I like to remake versions of my favorite coffee shop drinks at home when I can. It saves money, it’s easier than trying to get a car park at my local Gloria Jeans and it allows me to play around with my options a little bit more than I could otherwise. In the past, I’ve done Minty Mochas and Choc-brownie mochas. This drink is a remake of the gingerbread latte, a popular item at Starbucks (and a stack of other coffee shops) around this time of year.

The Starbucks gingerbread latte is a typical latte – espresso and steamed milk – made with a spicy gingerbread flavored sugar syrup. I have used both espresso (thanks to the coffee machine at work!) and regular drip coffee for this drink and it's super-tasty both ways. The recipe below calls for drip coffee, but feel free to use espresso if you have an espresso machine. I stuck with tradititional gingerbread elements for mine, using ground spices and some molasses for flavour. Because the flavour of molasses can be very strong, I balanced it out by adding some regular sugar to mine, as well. This is where the customisation comes in, as you can use more or less molasses in your own version depending on the size of your mug and personal preference. You can even try golden syrup for more of an Aussie twist!

  

Homemade Gingerbread Latte
2/3 cup fresh drip coffee
1/3 cup hot milk (I just heat this up in the microwave)
2tsp sugar
2tsp molasses
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground nutmeg (or Christmas spice mix, I'm positive that this would be just fine!)
pinch ground ginger
whipped cream

Combine coffee, sugar, molasses and spices in a coffee mug and stir to combine. Top off with hot milk. Finish with whipped cream (NOT FROM A CAN!!!) and a sprinkle of additional spice for garnish.

Makes one delicious mug of drink. The recipe can be scaled up to flavour a whole pot of coffee, as well.

Enjoy, and make for your guests over the festive season!

(This isn't technically a Christmas craft, but I have linked it up through We Heart Life, so click on over and see what else you can get up to to DIY your Christmas!)