How to Make A Homemade Peppermint Mocha

One thing that has kept me going (quite literally) during this busy week is the peppermint mocha.  Last weekend I had a couple of the McCafe Peppermint Mochas when they were on sale for $1, and I was totally hooked.  They are so darn tasty! It got me thinking, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to make a homemade peppermin mocha?

In fact, you could say I’ve become obsessed.  So imagine my dismay when I pulled through one of our local McDonalds drive thru’s and ordered a small peppermint mocha only to be informed, “We don’t have McCafe items at this location.”  Wha—–???  (For any of the locals reading this, it was the Coldbrook location, so don’t go there looking for fancy coffee)

I think what upset me the most is that I had to cross traffic to get to McDonalds, and had to cross again to get back on the road, and as anyone familiar with the area knows, it’s a terrible place to have to do that (of course all you city folk would laugh at my idea of a busy road, but I digress).

As I drove home thinking about how much I wanted a peppermint mocha, a realization came to me.  There might not be a McCafe in Coldbrook, but there is one at Cafe McFevens!

Just last week McCafe sent me a bag of their new McCafe Premium Medium Roast take home coffee and a mug that was just sitting there waiting to be brewed.

Oh yes.

So my friends, I’ve done the hard part for you and taste tested this recipe on numerous occasions throughout the week, and while it’s still not quite as good as the official McCafe peppermint mocha, it will certainly fill the void 🙂

Did I mention it’s dead easy?

Homemade Peppermint Mocha

Brew a cup of your favourite coffee (obviously I’ve been using the McCafe Premium Medium Roast which I really, really like), before adding coffee put 1 1/2-2 Tbsp of hot chocolate mix (I use Nestle Carnation Hot Chocolate mix, but any will do) into the bottom of your mug, then add the coffee.  Next add approximately 1/8 tsp of pure peppermint extract (available in the spice/baking section of any grocery store) and mix to combine.

If you are really fancy you can whip up some real whipped cream to top your mocha, or you can do what I did and top your mocha with some of the faux-whipped cream (in this case Cool Whip), or enjoy it au natural without the whipped topper.

Clearly I need to get some of those little candy cane sprinkles to put on top to make it look “official” but I’m still pretty happy with the result 🙂

If you are interested in purchasing the McCafe Premium Roast take-home coffee you can do so at all participating McDonald’s locations across Canada.

Disclaimer: I was provided the McCafe mug and coffee as compensation for my review.  All thoughts and opinions in this post are 100% my own, nor was I asked to come up with a recipe to share, I simply wanted share my peppermint mocha love with you all 🙂