Gingerbread Latte (Starbucks Copycat) — Hot, Ninja Creami & Ninja Slushi

This gingerbread latte tastes like the Starbucks holiday drink people still miss — warm espresso, frothed milk, and a molasses-spiked gingerbread syrup you simmer yourself in about ten minutes. I’ve included the hot version, an iced version, a Ninja Creami frozen version, and a Ninja Slushi version, so you can make it whichever way the weather and your machine allow.

The syrup is the whole recipe, really. Most copycat versions send you off to buy a bottle. Mine doesn’t — brown sugar, molasses, fresh ginger, and warm spices give you something noticeably better than the store-bought stuff, and one batch makes enough for roughly eight lattes.

Starbucks retired the Gingerbread Latte from US menus in 2018. The holiday lineup has shifted several times since, and gingerbread-flavored drinks have come and gone.

I always hope that they put in on the menu for the year.

Why Starbucks Fans Keep Searching for This Recipe

Starbucks pulled the Gingerbread Latte from US stores after the 2018 holiday season, and it never came back as a permanent offering. That’s why this drink has a small, loyal following of people searching for it every November — it isn’t nostalgia for something they can order, it’s nostalgia for something they can’t.

The good news is that the original was a simple drink. Steamed milk, espresso, gingerbread syrup, whipped cream, and a dusting of nutmeg. Nothing about it was proprietary or difficult. Once you can make the syrup, you can make the latte, and you can make it stronger, sweeter, or less sweet than the coffee shop ever did.

Why You’ll Love This Gingerbread Latte

• The syrup takes 10 minutes and keeps in the fridge for two weeks, so the drink itself is a two-minute pour after that.
• It costs about 90 cents a cup versus six dollars and change at a drive-thru.
• You control the sweetness. A grande at Starbucks ran four pumps of syrup. At home you can use two.
• Three machines, one recipe. Hot on the stovetop, frozen in the Ninja Creami, slushy in the Ninja Slushi — same syrup for all three.
• It doubles as a gift. Bottle the syrup, tie a tag on it, done.

Ingredients for a Gingerbread Latte

For the homemade gingerbread syrup (makes about 1 cup):

• Brown sugar — light or dark. Dark brown sugar gives a deeper, more molasses-forward syrup.
• Water
• Unsulphured molasses — do not skip this and do not substitute blackstrap. Molasses is what separates gingerbread from generic chai spice.
• Fresh ginger, sliced — fresh gives a brighter, sharper bite than ground. Ground ginger works in a pinch; use half as much.
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground cloves — a small amount. Cloves take over quickly.
• Vanilla extract — stirred in off the heat so it doesn’t cook off.

For the latte:

• Espresso or strong brewed coffee — a medium or dark roast holds up to the spice. Weak coffee disappears underneath the syrup.
• Milk — whole milk froths best. Oat milk is the best non-dairy option for foam; almond milk works but produces looser foam.
• Whipped cream — optional, but it’s what made the original feel like a treat.
• Ground nutmeg — for the top. Starbucks used nutmeg, not cinnamon. Freshly grated is a genuine upgrade here.

Full measurements are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post, along with nutrition information.

How to Make Homemade Gingerbread Syrup

1. Combine. Add the brown sugar, water, molasses, sliced fresh ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to a small saucepan and whisk until the sugar starts to dissolve.
2. Simmer. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has fully dissolved — about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and let it infuse for another 5 to 10 minutes. It should coat the back of a spoon lightly. It will thicken more as it cools.
3. Finish. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, and let it cool for about 15 minutes.
4. Strain and store. Pour through a fine mesh sieve to catch the ginger slices, then transfer to a jar or squeeze bottle. Refrigerate for up to two weeks.

A note on thickness: if your syrup sets up too thick in the fridge, whisk in a tablespoon of hot water. If it’s too thin, it just needs a few more minutes of simmering next time.

How to Make a Gingerbread Latte (Hot)

1. Brew the coffee. Pull two shots of espresso or brew a half cup of strong coffee directly into your mug.
2. Add the syrup. Stir the gingerbread syrup into the hot coffee first, while it’s hottest — it dissolves far more evenly than it will once the milk goes in.
3. Heat and froth the milk. Warm the milk to about 150°F, steaming but not boiling. Scalded milk tastes flat and won’t hold foam. Froth with a handheld frother, a steam wand, or by shaking it hard in a sealed jar and microwaving for 30 seconds.
4. Combine. Pour the frothed milk over the coffee, holding the foam back with a spoon, then spoon the foam on top.
5. Top. Whipped cream, a grating of nutmeg, and a cinnamon stick if you’re making it look nice.

Starbucks Pump Math

This is the part most copycat recipes leave out. One pump of Starbucks syrup is roughly half a tablespoon. Their standard build was:

Size	Espresso shots	Pumps of syrup	Tablespoons at home
Tall (12 oz)	1	3	1½
Grande (16 oz)	2	4	2
Venti hot (20 oz)	2	5	2½

Start at 2 tablespoons for a standard mug and adjust from there. Homemade syrup is usually more intense than commercial syrup, so you may end up wanting less than the coffee shop used.

Iced Gingerbread Latte

Skip the heating entirely. Stir 2 tablespoons of gingerbread syrup into a half cup of cooled espresso or cold brew until fully dissolved — this matters, cold syrup seizes into a lump at the bottom of the glass if you rush it. Fill a tall glass with ice, pour the coffee mixture over, then top with cold milk. Stir, add whipped cream, and grate nutmeg over the top.

Cold brew works better than cooled hot coffee here. It’s less acidic and lets the spice come forward.

Ninja Creami Gingerbread Latte

The Ninja Creami turns this into a frozen, spoonable coffee dessert — closer to a frappuccino than a latte, and one of the better ways to use gingerbread syrup outside of December. If you like this, my Ninja Creami Copycat Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino works on the same principle.

1. Build the base. In a Ninja Creami pint, whisk together 1 cup whole milk, ⅓ cup cooled strong coffee or espresso, 3 tablespoons gingerbread syrup, and 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Whisk until completely smooth — any undissolved syrup will freeze into a hard pocket.
2. Freeze flat. Fill to the max line, seal, and freeze on a level shelf for a full 24 hours. A tilted pint spins unevenly and comes out crumbly on one side.
3. Spin. Remove the lid, place in the outer bowl, and run LITE ICE CREAM. On a Creami Deluxe, FRAPPE gives you a looser, more drinkable texture.
4. Re-spin. It will almost certainly come out powdery on the first pass. That’s normal. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk to the well in the center and run RE-SPIN. Repeat once more if needed.
5. Serve. Whipped cream and grated nutmeg.

Why the heavy cream matters: fat is what keeps a Creami base from freezing into a solid block of ice. A milk-and-coffee base with no fat will spin into snow no matter how many times you re-spin it.

Ninja Slushi Gingerbread Coffee

The Ninja Slushi produces the frozen-coffee-drink texture you’d get from a shop — pourable, icy, with no chunks. Same syrup, no freezing time.

1. Mix the base. Combine 3 cups cold strong coffee or cold brew, 1 cup whole milk, and ½ cup gingerbread syrup. Stir until fully dissolved.
2. Pour into the vessel. Stay within the minimum and maximum fill lines.
3. Run the preset. Use SLUSH for an icy, granita-style drink or MILKSHAKE for something creamier and thicker.
4. Dispense into tall glasses and top with whipped cream and nutmeg.

Critical — do not reduce the syrup. The Ninja Slushi relies on sugar content to freeze at the right consistency. Cut the syrup too far and the machine either won’t reach slush texture or will freeze solid against the walls. If you want it less sweet, dilute with more coffee rather than pulling back on syrup. This is the single most common Slushi mistake and it’s worth stating plainly for your readers.

Pro Tips

• Dissolve syrup in the coffee, not the milk. Hot coffee is more acidic and dissolves the sugar faster and more completely.
• 150°F is the target for milk. Past about 160°F, milk sugars start to taste cooked and the foam collapses.
• Fresh nutmeg over pre-ground. This is the one spice where the difference is dramatic, and it’s the finishing note on the whole drink.
• Cold milk froths better than warm. Froth first, then heat — or froth cold and pour over hot coffee, which is faster anyway.
• Make a double batch of syrup. It keeps two weeks refrigerated and you will run out faster than you expect.
• Decaf works fine. The syrup carries the flavor; the coffee is structure.

Storage

Gingerbread syrup: refrigerate in a sealed jar for up to 2 weeks. It does not freeze well — the sugar separates on thawing.

The latte itself: drink it fresh. Frothed milk collapses within a few minutes and reheating a latte makes it grainy.

Ninja Creami pints: the frozen base keeps up to two weeks. Re-freeze leftovers and re-spin before serving — it will need a splash of milk each time.

Gingerbread Latte FAQs

Does Starbucks still sell the Gingerbread Latte? Starbucks discontinued it in the US after the 2018 holiday season. Various gingerbread-flavored drinks have appeared on the holiday menu since, but the original Gingerbread Latte has not returned as a standard offering. [Verify against the current holiday menu before publishing.]

Can I use store-bought gingerbread syrup? Yes. Torani and Monin both make one. You’ll likely need a little more of it than the homemade version, since commercial syrups tend to be milder on spice and sweeter overall.

What can I use instead of molasses? Dark brown sugar plus a tablespoon of maple syrup gets you close, though it won’t have quite the same depth. Molasses is genuinely what makes it taste like gingerbread rather than spiced sugar.

Can I make this sugar-free? Use a brown sugar substitute and a sugar-free molasses alternative for the syrup. Note that this will not work in the Ninja Slushi — the machine needs real sugar to reach the correct freezing point.

What’s the best milk for frothing? Whole milk produces the most stable foam. Among non-dairy options, barista-blend oat milk is far and away the best; regular oat and almond milk froth but collapse faster.

How much caffeine is in this? Two shots of espresso, so roughly 130mg — comparable to a Starbucks grande.

Can I make a batch for a crowd? Yes. Multiply the syrup recipe, brew a full pot of coffee, and warm a quart of milk in a saucepan. Set out the syrup, coffee, and milk and let people build their own.

Can I use this syrup for anything besides coffee? It’s excellent over pancakes and waffles, stirred into hot chocolate, drizzled over vanilla ice cream, or in an old fashioned.

More Copycat Coffee Drinks

• Copycat Starbucks Peppermint Mocha — the other holiday drink worth making at home
• Ninja Creami Copycat Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino — same Creami technique, chocolate and coffee
• Easy Ninja Slushi Frozen Dirty Orange Soda — a good starting point if the Slushi is new to you

Browse all hot drink recipes or every copycat recipe on the site.