Quick Gingerbread Latte (no syrup!)

A gingerbread latte is fast and easy to make at home! Without any pricey special ingredients or syrups, you can make this a healthy latte recipe or a more indulgent treat. You can even adapt it for special diets using the suggested substitutions! Always gluten free and grain free, you can make it refined sugar free, totally sugar free, dairy free, and more.

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Do you enjoy a seasonally flavored latte now and then?

If you, like me, like to have a special coffee drink once in awhile, here is a good way to do that. Better yet, you need not make a special trip to a coffee shop (though that can be fun!), and you don’t need to pay a crazy price, or consume ingredients you really don’t want.

If you follow any sort of special diet, you can easily adapt this gingerbread latte recipe using the suggestions I will share. This is an easy, quick technique. In fact, it is so simple, it is hardly even a recipe! No need to fuss around with making a syrup first, or going out to find some special ingredients that might be hard to find or on the expensive side.

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Is a commercial gingerbread latte that bad for me?

Well, maybe it is not that big a deal to have one once a year. Especially if you are in excellent health and don’t need to follow any special diet or restrictions.

A lot of us aren’t in perfect health, though. Or maybe we are on a have special diet for one reason or another. Sometimes both.

Or maybe you are bursting with health and vitality, and you want to stay that way!

It is a tad difficult to pin down exact nutritional information in commercial gingerbread lattes. You could order different sizes, various options for the milk part, different numbers of syrup pumps, assorted toppings…

Another confounder is that allergen information is sometimes lacking, depending on the company. Sometimes you can find out exactly what is in the latte, and what ingredients it may have come into contact with. Other times, it is hard to find those details out. This can be a big deal if you need to strictly avoid dairy, or soy, or gluten, or something else!

The ingredients list, if you can find it, may give you pause– preservatives, “natural flavor” (this can be all sorts of things, some of which are far from natural), gut-irritating gums and thickeners, and other processed mysteries.

Then there is the sugar! Gingerbread is sweet, so of course the gingerbread latte is sweetened. But have you seen how sweet it is?! Really sweet. To the tune of 33 grams of sugar in this particular version!

A Healthy Gingerbread Latte Recipe

This is just barely a recipe! It is really simple. Coffee, spices, sweetener (optional), and dairy or dairy substitute (keep reading for options!). You could make this every day!

How healthy is it? It depends on how you make it, and the quality of your ingredients, but you can do pretty well.

Coffee

You probably wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t occasionally consume coffee. We could go down a rabbit hole of coffee’s good and bad sides, and which coffee you should buy, and so on. There is plenty to consider.

However, a good quality of coffee can offer at least some health benefits. These may include antioxidants (which protect our cells), support for our livers, hearts, and brains, reducing risk of diabetes, and cancer, and more. Read more here about the good and bad of coffee.

You can experiment with different coffee options. It will work fine with decaf coffee, and you could try it with chicory coffee, dandelion coffee, mushroom coffee, or other coffee substitutes. I haven’t tried those. It won’t work with instant coffee.

Spices

The spices typically included in gingerbread are as good for us as they are delicious!

Ginger is anti-inflammatory, good for digestion, and fights cancer and diabetes, among many other benefits.

Cinnamon is full of good news for our bodies, including managing inflammation and blood sugar, protecting us from heart disease, cancer, and infections and viruses, supporting brain function and blood sugar balance, and more.

Cloves also help us with immune related health, reducing pain, and much more.

Nutmeg does good things for heart, brain, digestion, and more, including sleep.

Milk

“Latte” refers to milk. It can be very nourishing milk, or not all all supportive of our health. It’s up to you!

You can also enjoy this gingerbread latte recipe without any sort of milk at all, making it more of a gingerbread flavored coffee.

Sweetener

I enjoy this latte very much without any sweetening at all! Totally unsweetened, there is loads of flavor and the latte is quite enjoyable in its more savory form. Cinnamon has a bit of sweetness without sugar, so it isn’t exactly savory.

If you aren’t used to a latte without sugar, you might want to start with a little sweetener. I will offer suggestions…

Alternatively, train yourself to enjoy coffee without any sweetness! It is surprising how we can train our tastes into new directions. Foods and drinks I used to enjoy now taste far too sweet to me, while ones with little to no sugar are just perfect. You can retrain your taste! It takes some time, though.

While you can enjoy a gingerbread latte without any form of sugar, a little bit can also be great! Molasses is the obvious choice, since it forms part of the traditional gingerbread flavor. Honey or maple syrup work also if you want a fairly natural sweetener. A sugar substitute that you know you do well with can work. Or you can just use sugar.

How to Make a Gingerbread Latte the Easiest Way

Most gingerbread lattes rely on a a syrup for the flavor and sweetness. You make strong coffee or espresso, and add hot milk and the desired amount of gingerbread syrup. Easy enough! And still easy if you make your own syrup first.

This is even easier. No syrup, and no gritty spices floating around.

First, measure out your coffee of choice. Opt for a fairly strong brew, since the milk will dilute the coffee, depending on how much you add. I use 1/4-1/3 cup ground coffee for 2-3 people and add cream or half and half rather than milk.

To the coffee grounds, add the gingerbread spices. I use a teaspoon of ground ginger, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, and about 1/4 teaspoon (sometimes a little more) cloves and nutmeg. Of course, you could make it stronger or weaker.

Make the coffee however you normally do. I use a stainless steel French press. It is easy to clean and (I hope) relatively low in toxins. (I use an older version of this one and expect it to last for many more years.)

I have done this in a drip coffee maker and as a pour over as well. It works fine any of these ways. No, the machine won’t overflow!

Once the coffee is ready, add your sweetener and cream or milk. Stir them in and you are ready!

If you want your gingerbread latte to seem a little fancier, your can use a frother, a whisk, or a blender to make it a little foamy. I rarely do this, but once in awhile I use my immersion blender for a few seconds so there is a little foam on top. Like this:

Of course, you could top with whipped cream, more frothed milk, whipped coconut cream, Russian custard, or even ice cream for different effects. You can also sprinkle on some more spices if desired.

What can I use for the milk?

You have options for the dairy portion. You can just have the coffee black if you prefer, or try:

• regular milk– I like raw milk!
• cream
• half and half
• any alternative milk you normally like in coffee– coconut, oat, almond, etc.
• a commercial creamer you like that fits your diet
• cultured cream– this is a GAPS friendly alternative that will require enthusiastic blending– I used an immersion blender and added honey because it was, understandably, rather sour
• an egg yolk or two blended vigorously into the coffee– I whiz egg yolk into hot coffee with an immersion blender for a creamy, slightly foamy not-latte– GAPS friendly and dairy free!

If you use any sort of milk, you will need more than if you use any type of cream or egg yolk. Up to half the mixture could be milk, depending on how strong you want your latte. If you want to make a strong latte with plenty of milk, start by making espresso rather than coffee.

If you use cream, half and half, cultured cream, or the egg yolk option a couple of tablespoons will be about right.

Can I have this on the GAPS diet?

Well, it isn’t particularly GAPS friendly because of the coffee! Coffee isn’t really a GAPS food, though well into healing you might have some weak coffee.

Which isn’t very appealing…

If you do consume coffee while on the GAPS diet, you can make this less of a “GAPS cheat” by sticking with honey or no sweetener and either cultured cream or egg yolks for the dairy portion.

Now you can make the world’s simplest gingerbread latte at home for very little money and to suit your dietary needs and preferences!

Also, try my pumpkin spice latte recipe! It is made the same simple way!