White Chocolate Mocha Latte

Creamy, delicious, and JUST like the Starbucks version, this White Chocolate Mocha Latte will cure all your sweet caffeine needs!

I am by no means a morning person (just ask my kids…), but when I’ve got a delicious latte in hand, I’m like a whole new person. I love a good Starbucks latte, but what I love even more is a good Starbucks COPYCAT recipe and this White Chocolate Mocha Latte recipe is the best.

You get all the deliciousness of a specialty coffee drink without breaking the bank (and without changing out of your pajamas)! Once I’ve got this delicious mocha latte in hand, I can focus on starting my family’s day with a hearty breakfast like this super easy Breakfast Casserole – I’m caffeinated, my kids are fed, it’s going to be a great day!

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA LATTE
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I am absolutely one of those “no talking to me before my morning cup of coffee” kind of people. I promise you, it’s for your own good. It’s just not a pretty sight.

But I am also one of those people who never “matured” to drinking black coffee. I just can’t stomach it, it’s too bitter!

That’s why the baristas at my local Starbucks knew me by name (as did the baristas at my backup Starbucks for when I was on the other side of town… embarrassing, I know).  There was a time where I would roll out of bed every morning and drive to Starbucks and order up one of their fancy, delicious espresso drinks.

But, I quickly learned that my bank account HATED me for that habit. So, I took it upon myself to figure out how to make some of those yummy coffee drinks at home. I was SO surprised at how easy it is to make my favorite Starbucks mocha latte at home. Now I can be a pleasant morning person AND not spend my entire paycheck on fancy coffees!

What is in a Mocha Latte from Starbucks?

Ok, so this latte recipe is slightly different from the white chocolate mocha latte Starbucks makes, but I think that this mocha latte is better for many reasons (including how cheap it is to make!!!). You only need a few simple ingredients to make yourself a delicious, easy copycat white chocolate mocha latte!

Strong Coffee – in the Starbucks mocha latte, there are 2 shots of espresso. Now, if you’ve got yourself a fancy espresso machine at home, go ahead and use that (and by all means, call yourself a barista!). But, I’ve found that for my purposes, strongly brewed coffee works just as well!

White Chocolate Chips – at Starbucks, they use their white chocolate mocha sauce to give this latte it’s decadent flavor. I love to switch up coffee flavorings every day, so buying a whole carton of white chocolate sauce just doesn’t make sense for me. Instead, I melt white chocolate chips into milk to get that same delicious flavor!

Milk –  as with any latte, you’ll need some form of milk to finish off your mocha latte. I prefer to use whole milk because it gives my drink a deliciously rich flavor that makes me feel like I’m sipping a fancy latte at a coffee shop in Paris. But, if you’re looking to cut a few calories out of your white chocolate mocha latte, go ahead and use your favorite type of milk!

How to Make a Mocha Latte

Ready to get your caffeine fix in a delicious and EASY way? Here’s how you whip up a copycat Starbucks Mocha Latte!

1. Start by grabbing a small saucepan and putting the burner on medium-low heat. Heat up your milk (I use whole milk, but you can use whatever fat content you’d like!)  and white chocolate chips over med-low heat until melted. Make sure you are stirring constantly, you don’t want your white chocolate chips to burn to the bottom of the pan!
2. Next, brew espresso or strong coffee. I personally use my Keurig to brew up some strong coffee for my mocha latte. I brew on the 6oz setting to get the coffee super strong and made it twice to equal the 12 ounces needed for this mocha latte recipe.
3. Now, divide your milk & chocolate mixture evenly between two cups and add in your strong coffee.
4. Top with a generous amount of whipped cream and enjoy!

If you’re more of an iced mocha latte person (or you’re reading this post in the dead heat of summer), you can totally make this recipe the cold way! All you have to do is let your ingredients cool down a bit, then pour your latte over ice. It’s important to cool down your coffee and milk/chocolate mixture first because if you pour them over ice when they’re still hot, your mocha latte will be watered down and not nearly as delicious!

Mocha vs. Latte

Mocha, latte, cappuccino, frappuccino, americano, the list of specialty coffee drinks goes on and on! I have to admit that when I look at a Starbucks menu I am definitely overwhelmed by all the choices. The thing about these coffee drinks is that they are all SUPER similar with slight tweaks to their ingredients.

Two of the most similar drinks are a mocha and a latte. Both drinks start with a base of espresso (or in our homemade mocha latte recipe strong coffee) and milk of some sort.

A latte is a lightly flavored coffee drink made with frothed milk, steamed milk, and espresso. A mocha recipe is much like a latte, but typically made with a higher ratio of espresso to milk as well as some kind of yummy chocolate (because chocolate and coffee is an amazing combo…).

Here are some of my other favorite coffee shop recipes that you can make at HOME!

• Homemade Hot Chocolate
• Copycat Starbucks Pink Drink
• Iced Caramel Macchiato
• Crock Pot Pumpkin Spice Latte
• Homemade Vanilla Chai 
• more DRINK recipes…

Tools used to make this White Chocolate Mocha Latte recipe

Saucepan: I use this small saucepan for SO many recipes. It’s definitely a staple in my kitchen.

Glass Mugs: when you’re making a drink as scrumptious as this mocha latte, you need a beautiful mug to drink it from!

*This post originally posted on 10/31/2014.