Banana-flavored desserts and drinks have been trending thanks to social media, like the famous Korean banana milk or Magnolia Bakery’s famous banana pudding. While they’re great on their own, people have been combining them with coffee to make delicious banana concoctions, like this delicious banana cream latte that’s creamy, sweet, and easy to make at home!

You only need 5 ingredients to make this banana latte at home, and it’s almost as if you went and got it at a cafe!

Here’s how to make this fresh banana cream latte at home!

What is a Banana Cream Latte?

A banana cream latte is an iced latte that has banana cream on top! It’s sweet, fruity, a little tropical, and creamy, with a slightly bitter and bold coffee flavor from the espresso. It’s super easy to make at home, especially if you have an espresso machine maker. You only need 5 ingredients to make this creamy and fresh banana latte and it’s so fun to make when you want to change up your coffee routine or flavor.

For extra flavor, you can also add banana syrup or flavored syrup to the base iced latte to add extra flavor dimension to your drink. 

What Does a Banana Cream Latte Taste Like?

This banana cream latte tastes like a banana smoothie with added creaminess and coffee. You get that bold and flavorful espresso that, depending on the roast, can be light and fruity or dark and roasted. It also almost has a caramel or brûlée flavor to it, which comes from the banana (there’s a reason why banana and rum go so well together).

You definitely need to give this banana cream latte a try, especially if you like fruity and creamy flavors together (think: Starburst, cream sodas, fruity cupcakes or pancakes, etc.) 

Does Banana Taste Good with Coffee?

Bananas are fruity, tropical, and creamy, which works insanely well with coffee which is also fruity and juicy and lends itself well to creamy flavors and textures. Coffee comes from a cherry, so it naturally has fruity flavors! So, perhaps by chemistry, coffee and bananas work really well together and they complement each other nicely. 

You can also think of chocolate, which coffee shares many flavors with, like bitterness, tanginess, fruitiness, and boldness both have. Bananas and chocolate go so well together, so in a similar thread, coffee, and banana should also work well together! 

You can combine banana and coffee in multiple different ways, whether in dessert or a drink, using real bananas, banana syrup, banana ice cream, banana milk, and more. 

How to Make Banana Cream

Banana cream is one of the easiest creams to make and literally only takes 2 ingredients: banana and heavy cream. Seriously! 

All you need is to blend or mash the banana until it’s smooth, then add heavy cream and blend using an electric frother or mixer until soft and fluffy. Once it’s aerated, you can use it to top on any drink you want, like an iced latte, matcha lattes, milk tea, or even desserts or breakfast foods like pancakes, oatmeal, and more! 

You can also spice it up with complementary flavors like cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, or caramel, which will give you such delicious cream tops! 

If you want a fluffier, lighter banana topping, you can also add a little milk to your mixture to make a banana cold foam! It’s softer and fluffier than just banana cream since it has the added milk, but it might take some experimenting to get the ratio right.

How to Make an Iced Latte

An iced latte is just ice and milk with one or two shots of espresso on top. Usually, you can also add sweeteners or flavored syrups to the drink as well, like a vanilla latte, salted caramel latte, or more experimental flavors like a miso caramel latte. 

Obviously, the main component of a latte is milk, but the espresso is the second most important part of an iced latte! Brewing espresso takes a lot of practice to master, which involves grinding, tamping, extracting, etc. For many home baristas, an automated espresso machine is the easiest way to make good coffee at home, whether that’s a Keurig or a Nespresso machine that you can feed coffee pods. 

If you level up, you can use a manual espresso machine and try your own hand at crafting great espresso! People get super into it, haha. But once you crack the espresso code, you’ll want to add the brewed espresso to milk to cool it down, then add ice. Some people also pour the hot espresso directly onto the ice to flash chill it, but some say that it affects the flavor. But no matter how you add it to your milk, you’ll have a deliciously creamy and strong coffee latte.

Do You Need Espresso?

If you don’t have a fancy machine, that’s okay! You don’t need an espresso machine to make an iced latte, you can use alternative methods that work just as well and are cheaper. A cheap espresso machine can run you anywhere from $80 to $200, and that’s the lower end of machines! 

My favorite espresso machine alternative is a moka pot, which is an Italian stovetop espresso maker that can cost you less than $30 for a great, sturdy, and long-term coffee maker. It also has a learning curve, but it’s smaller than learning how to brew espresso on a machine. It’s one of my favorite tools to use to make coffee, and it makes a really strong, concentrated cup of espresso that’s perfect for iced lattes, cappuccinos, and more. 

Without machines, you can also use coffee concentrate or cold brew concentrate as an espresso replacement. It won’t be as concentrated and will have more water, but it’s still a strongly flavored coffee that you can use in a pinch.

Espresso instant powder is also a popular espresso alternative, but some people don’t like that sour and bitter instant coffee flavor. But, it works really well when you’re low on time and also it’s so convenient! How else can you get espresso by just adding hot water and at a fraction of the cost of regular espresso?

How to Make a Banana Cream Latte 

Here’s what you’ll need to make a creamy banana cream latte at home:

• 1/2 a ripe banana
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp banana or vanilla syrup
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup ice
• 1-2 shots of espresso

Banana Cream Latte Recipe

1. Brew Espresso. Using your favorite method, brew 1-2 shots of espresso and let it cool slightly before using. You can use an automatic or manual espresso machine, or use an espresso substitute.
2. Make Banana Cream. Mash or blend half a ripe banana in a blender, then add heavy cream. Using an electric frothier or mixer, whip the cream until soft and fluffy. The cream should be fluffy but still pourable, not stiff. 
3. Assemble Drink. Add ice, sweetener, milk, and espresso to a glass, then top with your banana cream! Garnish with a slice of banana (optional).
4. Mix and Enjoy! 

Other Ways to Make a Banana Latte

There are multiple ways you can make a banana-flavored coffee or latte! The most convenient way is to buy banana milk from the grocery store and use it in iced coffee or as the base for a banana latte. The most popular one is the Korean Bingrae banana milk (which has a cult following) but it’s a little too sweet for me and has an artificial banana flavor. 

In the same realm, instead of buying it out, you can make your own banana milk by blending ripe bananas and milk together until smooth. This will give you a chunkier, thicker banana milk that’s more smoothie-like (versus the smoother, store-bought banana milk) but it’s just as delicious with coffee. It’s better as a latte, as mixing it with brewed coffee might cause the milk to separate. 

You can also make a banana cold foam (as mentioned) which is the mashed banana, cream, and milk to get a fluffier, lighter drink topping. This might take some trial and error since mashed bananas are heavier so the cold foam might not be as fluffy as normal.

If you don’t have bananas, you can also use banana syrup but I try to use real bananas if I can! I personally don’t like artificial banana flavor so I stay away from banana syrup, haha.

More Banana Drinks to Try

If you like this banana cream latte recipe, you have to try these other banana drinks next:

• Banana cream matcha latte (Must Try!)
• Banana latte
• Magnolia Bakery’s banana pudding matcha latte
• Banana matcha latte
• Matcha banana smoothie

Tips:

Here are some tips for making a delicious banana cream latte at home!

• Garnish with Banana Slices: Slice one or two banana slices and garnish your drink with the banana! It will sit on top of the cream and look so pretty, especially if you’re serving it to friends or family. Plus, they’re edible garnish!
• Make it Vegan: You can make this banana cream latte vegan by swapping out the heavy cream and milk for non-dairy alternatives like oat cream and oat milk or coconut cream and coconut milk. 
• Use a Ripe Banana: You should use a really ripe banana for this recipe for the best flavor and texture. Less ripe bananas will have more starch and be less sweet, so not only will your drink be less sweet, but it will also have that dry mouthfeel from the starch.