low-medium heat and mix continuously for about 3-5 minutes until it becomes just a little more thick. IMPORTANT: As soon as the milk thickens just slightly, turn the heat off and remove pan from heating element or your eggs will scramble and nobody likes scrambled eggnog.
- Remove the eggnog from heating element and add vanilla extract stirring to combine.
- Make espresso using whatever method you have available to you (concentrate, Nesspresso, percolator).
- Add egg nog to your mugs and top with espresso.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon on top and enjoy as you browse a holiday craft fair!
holiday coffee drink ideas
Holiday drinks are SO fun! You can make them for company, take them on all your holiday festivities, or just enjoy them in the comfort of your own cozy home during the holidays. Here are some holiday coffee drink ideas.
- Caramel Brulee Latte
- Chestnut praline latte
- Cranberry white chocolate mocha
- Dark cherry mocha
- Hazelnut mocha
- Salted caramel mocha
- Cinnamon latte
- Toasted marshmallow
- Eggnog latte
- Peppermint mocha
- Gingerbread latte
- Chai latte
more coffee drinks
Make at Home Fall Coffee Drinks
How to Make Iced Coffee in a French press
what to eat with a winter coffee drinks
These winter coffee recipes go perfectly with a seasonal baked good, like my sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls. They are even a great beverage on their own since they’re made with milk (or milk alternative) so they are quite filling.
How to make espresso for winter coffee drinks
Ok, I’ll be honest, I used the easy button for these recipes this time! I used espresso concentrate for each of these winter coffee recipes. However, in my Fall coffee recipes post, I used the full array of espresso-making methods – percolator, Nespresso, and concentrate.
For a great tutorial on how to use a percolator, head to this post from my friend at Linen and Wildflowers!
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Healthy Peppermint Mocha
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a saucepan over medium heat your milk, cocoa powder, coconut sugar until sugar is disolved.
- Turn off heat and add peppermint extract and stir to combine.
- Brew your espresso using whichever method you have available.
- Froth your peppermint mocha milk you just made until it has a nice foam.
- Pour your shots into a coffee mug and then your frothed milk overtop.
Dirty Chai Latte
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until starting to bubble on sides of pan then add tea bags.
- turn off the heat and let your tea bags steep for about 5 minutes.
- remove the tea bags when the milk turns a desired color or once the tea has been fully steeped.
- add your date syrup, maple syrup, and spices whisking until combined.
- make your espresso any way you have available to you (percolator, Nespresso, espresso concentrate, etc.).
- Pour your chai into your coffee mugs and then your espresso over top. Stir and enjoy!
Notes
- Be aware that if you use caffeinated black tea and caffeinated coffee, this will have a ton of caffeine. To tone down the caffeine, use decaf black tea and/or coffee.
- The black tea can be optional – to omit the black tea portion just combine the milk, sweeteners and spices until combined then add espresso.
Homemade Gingerbread Latte
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- heat milk in saucepan over medium heat and add sweeteners and spices.
- stir until well combined and warm.
- make espresso shots using whatever method you have available to you (percolator, concentrate, Nespresso, etc.).
- froth milk until it's nice and foamy.
- add shots to your mugs and por frothed gingerbread milk overtop.
Healthy Eggnog Latte
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- whisk egg yolks and sugar in a glass bowl until creamy.
- in a saucepan over medium heat whisk the milk, cream, salt and nutmeg until it comes to a simmer.
- scoop a little bit of warm milk over the egg and sugar mixture. Keep doing this until all the milk is combined with the egg/sugar (tempering the eggs like this prevents them from scrambling).
- add mixture back to the saucepan over low-medium heat and mix continuously for about 3-5 minutes until it becomes a little more thick (remove from heat the second the milk starts to thicken – not a second longer or the eggs will scramble).
- Remove the eggnog from heating element and add vanilla extract stirring to combine.
- Make espresso using whatever method you have availavle to you (concentrate, Nesspresso, percolator).
- add egg nog to your mugs and top with espresso.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon on top and enjoy!
Winter Coffee recipe faq
A peppermint mocha is a winter coffee drink that uses chocolate and peppermint to flavor milk and espresso shots.
Typically, yes. Most coffee shops have the peppermint flavoring and chocolate needed to make a peppermint mocha year-round. Even better, is you can use my peppermint mocha recipe to make it year-round!
Peppermint mochas do taste like coffee because of the espresso shots used to make the drink, however, the coffee flavor is subtle due to the sweetness of the drink.
Dirty chai lattes have shots of espresso added to them whereas a chai latte is simply the chai (spiced milk or water and black tea).
This is a cheeky way to say that shots of espresso have muddied the typically light-colored drink.
Dirty chai lattes do taste like coffee because of the espresso shots used to make the drink, however, the coffee flavor is subtle due to the sweetness of the drink.
Yes, you can put coffee in eggnog – and I highly recommend it! The flavor of the coffee with eggnog is the perfect winter coffee combination!
I have a copycat Starbucks gingerbread latte recipe!
INGREDIENTS
6 cups milk of choice
4 shots espresso
3 tbs molasses
4 tbs date syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
INSTRUCTIONS
heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat and add sweeteners and spices.
stir until well combined and warm.
make espresso shots using whatever method you have available to you (percolator, concentrate, Nespresso, etc.).
froth milk until it’s nice and foamy.
add shots to your mugs and pour frothed gingerbread milk overtop.
Please let me know your questions and how you like this recipe!
Yummy!! Looks so tasty!
Thank you, Alyssa! 🙂 The peppermint mocha is SO rich and delish.