Chocolate Chai Latte

Mug of spiced Masala Chocolate Chai with a cinnamon stick and whipped cream topping.

5 from 4 votes

This Starbucks-inspired Chocolate Chai Latte is a delicious cup of spiced Hot Chocolate: aromatic from the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, and super creamy and warming, it's done in under 10 minutes! The perfect cosy drink for fall or winter.

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American, Fusion

Calories: 1040kcal

Author: Zen

Ingredients

Chai Spices

1 Ceylon Cinnamon Stick Not to be confused with Cassia Cinnamon
7 cloves You can substitute all the spices with a Chai Tea bag (If you don't mind a caffeinated hot chocolate.)
12 green cardamoms
1 Star anise
¾ teaspoon black peppercorns
¼-½ teaspoon green fennel
¼ coriander seeds

Chocolate Chai Tea Latte

2 Cups Water
1 Cup heavy cream Substitute: 2 Cups whole milk + 3 Tablespoons whipped cream
2-8 Tablespoons unsweetened, Dutch cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon vanilla essence or extract Add this before the sweetener as vanilla can be used as a sugar substitute
1.5 Tablespoons sugar Substitute: honey, simple syrup, chai syrup, brown sugar syrup or maple syrup.
Pinch of salt to enhance the flavor, optional

Instructions

Bash the whole spices with the back of a knife or rolling pin, then toast them in a dry pan till fragrant.
Note: if using ginger, don't add till the milk and water have come to a boil, to avoid curdling the ginger
Add the water and boil for 5 minutes on medium-high or high heat. If adding tea, switch off the fire after boiling, add the tea, cover and steep the tea for 3-5 minutes.
Bring the fire back to medium or medium-low, then add 1 Cup of heavy cream (or 2 Cups of half-and-half/whole milk, and stir in 3 Tablespoons of whipped cream after the liquid has started steaming.)
Gently heat till steaming but not boiling. You don't want the temperature to be more than 200F (but honestly, using a food thermometer here is just overkill! Watch for steam rising above your pot- once you see it, it's time to turn the heat down slightly.)
Whisk in your desired amount of cocoa powder. The more you use, the stronger the chocolate flavor will be (but the more sweetener you will need to use, and the more whisking you will need to do. I've even used 8 Tablespoons previously!)
Stir in the vanilla, then sweeten to taste and stir in the pinch of salt (if using)
Pour the drink into a heat-proof mug through a sieve, so that you can get rid of the whole spices. (They're probably good for another boil though, if you're the budgeting sort.)
Spritz on the whipped cream and decorate with marshmallows, cocoa nibs and cinnamon sticks. Dust cinnamon or cocoa powder and brown sugar on top.

Notes

Spices

The spices and quantities in the recipe card are suggestions. Omit the ones you don't like and add more of the ones you do! You can also add others such as nutmeg, mace, white pepper, ginger, cayenne pepper etc

For variations of this Chai Latte, see the post above.

Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its accuracy.

Nutrition