Slow Cooker Gingerbread Latte
It tastes like the cookie jar in a mug, made with molasses and spices you probably already have. Set it up for Christmas morning or a cookie-decorating afternoon. There's a coffee version for the grown-ups and a coffee-free steamer for the kids.
What you'll need
- 8 cups (1.9 L) whole milk, or half milk and half oat milk
- 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
- 0.33 cup (70 g), packed light brown sugar
- 0.25 cup (60 ml) molasses
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 0.25 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 0.13 teaspoon ground cloves
- salt
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups (950 ml) hot strong brewed coffee, regular or decaf, kept separate
- Toppings: whipped cream, a dusting of cinnamon, crumbled gingersnaps
How to make it
Whisk the brown sugar, molasses, spices and salt with about 1 cup of the milk in the slow cooker until smooth.
Whisk in the rest of the milk and the cream.
Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, whisking every 30 to 40 minutes, until it's steaming. Don't let it boil. Stir in the vanilla.
Turn it to warm. Keep the coffee in a thermal carafe next to the pot.
For a latte: pour 1/3 cup coffee into a mug and top with 2/3 cup of the gingerbread milk. For a kids' steamer: skip the coffee and serve the gingerbread milk on its own.
Warm the milk mixture in a large pot over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, whisking often.
Glass: Mugs. Garnish: Whipped cream, a pinch of cinnamon and a gingersnap on the side.
Chef's secrets
Keep the coffee out of the pot, so one batch serves both the latte drinkers and the kids.
Use decaf in the afternoon so the whole family can have a cup.
Whisk before every ladle, because the spices settle to the bottom.
Good to know
Leftover gingerbread milk keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Store it without the coffee and rewarm it gently.
You can mix the spiced milk the night before and keep it in the fridge, then start the slow cooker in the morning. It holds on warm for up to 2 hours.
