Easy Peppermint Mocha at Home…Healthier Version!
There’s nothing better than peppermint mocha on a cold winter’s day, right? But if you get it from Starbucks or some other chain, it’s going to be loaded up with calories, sugar, and not much else in the way of nutritional value. If only there was some way to have your peppermint mocha cake and eat it too…
Well, it turns out, there is: make your own peppermint mocha at home!
As with all homemade things, you get the advantage of knowing exactly what you’re putting in your body. Making this peppermint mocha healthier but still delicious is all about substitutions: substituting in non-dairy milk, and using cocoa powder instead of chocolate.
Also, the homemade recipe I found uses real mint extract for the mint syrup, to make sure you not only get the real mint flavor, but the real mint health benefits! The mint plant helps with indigestion and aids the immune system, which of course is great during flu season!
Another way to make the mint syrup healthier is to use less sugar. Now, I always recommend using a quarter cup of table sugar for BAKING when a recipe calls for it, because otherwise something like cookies isn’t going to brown properly, or the texture won’t be right. But in this case, you don’t have to worry about texture:
The recipe calls for mixing a boiling pot of water, 1/2 a cup of sugar, and a tablespoon of mint extract.
But what you can also do instead would be substituting 1/2 cup of sugar with tablespoon of stevia. Why a tablespoon? Well, when you’re substituting table sugar with stevia, you should use about eight times less, because stevia is so much sweeter. And 8 times less than half a cup is a tablespoon (I know it’s not fun doing the math with our units)…
Then once you’ve got your homemade mint syrup, refrigerate it!
To make one healthy peppermint mocha drink, you’re going to add 3/4 cups of almond milk, a tablespoon of cocoa powder, and 2 tablespoons of your mint syrup together in a mug, and microwave this for a couple minutes.
Also, be brewing a couple espresso shots. Combine it all together and stir, and then if you want, you can also indulge a little bit by adding whipped cream or little shattered candy cane pieces on top.
Up to you, I think you can totally do it because the rest is so much healthier!
Now, I do have one last recommendation if you are looking for a healthy peppermint mocha. And this option is even healthier! It’s Peppermint Mocha Plant-Based Vegan Shakeology. Now you’ve got the lovely flavors of coffee, cocoa, and peppermint, without any of the guilt at all, as well as healthy fiber and robust superfoods that people don’t get nearly enough of in their diets!!
With more concentrated pea fiber, more flaxseed for omega-3 acids, and more probiotics than ever before…This particular Shakeology recipe has improved even more on an already almost perfect formula for everyday health and enhanced exercise results.