Avoiding Coffee? Here's 5 Ways To Customize Your Hot Chocolate At Starbucks For A More Festive Sip

We all need a little pick-me-up every once in a while, especially during the holiday season — and Starbucks is the ultimate destination for one. From icy cold Frappuccinos to Sugar Cookie Lattes, the international chain has got everything you need to keep you nice and caffeinated throughout days spent shopping, cooking, and wrapping presents. But sometimes, all we need is a little something sweet to brighten our moods, sans caffeine and all of its jitter-inducing side effects. 

Our favorite way to satisfy this caffeine-free craving is with a nice cup of Starbucks hot chocolate. It might sound boring, but actually, there are so many ways to customize the classic beverage to turn it into a totally festive treat. Whether you go for a seasonal syrup or a fun new topping, putting a spin on plain hot chocolate is bound to get you in the holiday spirit, and we've got all the best combos for you to try.

Starbucks has both peppermint hot chocolate and peppermint white hot chocolate on its seasonal holiday menu, so while this isn't an original customization, it's an easy way to up the flavor of your plain cocoa. A grande peppermint hot chocolate is made with four mocha sauce pumps, four peppermint syrup pumps, and steamed milk. If you want it, it also comes with whipped cream and chocolate curls. Since the mocha-to-peppermint ratio is even, this drink is well-balanced and full of flavor, but feel free to ask for fewer pumps of syrup if you don't love an overly sweet drink.

The peppermint white hot chocolate is another holiday classic. A grande is similarly made with four pumps of white chocolate mocha sauce, four pumps of peppermint syrup, steamed milk, and an optional topping of whipped cream and chocolate curls. Last year, this drink was our third favorite in our ranking of hot chocolates from popular chain coffee shops. The white mocha sauce is totally smooth and blends beautifully with steamed milk, creating a creamy consistency.

If you're not ready to leave pumpkin spice behind, never fear: There's a way to enjoy those aromatic spices in hot chocolate to get the most out of the fan-favorite flavor. Simply customize your plain hot chocolate by adding a few pumps of gingerbread syrup and Starbucks' pumpkin spice topping. This combo will give you the ultimate gingerbread hot chocolate you will surely miss once the seasonal flavors go into hibernation. Plus, if you're a fan of the gingerbread latte, this is a great caffeine-free alternative that combines hot chocolate and gingerbread.

Starbucks' gingerbread syrup is the perfect blend of sugar and spice, with hints of molasses, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and vanilla. The pumpkin spice topping is a humble mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. It's truly a beautiful thing when these warm spices mingle with rich hot chocolate; the combo creates a surprisingly complex flavor you might not expect to find at Starbucks. If it becomes your new favorite drink, we have our very own recipe for gingerbread hot chocolate so you can recreate it at home.

Even dairy-free folks can enjoy a festive hot chocolate this season. Starbucks doesn't charge extra for plant-based milks, which means you can swap the typical steamed 2% milk out for a milk of your choice. Among the options are soy, oat, and almond, but our pick for hot chocolate has to be coconut milk. You might be a little hesitant to try this combo, but coconut milk is the ultimate dairy alternative for a rich hot chocolate. Besides being a tasty, unique addition, coconut milk steams pretty well, which means the hot chocolate's texture will remain relatively the same as it would be with milk.

If you want to kick things up a notch, we like adding Starbucks' cinnamon dolce sprinkles to the mix. Coconut and cinnamon is a total match made in heaven. The two flavors create a caramel-like flavor that's absolutely delicious in a warm cup of cocoa. If you prefer a caramel and coconut vibe, go with the crispy-crunchy caramel brulee topping. And if you're feeling crazy, add a few pumps of caramel syrup to the mix for the ultimate hot chocolate.

Chocolate lovers, listen up. This order hack for velvety Starbucks hot chocolate will have you crawling back to your local store again and again. And thankfully, this is one you can order all season long. Order a regular hot chocolate, but add some extra java chips (also known as Frappuccino chips) and a few pumps of hazelnut syrup. The java chips will melt as the warm steamed milk heats them up, creating a super thick consistency and rich chocolate flavor you simply won't get from additional shots of mocha sauce. When paired with hazelnut syrup, this combo will make your hot chocolate taste like straight-up Nutella in the best way possible.

Before ordering this, be aware that Starbucks' java chips are not gluten-free because they contain wheat flour. If you're sensitive to gluten and would rather not take the risk, you can swap java chips out for dark chocolate curls. These are less processed and have more of a refined chocolate taste. If you can, ask your barista to put them in the hot chocolate before the whipped cream so they have an opportunity to melt and get ready to enjoy that gooey, chocolatey goodness.

Out of all the seasonal syrup offerings on Starbucks' 2024 holiday menu, the sugar cookie syrup is a total fan-favorite used in the Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte. Pair it with a cup of white hot chocolate and some red and green sprinkles, and you're in for a total sugar rush. If you don't love sweet drinks, you probably won't love this one, but if you've got a sweet tooth and like the taste of Starbucks' white chocolate mocha sauce, we have a feeling you'll appreciate this suggestion.

You could also add the sugar cookie syrup to a regular cup of hot chocolate for a chocolate sugar cookie vibe. We bet it'd be delicious when paired with peppermint syrup, too. Instead of plain whipped cream overtop, Starbucks also offers cold foams made with each one of their syrups. This airy topping will melt after a few sips, but it will add a layer of flavor that you won't get with a simple swirl of whipped cream. Try sugar cookie cold foam or vanilla sweet cream cold foam with this ultimate holiday concoction — and don't forget the sprinkles to tie it all together.