It’s a hot, minty, chocolate, coffee treat…Starbucks makes their dreamy, skinny holiday drink with espresso, steamed nonfat milk, sugar-free mocha sauce and sugar-free peppermint syrup. My home version is simple to make since I used strong brewed coffee, unsweetened cocoa, Splenda or Truvia and peppermint extract. Each skinny drink has 90 calories, 1 gram of fat and 3 Blue WW Freestyle SmartPoints, and 3 Green.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients for Mocha:
⅔ cup fat-free milk
⅔ cup strong brewed coffee or decaf, I used Starbucks Vanilla K-cup, see shopping tips
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa, see shopping tips
2 packages Splenda, Equal, Truvia (Stevia) or your favorite sugar substitute
⅛ teaspoon peppermint extract, see shopping tips
Optional Topping Ingredients:
2 tablespoons light whipped cream
Dash of cocoa or crushed candy cane pieces
Instructions
1. Brew coffee stronger than usual. In a small pot, add milk, cocoa, Splenda and peppermint extract. Over medium high heat, mix until cocoa is dissolved and mixture is hot.
2. Transfer to a blender and process for about 15 seconds until foamy. If you don’t have a blender, don’t worry. Just whisk the mixture in the pot continuously with a wire whisk until foamy. Pour brewed coffee into a large cup and pour hot milk mixture over coffee. Stir to blend.
3. Top with whipped cream, if desired. Sprinkle with a dash of cocoa power or crushed candy canes, if desired.
Makes 1 (1½ cups) serving
Food Fact
Starbucks Skinny Peppermint Mocha was introduced in 2011. It’s a lighter version of their Peppermint Mocha.
Shopping Tips
I strongly recommend you buy a good quality unsweetened cocoa. It does make a huge difference. I like to use Ghirardelli or Droste. Most supermarkets sell these 2 brands.
Peppermint extract can be found in supermarkets in the spice section. I bought mine at Trader Joe’s.
I like to make this drink using the new Starbucks Vanilla Coffee (k-cup) for the Keurig machine. Most supermarkets and Target sell this yummy, vanilla coffee. Or use your favorite regular coffee.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 3-Blue
WW SmartPoints 3-Green
WW POINTS PLUS 2
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 (1½ cups) (without whipped cream) 90 calories, 1g fat, 0.7g sat. fat, 4mg chol, 9g protein, 15g carbs, 3g fiber, 103mg sodium, 10g sugar |
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 (12 oz) Skinny Starbucks (without whipped cream) 100 calories, 1g fat, 5mg chol, 10g protein, 13g carbs, 3g fiber, 0mg sodium, 11g sugar |
Hi Nancy! I just made this and what a fabulous drink this was. I am more of a latte person so I used 1 cup almond milk. I am also a BIG fan of Ghirardelli which is what I used. I bet this would be good using toasted coconut coffee and coconut extract.
Kim i’m such a coconut fan, I’m going to give your ideas a try. Sounds so good! And i’m going to use unsweetened coconut almond milk.
Thanks for sharing.
My best wishes,
Nancy
OK I am a very critical Starbucks addCit and I have tried other Pinterest recipes to try and replicate my favorite, the peppermint mocha hot coffee but none have tasted as close as yours! I only had Hersheys unsweetened cocoa so I want to try the ones you recommended next time and hopefully it will taste even better but this will definitely help me in between my trips to Starbucks because let’s face it I just cannot completely give that place up! I live pretty far from the closest Starbucks though so this will definitely make it a little easier to go in between trips where I won’t have withdrawals!
Love your review of my remake. Thanks so much Meagan!
All the best,
Nancy