Coffee Recipes to Die For

Who doesn't like a nice freshly made coffee? Whether you drink lattes, mochas, cappuchinos, espressos, tall blacks or something completely different you'll know that there's nothing more satisfying that the aroma of the coffee as you pick up your cup followed by the comforting taste as you sip your first sip.

I'm going to share some delicious specialty coffee recipes with you that I've discovered on my journey of making delicious coffees at home for myself and my friends to enjoy. From decadent mochas to nutty lattes I hope you'll find a recipe that you really enjoy here and feel free to share you own recipes too.

Homemade Coffee Recipes for You

There are some absolutely gorgeous coffee recipes here that will win over even the most ardent of tea drinkers – yes we’re converting everyone to coffee with these simply delicious recipes!

I love coffee, but flavored coffees and specialty coffees always seem even better to me than the usual cup you make at home – it’s like a special little treat when you grab a caramel latte or a peppermint mocha.

There are coffee recipes that have a little alcohol added and then there’s the coffee drinks that are safe to drink any time of the day whether you’re working, playing or whatever! I've included both hot coffee recipes and iced coffee recipes so let’s look at what you’d like to sample first.

One of the easiest ways to add a little flavour burst to your regular coffee is by using a syrup and if you’re a Starbucks fan then you’ll be glad to know that you can now buy their actual syrups online right here on Amazon.

Vanilla, Hazelnut and Peppermint are all delicious examples of Starbuck's flavors, but I want to mention Raspberry and Caramel briefly. The caramel syrup is a must for making a gorgeous caramel latte, but have you tried using it in a classic mocha? It adds another layer of creamy richness which is (as the title of this article suggests) to die for!

As far as the Raspberry syrup goes you'll not only need it for my delicious Jam Donut Latte, but it also adds a lovely twist to a mocha, perfect for after dinner drinks.

Now Starbucks aren't the only ones who make syrups though so experiment with a few different brands or even make your own syrups to add a little 'je ne sais pas' to your cup of java. Personally I love the Alchemy Coffee Syrups in both the butterscotch and the irish cream flavors – delicious, unfortunately they only seem to be available in Australia.

Now I used to just add the syrup into my coffee after I made it and gave it a bit of a stir around, but apparently there’s actually a technique for getting a barista tasting coffee at home using syrups which I’ll reveal to you now –

Pour your syrup into the cup first, next add your espresso and steamed milk (if you have milk), next using a teaspoon lift the syrup up from the bottom and stir in before adding any foam or cream on the top.

Essential for Making Caramel Chocolate Lattes!

I love Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Murder Mysteries and one of the things I really enjoy is that she also puts the recipes from the story in the back of the books which is great and I want to share one recipe from them which is for a caramel-chocolate syrup which is the basis for the delicious sounding caramel chocolate lattes served in the book Latte Trouble. At the time of writing I can’t find this recipe on the official website which you can find here - The Virtual Village Blend - so I’m going to add it here.

You will need –

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup light karo syrup

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

8 oz milk chocolate

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) salted butter

Step one is to combine the cream, karo syrup, sugars and salt into a non-stick saucepan and stir over a medium heat until mixture is smooth.

Step two is to bring it to a rolling boil and maintain this for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally in order to stop it from burning (burnt caramel really won’t impart the same flavour!)

Step three is to use a separate saucepan to melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring until smooth.

Step four is to pour the chocolate mixture into the saucepan with the caramel syrup and stir over heat until the syrup is smooth.

This makes approximately 2 cups of syrup which equates to a lot of caramel-chocolate lattes or the book does say this is also very nice over ice cream which leads me to think I should try it both ways just for research of course!

Store in a plastic squeezy bottle in the fridge, that way when you’re making up coffees for your friends you can look the part of a super cool barista as you squirt your syrup into their cups! You actually use this syrup when it’s warm and the easiest way to do this is to simply place the bottle into a warm water bath before you need to use it.

I mentioned using syrups to flavor your coffee further up the page and all of the specialty latte recipes that I've come across incorporate different syrups to impart a different taste to your coffee.

Cowboy Latte

This is one of my own inventions and was inspired by a (insert a name you wouldn't use in polite company) Cowboy cocktail that I was introduced to when I lived in Darwin.

1 tbsp Butterscotch Syrup

1 tbsp Irish Cream flavored Syrup

1 shot espresso

Steamed milk

Add the syrups to the bottom of the cup and then put your shot of espresso in and top up with your steamed milk. Stir the flavors in by using a lifting action to 'pull' the syrup up and through the coffee. I usually add more foam on top after I've stirred the flavors in.

Vanilla Latte

This is probably the most common specialty latte that I see get ordered in cafes and you simply need to cover the base of the cup with vanilla syrup before following the steps above.

Latte Nocciuola or Hazelnut Latte

This is another popular latte and as above you follow the same steps using hazelnut syrup on the bottom.

Jam Donut Latte

Another of my own recipes is the Jam Donut Latte and this came about after I had a liqueur coffee that was flavored with Chambord and tasted delicious. I then saw that you could get raspberry coffee syrup and the rest was history as they say (this is quite a sweet coffee).

1 tbsp raspberry syrup

1 tbsp Irish Cream syrup

1 shot espresso

Steamed milk

First pop the two syrups into the bottom of the cup, next add your espresso followed with your steamed milk. Stir, lifting up from the bottom and add some extra foam on the top - delicious.

I must admit that I've seen some lovely sounding coffee syrups available such as gingerbread, cinnamon and pumpkin spice and I'm sure these would make delicious lattes as well it's just a case of adding to your different syrups and trying them on their own or in combination with each other.

Coffee & Chocolate - A Combination Made in Heaven!

My personal favourite coffee at the moment is a mocha and it’s what I generally order when I’m at a coffee shop, but that’s just my chocoholic side conspiring with my coffee side!

Chocolate and coffee really are a great combination as they seem to intensify each other’s flavors which results in absolute heaven in a coffee cup.

Decadent Mocha

Most mocha recipes that I've come across usually call for drinking chocolate powder or a chocolate syrup, but not this one – we’re using real chocolate and it is delicious –

1 cup freshly made espresso

60 finely chopped dark chocolate

whipped cream (I like to use a sweetened whipped cream - I usually make my own by adding vanilla and sugar to thickened cream and whipping)

Pour the espresso into a saucepan and pop in the chocolate - put on a low heat and stir until the chocolate is completely melted (3-4 minutes). Pour the mocha mixture into your cup and add the cream on top - a little shaved chocolate is another nice touch if you're making this for company.

Cinnamon Mocha

Now I must admit I’m not a huge cinnamon fan, but it does go very well with coffee and I know a number of my friends love to get cinnamon sprinkled onto their cappuccinos which is why I decided to give this recipe a go. It was a huge hit with one of my friends in particular, personally I preferred this one cold and it’s nice to have a recipe that can be used for both a hot drink and a cold drink.

9 oz milk chocolate, broken into pieces

¾ cup light cream

4 ½ cups freshly brewed black coffee

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Whipped cream to decorate

First you need to melt the chocolate and the easiest way of doing this without burning it is to place it in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add the light cream in with the chocolate and keep stirring until the chocolate is fully melted and the mixture is lovely and smooth.

Now you need to add the coffee and cinnamon whisking them together until foamy - pour into mugs and top with whipped cream if you're serving this cinnamon mocha hot. If you want to serve this coffee cold then simply let it cool and then keep it in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve - again decorate with whipped cream.

This recipe serves six so it's great if you have a few friends coming over or if you're just making it for a couple you can enjoy it hot and then try the cold version later on - that's what I did the first time I made this.

Spiced Mocha Coffee

This is another one using cinnamon and I think it’s one I’ll keep in mind for when I have people over unexpected as it’s certainly a lot quicker and easier to whip up than the one above.

½ tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp drinking chocolate powder

1 double shot (60ml) hot espresso coffee

2/3 cup milk, steamed

Drinking chocolate powder for garnish.

Simply place the ground cinnamon and chocolate powder in the bottom of a cup, add the hot coffee and stir to combine all of the flavors. Add the milk and dust the top with the remaining powder for a garnish – alternatively you could add grated chocolate or ground cinnamon instead.

There are also a number of mocha style recipes that include alcohol so be sure to check out the link above – I have to tell you that the Nuts and Berries Mocha Espresso is especially out of this world in flavor.

Now for a recipe that’s a little different for you, but it still has chocolate and coffee so I’m adding it under this banner. Now for full disclosure I haven’t actually tried this recipe yet and I’m not really sure that I will be, although if my hubby were a coffee drinker I’m sure he would give it a go (I’m married to a tea drinker).

Hotpresso

500ml whipping cream

80 ml chocolate syrup

10 ml chocolate sauce

1 drop of tabasco

45 ml espresso

Some chocolate powder

First you need to whip the whipping cream and chocolate syrup together (you can use a whipped cream maker for ease).

Then add the chocolate sauce to the base of an espresso cup until it is well covered before drizzling a drop of tabasco over the chocolate.

Next add the espresso and finally top with the chocolate whipped cream to serve.

Peppermint Mocha

I do like the flavors of mint and chocolate combined so it should come as no surprise that I like a peppermint mocha and there's actually a couple of different ways of making this. The quick and easy version is to get some peppermint syrup and add it to the bottom of the cup when you're making your usual mocha (whether using the decadent recipe above, chocolate powder or syrup). The other way is what I think of as Candy Cane Coffee and is a recipe from Maxwell House - this recipe makes 8 coffees so it's ideal over the holidays when the house is full!

6 cups freshly brewed coffee (obviously Maxwell House recommend their own, but if I'm using an instant coffee I would use Nescafe's Espresso)

4 squares (1 oz each) semi-sweet chocolate

1 1/2 cups hot milk

1 tsp peppermint extract

8 peppermint sticks - I use candy canes instead

Pour the coffee into a saucepan and add the chocolate - cook on a low heat stirring regularly until the chocolate is all melted. Now add the milk and peppermint extract and stir well before pouring into the cups to serve and garnishing each cup with a candy cane.

Delicious Alternative for the Summer Months

Now I'm going to let you in on a little secret - I didn't try an iced coffee until I was 30! I'm not sure why, it was just something I never thought about ordering - do you want to know what changed? Darwin, Australia! I was living there and it was hot and humid and the girls at the office went out for iced coffees - I was addicted and I think I more than made up for those 3 decades without iced coffees in the 18 months I lived there!

There are some delicious iced coffee recipes that you can enjoy right here -

Classic Iced Coffee

This recipe serves two so is perfect when a friend pops around for a chat - I actually doubled the recipe when I had three friends over and it worked really well as it meant I could use my single cup coffee machine to make a really nice cup of espresso for us to use. Anyway, you will need-

1/2 cup espresso coffee

2 teaspoons castor sugar

1 cup milk

6 ice cubes

4 scoops vanilla ice cream

Place the coffee and sugar in a jug and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the milk to your coffee and stir to combine. Next divide the ice cubes and ice cream between the two glasses and finally pour the coffee mixture in and serve. I usually also sprinkle grated chocolate over the top, but that's just because I love chocolate and so do most of my friends!

The coffee should be freshly made for best results and leaving it in the glasses to allow the ice and ice cream to melt will bring down the temperature naturally for you.

Iced Mint Coffee

The use of mint in this recipe really adds another element of coolness making this a really refreshing summer coffee recipe. You will need -

1/4 cup coffee (the original recipe I found recommended Jamaican Blue Mountain)

2 cups water

1/2 cup mint choc chip ice cream

1 tbsp chocolate mint syrup

3-5 ice cubes

Whipped Cream

Brew the 2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and then chill in the refrigerator. Next add the chilled coffee, syrup, ice cream and ice cubes into a blender and blend until smooth. Finally pour your iced coffee into a glass and top with whipped cream. As a side note if I know I'm having friends over I'll buy a mint Aero of mint Flake (chocolate bars) and roughly chop them up to sprinkle over the cream - it just adds some more indulgence to your drink!

Nutella Iced Coffee

This uses instant coffee granules, but if you love the hazelnutty flavor of nutella you can overlook that!

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp instant coffee (I use Nescafe Espresso as it's a stronger flavor than the Classic Blend my dad favors - in other words one I have to keep on hand!)

4 tsp nutella

1 tbsp sugar

1 cup ice

whipped cream, chocolate syrup and cocoa powder

Pop your milk, vanilla extract, coffee, sugar, ice and nutella into a blender and blend well. Take your glass and swirl some chocolate syrup around inside of it (it looks good as well as adding to the flavor), now pour your iced coffee into your cup and top with the whipped cream and dust with cocoa powder - delicious!

Coffee Recipe Books

If you still want more coffee recipes then check out these books - they also make a great gift idea for any coffee loving friend.