Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew Recipe

Name: Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Ingredients: 16 oz cold coffee (cold brew or cold coffee ); 1/2 cup half and half; 2 Tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk; 1/4 tsp vanilla; pinch sea salt

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Sweet caramel-infused cold brew or iced coffee topped with a creamy salted cold foam. This salted caramel cream cold brew recipe tastes just like a fancy drink at a coffee shop that you can make at home!

I love having a nice cup of hot coffee in the mornings to start my day. But if it’s the afternoon on one of those hot summer days, I’m switching over to iced coffee or even this Iced Guava Passionfruit Drink.

It’s perfect for when you need that afternoon pick-me-up but you don’t want to be sweating while you’re drinking it. 😉 And for when you want to be a little extra but don’t actually want to head to your local coffee shops. (Pair it with this mocha roll recipe or these Starbucks-inspired chocolate cake pops and it’s a coffee lover’s dream.)

Why You’ll Love This Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew Recipe

So quick and easy. Once you have your coffee ready, this comes together in about 5 minutes. Seriously! It’s such an easy recipe and you can make the cold foam in bulk so you have it at the ready whenever you need a fix.

You control the ingredients and sweetness. Another thing I love about making a homemade version of coffee drinks is that you can control what goes in it. This has simple ingredients you can buy at your local grocery store and you can easily adjust how much sugar you put in each glass.

The cold foam. I mean, need I say more? Who knew adding such a small thing to your drink could provide such delicious flavor? This salted cream cold foam really takes this drink to the next level.

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Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Coffee: Yes, I know that the Starbucks Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew recipe is the original version of this drink and I am using Dunkin’ cold coffee. But if I’m being honest, Starbucks coffee is just so bitter when served plain and I am not a huge fan. Sorry. If you are a Starbucks coffee lover, by all means, use what you love! I’ll also get into the difference between cold brew and cold coffee in a second, just know that either works great with this recipe.

Sweetened Condensed Milk: This provides a bit of sweetness while making the cold foam extra creamy.

Vanilla Extract: Some recipes call for homemade vanilla syrup (which is sugar, water, and vanilla) but I chose to sweeten this drink with the sweetened condensed milk rather than a vanilla simple syrup. In this recipe, the vanilla extract is added directly to the cold foam so you won’t miss out on the vanilla flavor.

Caramel Sauce: I used store-bought caramel sauce to make it easy. You can use any brand or feel free to make your own caramel. I use Torani Puremade Caramel Sauce.

Cold Brew Coffee vs Cold Coffee

Cold brew coffee is a method of making iced coffee. The coffee grounds are steeped in cold water for 12-24 hours producing more mellow flavors (less acidic) that stay fresh for days. Many cold brew coffee recipes leverage a French press to strain out the grounds, but you can also pour it through a regular coffee filter.

Cold coffee (or iced coffee) is brewed hot, cooled, and then poured over ice. Or, in the case of the cold coffee I used, it can be poured directly over ice when hot as the coffee is more robust and doesn’t get watery when the ice melts.

For this recipe, you can use homemade cold brew, store-bought cold brew concentrate, cold coffee, or regular coffee, poured over ice cubes.

Variations & Substitutions

Heavy cream: If you’d like a richer, thicker foam top, swap the half-and-half with heavy whipping cream.

Dairy-free version: Swap out the dairy and use coconut cream in the cold foam recipe. Because the sweetness is in the sweetened condensed milk, I’d also recommend adding a teaspoon of flavored syrup (or one pump of syrup).

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a mason jar full of the salted caramel cream cold brew recipe

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Salted Caramel Cold Brew

Step 1: Brew your coffee of choice. If making cold brew, make it the night before. If using cold coffee, brew your coffee in your coffee maker like normal.

Step 2: Drizzle some caramel sauce around the inside of the glass as well as add 1 Tbsp of caramel to really pump up that caramel flavor. I used a mason jar, but any 12 oz glass will do. Fill the glass with ice and pour the coffee over top, filling about three-quarters of the way full. Make sure to leave room for the cold foam!

Step 3: Combine half and half, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and a pinch of salt in a glass or mason jar. With a handheld milk frother or immersion blender, whisk together the cold foam until it is light and foamy. If you don’t have a frother or blender, you can also simply place the lid on the mason jar and shake it up for a minute. The goal is to get air into the cold foam mixture.

Step 4: Pour as much salted cold foam over the iced coffee as you want! I like to save about a quarter of the glass because I love the taste of the cold foam and I like my coffee extra creamy. Add a sprinkle of salt on top and drizzle with some more caramel sauce. Enjoy!

Pro Tip: The cold foam doesn’t just sit on top while you drink the entire drink (unless you drink really fast). The cold foam will distribute throughout your coffee as it melts, giving it a nice creamy flavor. The amount of cold foam you put on top will determine how light your coffee becomes. If you are a black coffee drinker, I’d recommend using a small amount of cold foam.

Frequently asked questions

How is cold foam different from adding flavored cream to your coffee?

Cold foam is frothed before adding it to your drink vs. adding your creamer and frothing your coffee. Because of the air whipped into the cold foam, it’s lighter than the liquid coffee so it rests nicely on top. When it starts to melt, it dissolves into the coffee like creamer, but in the beginning, it provides a really beautiful coffee decoration.

Is this a Starbucks copycat recipe?

This recipe is inspired by the Starbucks drink, rather than being an exact copycat version. The main differences are the type of coffee used and using sweetened condensed milk in the cold foam vs a vanilla simple syrup.

Can this salted caramel cold brew recipe be made sugar-free?

Yep! You can use a sugar-free caramel sauce and swap the sweetened condensed milk out for sugar-free vanilla syrup.

pouring salted caramel cold foam on cold coffee

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