Have you ever seen the calories that Starbucks drinks have? It is unbelievable! Next time you go, look at the little numbers written next to the price. Some of them are over 500 calories! If you actually follow a 2000 calorie diet, one single Starbucks drink is a quarter of your daily quota!
Don’t believe me? Go to the Starbucks’ website and “build your drink”. Look for the 16 oz (grande) peppermint mocha made with nonfat milk and no whipped cream, they call it “skinny”, skinny? really? it is over 300 calories!!! Oh but wait a minute!, that number is only an estimate and it is based on a controlled environment recipe. Just look at the disclaimer: “Nutritional information is calculated based on our standardized recipes. Because our beverages are handcrafted and may be customized, exact information may vary”. What that basically means is that if the barista follows the recipe exactly, your drink will be about 320 calories but we know that doesn’t happen very often.
Now, who doesn’t love Starbucks!, right?, they have great beverages, calm atmosphere, and free WiFi!!!!. I am just saying that you have to be careful with what you consume. For that reason I developed this recipe. It only has 100 calories, it does not call for any type of syrups and the flavors come very close to Starbucks (depending on the quality of coffee you use)
- ½ cup Nonfat Milk
- 2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)
- ½ teaspoon Honey
- ¼ teaspoon Peppermint Extract
- 1 Espresso Shot*
- Bring milk, cocoa powder, and honey to a boil in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally
- Remove from heat; mix in peppermint extract and whisk until frothy
- Pour coffee into a large mug; top with milk mixture