What if I told you could make a delicious peppermint mocha drink with just three ingredients that rivaled the taste of Starbucks and contained way less sugar? Well you can!
I know I’m late to the party (again) but a friend recently talked me into trying a peppermint mocha from Starbucks. I didn’t think I would like the mint coffee combo, but it turns out that I liked it … a lot. In fact, for a couple of months a “decaf grande peppermint mocha, no whip” became my drink of choice.
And then I looked up the nutritional info. (Cue the sad trombone) Womp. Womp. A 16 ounce (grande) peppermint mocha from Starbucks clocks in at a whopping 54 grams of sugar — and that’s if you skip the whipped cream.
Note: You can find all of the nutritional information for Starbucks drinks online. Take a look at your usual order. You might be very surprised.
So, I set out to recreate the drink at home, both cutting down the sugar and improving the quality of the ingredients.

Just Three Whole-Food Ingredients

The key to making a healthy peppermint mocha at home starts with a high quality chocolate milk. I love this Organic Whole Chocolate Milk from Kalona Supernatural. It’s made with grass-fed dairy from pasture-raised cows and real food ingredients. (You can use Kalona’s Store Locator to find a retailer near you.)
Four ounces of Kalona’s Organic Whole Chocolate Milk contains 16 grams of sugar. And there’s no sugar in the other two ingredients (coffee and peppermint extract) so the entire drink clocks in at 1/3 the sugar of the Starbucks version. And you get the added benefits of drinking organic milk.


Try It Hot or Iced
If you prefer an iced version, you can use cold brew or iced coffee and skip heating the chocolate milk.

Try this Healthy Peppermint Mocha recipe and let me know what you think. Be sure to tag #grownupdish or @grownup_dish on Instagram so I can share your posts!
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Starbucks Copycat – Healthy Peppermint Mocha
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 14 ounces 1x
Description
This healthy peppermint mocha recipe tastes just like Starbucks with 1/3 of the sugar. You can make it hot or iced and there’s a non-dairy version. Just 3 ingredients.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces organic chocolate milk (see non-dairy instructions in notes)
- 10 ounces strong coffee, espresso or cold brew coffee (regular or decaf)
- 1/16 teaspoon organic mint extract
Instructions
FOR HOT COFFEE
- Heat milk using milk frother, stovetop or microwave
- While milk is heating, brew coffee
- Combine hot milk, peppermint extract, and hot coffee. Stir well.
FOR ICED COFFEE
- Combine chocolate milk, cold coffee and peppermint extract in a glass.
- Stir well and add ice.
Notes
For non-dairy version, substitute plant-based milk (almond, soy, coconut) plus a tablespoon of cacao powder and your sweetener of choice (monkfruit, stevia, sugar).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: recipe
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: coffee drink, mocha, peppermint, peppermint mocha, healthy drink, breakfast drink, Starbucks, Starbucks copycat