Homemade Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha

I have to admit.. and this is probably shocking to hear.. but I make AWUL coffee. Like many of my other kitchen-skills I acquired from my grandmother, I also make really shitty-dish pan water-coffee to.

I don’t really LOVE coffee, I mean I like coffee and enjoy a special mug of fun fancy coffee, but when it comes to basic, first thing in the morning coffee, Meh. I drink coffee many mornings but really it’s because a mug of hot coffee is one of the few things that I have of my very own to enjoy.

Ray doesn’t drink coffee, Hercules doesn’t beg for coffee… I don’t have to make it for anyone but myself and no one drinks my cup of coffee when I’m not looking.

For the past several years when I wanted a cup of coffee at home I relied on my keurig machine (I know, gross, right? Not only are the full of mold but they are totally damaging to the enviroment with their disposible cups). And most recently I’ve been using a stainless steel french press with freshly ground coffee.

Neither produced the type of coffee I wanted. I didn’t want generic brewed cups of plain coffee from my keurig and well, I never completely figured out the perfect ratio for using my french press.

Enter the Ninja Coffee Bar

It was love at first sight. I couldn’t stop thinking abou it.

I sold my keurig on craigslist and donated my french press before my Ninja Coffee Bar arrived – that’s how certain I was that I would be falling hard and fast for it!

When my Ninja Coffee Bar arrived, I will admit that there is a little bit of a learning curve. It’s important to read through the manual and also the recipes that comes with it. For example a regular cup of coffee is rather small, so you’ll probably want to stick to the travel mug size if you are making a specialty brew – for delicious latte style drinks like this Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha.

Sh*t just got real – who wants to one over for a coffee this afternoon?? I’m thinking White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha! #nutrininja #ninjacoffeebar

A photo posted by Hayley Ryczek (@healthstartsinthekitchen) on Nov 9, 2015 at 11:14am PST

After using my Ninja Coffee Bar for over a month, I can happily share that it’s proven to be EVERTHING and MORE. It’s has certainly exceeded my expectations.

6 Reasons I Love my Ninja Coffee Bar

1. You use regular ground coffee – no more environment destroying plastic individual cups or specialty coffee!

2. You choose your brew strength and amount of coffee – Classic, Rich, Specialty Brew or Over Ice – the sky is the limit! You can brew a full or 1/2 carafe (that come with it), travel mug or cups of coffee of your choosing.

3. Wake up to freshly brewed coffee with the delayed start – This week instead of making a cup of frothy milk specialty brew cups of coffee, I’ve been prepping the battlefield the night before with a 1/2 carafe of coffee waiting for me when I wake up in the morning – what a delight!

Who else is having #RawMilk (or cream) in their coffee this morning??? #rawordontbother #rawisbest #wapf #primal

A photo posted by Hayley Ryczek (@healthstartsinthekitchen) on Dec 22, 2015 at 6:30am PST

4. Have I mentioned the Over Ice function? Yeah, it’s killer. Honestly. You brew fresh hot coffee (in the perfect strength) straight into a glass of ice for iced-coffee-perfection without any hassle at all!

Guess what?!? I’m FASTING again! Starting today I’m doing a complete (water) fast, which means water, mineral water, a little black coffee & tea only for the next 10 days. While I don’t drink much caffeine/coffee, my day 1 struggle is frustration with having nothing to make/eat (when I’m a food/cooking obsessed person) so I’m treating myself to an iced black coffee in my @ninjacoffeebar but I’m not going to have coffee/caffeine through my entire fast. I’m not a coffee/caffeine addict so I don’t worry much about having an occasional cup. #fasting I’ve completed several over fasts/detoxes over the years but this is my first zero calorie/complete fast… Recently I’ve completed a 10 day complete + bone broth fast.

A photo posted by Hayley Ryczek (@healthstartsinthekitchen) on Nov 16, 2015 at 7:53am PST

5. It’s the little things – I’m beyond impressed with the extras that came with my Ninja Coffee Bar that make, making coffee so much easier, especially the special coffee scooper that has little icons to show you how much ground coffee to use based on the cup size your brewing – no guess work, no measuring. BOOM. It also comes with a wonderful manual frothier that works great too!

6. The water resivour is amazing, you can make servers cups of coffee without adding water for each individual cup.

My homemade peppermint White Chocolate mocha is delicious!! (Not 100% healthy but still healthier than Starbucks!) #ninjacoffeebar #coffee #mocha

A photo posted by Hayley Ryczek (@healthstartsinthekitchen) on Nov 10, 2015 at 4:37am PST

Now, that I’ve sung the praises of my Ninja Coffee Bar I want to explain the one tiny issue I had, but don’t worry it’s not a big deal. If you’re desiring to make specialty coffees with frothy, foamy milk – no worry it comes with a manual frothier for it – however you’ll need to heat your milk, which if you don’t a have  microwave (like me) you’ll need to heat your milk in a pot on the stove which was a little tedious. However it wasn’t a big deal and didn’t prevent me from making beautifully delicious frothy milk, and is actually an essential step to making this White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha!

❤️❤️❤️ fresh ground coffee, frothy milk and a splash of homemade vanilla syrup @ninjacoffeebar

A photo posted by Hayley Ryczek (@healthstartsinthekitchen) on Dec 14, 2015 at 6:36am PST

So, if you (like me) are microwave-less, plan to make specialty coffees with frothy milk but don’t want the hassle of heating milk stove top, grab an automatic frothier like THIS ONE that I bought and use it instead of the manual frothing process. (you can see my milk frother on the right side/back in the IG photo above) I initially thought it was a needless expense, until I used it at 6 am to make a vanilla  latte and I was like, yeah this was worth every damn-penny! Love.

Homemade Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha + Ninja Coffee Bar Giveaway

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Servings: 1 Serving

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Whole Milk or coconut milk
• 2* ounces organic white chocolate
• 1 teaspoon organic peppermint candies ground
• 1 cup Ninja Coffee Bar - specialty brew - travel mug size

Instructions

• Over medium/low heat, combine milk, white chocolate and pepper mint candies in a small sauce pan. Whisk until melted and combined. Bring to a simmer. Turn off heat.
• Brew 1 serving of Specialty Brewed Coffee using your Ninja Coffee Bar (I suggest 3 ninja scoops of ground coffee)
• While your coffee is brewing, transfer warm milk mixture to your ninja frother and pump 15-20 times to froth.
• Add frothed milk to coffee and enjoy immediately - top with whipped cream and additional ground peppermint candies, if desired.

Notes

2 ounces of white chocolate makes a pretty sweet beverage which although it tastes delicious,  I have since reduced mine to just 1 ounce because it's just sweet enough - and that makes me feel healthier 🙂

Tried this recipe?Mention @HealthStartsinthekitchen or tag #HealthStartsInTheKitchen!