Peppermint Latte

On cold, wintry days nothing quite hits the spot like a nice, hot latte to warm you up from the inside out! But y’all, a Homemade Peppermint Latte – ahhh-mazing! Nothing tops that.

To make my homemade peppermint lattes, I prefer to use my blender, but you can also totally use a hand held milk frother for this, too. I found mine on Amazon pretty cheap. I think this would make a great stocking stuffer or birthday gift for the foodie (do people still call them that?) or coffee lover in your life.

If I am making a peppermint latte for myself, I never measure the ingredients.

If I just making something for me, I’ll add a splash of this, some of that, a scoop of this, a pinch of that – you know what I mean! I measured when I did this one to make sure I was giving y’all some fairly accurate measurements. You’re welcome. 😉

A few quick things about the ingredients in this Peppermint Latte…

• Consider adding a scoop of collagen or protein powder. I love adding collagen to my lattes. Yes, it’s totally optional. But there are so many health benefits to having extra collagen in your diet, from your nails and hair to your skin. It’s great for you! Perfect Collagen Peptides is my favorite. Or you could add your favorite protein powder if you wanted. Or leave them both out – it is your latte after all.
• Always add butter! Shocking to hear these words from me, I know. But y’all, butter is by definition whipped cream. I love adding it to my coffee. It makes it so smooth and adds a nice richness. I’m a big fan of butter.
• Choose your own milk. I have tried this with all varieties of milk – from coconut to almond to regular cow’s milk. I’m personally a big fan of almond milk.
• Choose your own sweetener. Like the milk – this is totally customizable. You can sweeten this however you like! Or you don’t have to sweeten it at all. It’s totally up to you. I usually stick with Stevia – that’s my jam. Just a word to the wise – not all Stevia is the same! Find a brand you love and stick with it! You can also use honey, maple syrup, sugar, etc.
• Add real vanilla. By real, I don’t only mean homemade – you can purchase a high quality vanilla extract at the store as well. Just be sure to check the label for added junk. But I sure do love the pure taste of homemade vanilla extract! A splash of vanilla does so much in this peppermint latte. Oddly enough, it doesn’t make your latte taste like vanilla! It just enhances the peppermint flavor.

Speaking of peppermint…

Have I told you about the time I wanted to make peppermint brownies for an essential oil class I was teaching? Well, the recipe called for a teaspoon of peppermint extract, I think? I was going to substitute with peppermint oil. I wasn’t quite sure how much to add, but I thought, heck, if a few drops are good, 15 drops will be so much better! Yeah… umm… no. I used 15 drops of Peppermint oil, and let me just tell you that those brownies were FULL of peppermint flavor. So full that they cleared your sinuses right out! I told Barry that peppermint flavor was so strong it could put hair on your chest. So…go easy on the peppermint oil on this one, okay?

One last thing!

After adding milk and blending, I find that this peppermint latte loses some of the heat. While that might be fine for some of you, it just isn’t hot enough for me! After I finish blending this latte and pour in my cup, I put it in the good ol’ coffee re-heating machine (aka microwave).