Homemade Coffee Drinks

For better or for worse, people drink coffee!

Nowadays we don’t just drink coffee with cream and sugar.  We drink all sorts of yummy concoctions with various layers of flavors and textures.

Oftentimes when we want to meet with a friend, whether we drink coffee or not, we’ll say, “Let’s meet for coffee”.

Yes, coffee is definitely woven into the fibers of our culture.

My husband and I started drinking coffee a couple years ago.  I guess we hit mid-life crisis and just felt something was missing… or maybe it was because we started raising a teenager… or maybe we just felt a bit left out while our friends sipped on their mugs of delight.

You will discover the smell of coffee in our home from time to time, and we will even stop to pick up a special treat here and there when we are out.  When our niece lived with us over the past four years, sometimes we would just drive somewhere to get a coffee when the kids went to bed – just to be together, sans children.  Now she is away at college.

I wanted to find a way to make delectable coffee treats at home, so we could save a bit of change and also create special moments at home for the two of us.

Enter homemade café mochas and lattes… With the cold weather upon us, you’ll find these to be a comfort to the taste buds and to the soul.

Café Mocha
serves 2
printable version

Heat in pot on stove:

2 cups hot, brewed coffee
1 cup milk
1/4 cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips
1 t vanilla

Stir regularly.  Mocha is ready when the chocolate chips are thoroughly melted, and the mocha is hot throughout.

 

No Machine Latte Recipe for Two
source:  http://latterecipe.net/ 
These servings are fairly small so you may want to consider increasing the amounts if you are serving two people.

1 1/2 cups Milk: whole or 2%
1/4 t Vanilla
4 teaspoons Honey or Sugar
1/2 cup Extra Strong Hot Coffee
Optional Whipped Cream
Desired syrups or toppings

Heat your milk until its really hot, but don’t let it scald.  Stir continually as you heat it.

Put all your ingredients except the coffee in your blender. Blend for a couple minutes, until the milk is frothy.

Pour half of the whipped mixture into each of the coffee mugs.

Then add the hot, freshly brewed coffee to both.

Add syrups and toppings if desired.

*If you want to make a mocha latte, just add chocolate syrup instead of the sugar.

*You can skip using the blender if you continually whisk your milk as it is heating, until it is hot and frothy.  I use a small whisk, and it works really well!