Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha Copycat

Chocolate and salted caramel flavors combined with espresso and milk make this delicious Starbucks drink at home. Quick and easy homemade whipped cream adds a decadent touch.

Recipe Highlights

• Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha is a hot drink made with espresso, milk, mocha sauce, and toffee nut syrup. It’s topped with whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel sauce, and sea salt topping.
• This sweet and salty drink has been discontinued at Starbucks but you can easily make it at home with a Nespresso or an espresso machine.
• Toffee nut syrup is what gives the drink the salted caramel flavor and it tastes like hazelnut and caramel combined.
• Use homemade or store-bought chocolate syrup sauce. The caramel sauce and the toffee nut syrup are store-bought since it’s easier to buy them instead of making it from scratch.
• This copycat recipe recreates a grande size (16 ounces) Starbucks Caramel Mocha.

RELATED: Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Copycat

Salted Caramel Mocha at Starbucks

Salted Caramel Mocha is no longer on the Starbucks menu since it was discontinued but you can still order it at any time of the year as long as they have the toffee nut syrup.

To order a Salted Caramel Mocha, ask for a mocha with toffee nut syrup and caramel drizzle on top of the whipped cream.

Tall: Add 3 pumps toffee syrup
Grande: Add 4 pumps toffee syrup
Venti: Add 5 pumps toffee syrup

Unfortunately, the sea salt topping isn’t available anymore but you can recreate it by adding a little salt and turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw).

RELATED: Starbucks Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew Copycat

Ingredient Notes

• Espresso
  A mocha isn’t a mocha without espresso. Use Starbucks dark roast or blonde espresso made in an espresso machine or a Nespresso.
  Whole beans: Starbucks Espresso Roast
  Nespresso Original: Starbucks Espresso Roast
  Nespresso Vertuo: Espresso Roast
• Chocolate syrup or sauce
  Homemade chocolate syrup costs so much less to make per serving than store-bought, but store-bought lasts longer in the refrigerator.
• Toffee nut syrup
  This is the syrup that gives the drink the salted caramel flavor.
• Milk
  Any kind of milk can be used but Starbucks makes this drink with 2% milk.
• Heavy cream
  This is used just to make the whipped cream topping.
• Vanilla syrup
  The whipped cream at Starbucks is made with vanilla syrup and it’s made the same way in this homemade version.
• Caramel sauce
  Caramel sauce is only used as drizzle on top of the whipped cream.
• Sea salt topping
  Sea salt and turbinado sugar are what’s in the sea salt topping. If you want to make it exactly like Starbucks, use smoked sea salt.

Step-by-Step Instructions

For full ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe.

1. Whisk heavy cream and vanilla syrup to make whipped cream. Set aside.
   Use a handheld milk frother to make whipped cream in seconds. Whip until soft peaks form.
2. Put chocolate sauce, toffee nut syrup, and espresso into a cup.
3. Add steamed milk.
   Heat milk on the stovetop or use a steam wand on an espresso machine.
4. Top drink with whipped cream, drizzle with caramel sauce, and add sea salt topping.

Expert Tips

• Espresso is what gives the drink its strong coffee taste but if you don’t have an espresso machine or a Nespresso, make it with strong coffee but it won’t have the same taste. Use half a cup of double or triple-strength coffee instead of the espresso. You’ll need to add less milk since there’s more coffee in the drink.
• Make homemade chocolate syrup at home using my easy recipe. The recipe makes a cup of syrup and you can use it to make hot chocolate and other mocha drinks like Peppermint Mocha.
• It’s not as easy to make caramel sauce as it is to make chocolate sauce so I stick to store-bought caramel sauce. This one is my favorite and I use it to make Iced Caramel Macchiatos.
• Starbucks uses 2 espresso shots to make a grande mocha drink but feel free to use only 1 if you’re sensitive to caffeine.

Questions You May Have

Related

• Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
• Salted Caramel Cold Brew with Cold Foam
• Salted Caramel Latte
• 19 Starbucks Caramel Drinks (Including Secret Menu)
• Starbucks Iced Caramel Macchiato Copycat

Did you make this? Did you love it? Please leave a 5 star rating below or a review in the comments section.

Want to save this recipe to Pinterest for later? Pin it now to your Pinterest board!