Caramel Apple Coffee Recipe (Starbucks Copycat Recipe)

Fall time means cozy drinks and cozy drinks means coffee. I love coffee so much even if when I have it after 2pm I’m awake literally all night. That hasn’t stopped me. I can’t stop won’t stop drinking banana coffee and now fresh on my coffee scene, this caramel apple coffee.

This recipe comes straight from, arguably, the inventor of cozy coffee season aka pumpkin spice, Starbucks. Did you know they have recipes on their site? I didn’t as of two days ago. Anyway, I gave their recipe a try and obviously, it was delicious. Super easy to make too, but a little bit time consuming. But, it reminded me that I absolutely love apple sauce. How the heck did I forget about apple sauce? I’m not sure but I’m so happy it’s back in my life. Plus standing at the stove making caramel sauce lets me plan my fall bucket list in my head.

What is caramel apple coffee?

Think of a slice of warm, freshly baked apple pie, laced through with salted caramel, with a scoop of rich vanilla bean ice cream on top. Cozy, sweet, fall perfection. The coffee blends with the richness of salted caramel and a lil cream top to make the perfect cup of coffee on a sunny, crisp, fall day. In case you can’t tell, I love fall. I live for fall. This coffee is fall in a cup.

Caramel apple coffee ingredients

Sure you could just go to Starbies and get an iced caramel apple coffee – wait, you can’t because it’s not on their official fall release list. Instead, you’ll have to make it at home which will give you the joy and satisfaction of playing barista.

• brown sugar – The natural warmth and caramelized notes of brown sugar are perfect in the base of this salted caramel apple syrup.
• apple sauce – Yes, apple sauce. I love this stuff. Now that I’m thinking about it more, I think I forgot it existed because I like eating apples and well, why not eat apples instead of sauce? Now I’m just going to do double apple consumption.
• caramel sauce – It’s kinda silly that caramel sauce is an ingredient because what the heck kinda recipe has an ingredient that is a whole other recipe? Anyway, I have a recipe down below if you want to make it and if not, they sell a bunch of different kinds of caramel sauce, so pick your favorite. You do have a favorite, right?
• cinnamon – Cinnamon is the ultimate fall spice. Warm, cozy, earthy, sweet. Cinnamon all the things, yes please.
• cloves – Cloves, now this is a controversial ingredient. You love them or you hate them, there is no indifference when it comes to cloves. Well, maybe you tolerate them? There’s just the tiniest dash in the sauce to give it a slight peppery heat. Cloves are kinda bitter with a hint of sweetness. A little goes a long way, so when it says a dash, it really is a dash, like a minuscule amount.
• milk – The milk is for the latte portion of this coffee drink, you can use your favorite kind.
• heavy cream – A bit of heavy cream so you can whip it up into the perfect soft peak whipped cream. Whipped cream out of a can is sad guys, just buy the heavy cream and whip it yourself, please.

How to make caramel sauce

If you wanna go all out and make caramel sauce by hand, I gotchu. If you want to go ahead and buy caramel sauce, I gotchu too. Honestly I will pick store bought over homemade every time. Nothing wrong with store-bought especially when you’re making coffee at home. I mean, you’re already saving money. It’s coffee math: you’re not spending at a coffee shop, so buying the supplies means you’re saving money, right?

Here’s how you make caramel sauce

You’ll need:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp butter
1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Add the sugar to a tall, heavy bottom sauce pan along with 1/4 cup water. Turn the heat to medium and let simmer, without stirring, until the sugar dissolves and starts to bubble and caramelize. Swirl the pan if needed, but do not stir.
2. When the sugar has caramelized into a deep amber, turn down the heat and very carefully pour in the cream. The mixture will bubble up and seize so be very careful.
3. Stir until smooth and then remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted.
4. Finish with a bit of salt for contrast and let cool until thick and syrupy. Caramel sauce will last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in a clean, sealed container.

How to make caramel apple syrup

Now that we have all of our ingredients, it’s time to make salted caramel apple syrup.

1. To a heavy bottomed pan, add brown sugar and water and let come to a simmer over low heat. Swirl occasionally to mix, but don’t stir.
2. Once the sugar is dissolved, add cinnamon, a tiny tiny pinch of cloves, a bit of salt, and apple sauce. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes or until it smells like you’re in an apple orchard with fresh pies baking.
3. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer, taking your time to use a silicone spatula to gently stir it through.
4. When all of the apple syrup has passed through the sieve, stir in caramel sauce until smooth. Let cool completely before storing in the fridge in a clean, sealed container for up to 7 days.

How to make a salted caramel apple coffee aka an apple pie latte

Okay, I made up the apple pie latte part, but it does kinda taste like that. Maybe apple pie a la mode latte? In any case, here’s how to make it, whatever you want to call it:

1. Add your salted caramel apple syrup to the bottom of your favorite fall mug.
2. If you’re taking the time to make homemade whipped cream, now is a good time. Add 2 tbsp heavy cream to a tall cup and use a handheld frother (something like this) to whip the cream. Submerge the whisk part into the cream, turn it on and froth for about 1 minute, moving the frother around a bit and boom, homemade whipped cream. Put it in the fridge while you prep the rest of your latte.
3. Brew your favorite coffee. You can go with drip, pour-over, instant, or a shot or two of espresso. Whichever you choose, you’ll want 6 ounces of it, which is 3/4 of a cup.
4. Heat up a 4 ounces (aka 1/2 cup) of your milk of choice in either a small sauce pan or a frother that heats up milk. When warm, add your milk to the mug with the syrup.
5. Stir, then top with your prepared whipped cream, drizzle on some extra salted caramel apple syrup, dust with a sprinkling of cinnamon and enjoy homemade fall feels.

Looking for other festive fall drinks? Try:

• pumpkin cream cold foam – truthfully I wait all year for this: pumpkin cream cold foam is life. give me the pumpkin cream, hold the coffee. JK, the slight bitterness of coffee juxtaposed against the creamy sweetness of pumpkin cold foam? Swoon.
• banana coffee – not exactly seasonal, but my other current coffee hyperfixation
• Vietnamese coffee – sweet, creamy perfection
• mint mojito coffee – sounds strange, but minty coffee is so good. If you’ve ever have Philz, you know what I mean.

That’s it for now, happy fall feels!
xoxo steph

Caramel Apple Coffee Recipe

Caramel apple coffee blends with the richness of salted caramel and a lil cream top to make the perfect cup of coffee.

Serves 2

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Salted Caramel Apple Syrup

• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 3 tbsp caramel sauce store bought preferred, see below for recipe
• 1 dash ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• salt to taste

Caramel Apple Coffee

• 8 ounces milk of choice, warmed
• 12 oz coffee hot
• whipped cream optional, to finish
• salted caramel drizzle optional, to finish

Estimated nutrition is intentionally different from Starbucks and assumes 2% milk and 3tbsp of caramel apple syrup per cup, no toppings.

Nutrition Facts

Caramel Apple Coffee Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 228
Calories from Fat 56

% Daily Value*

Fat 6.2g10%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Cholesterol 20mg7%

Sodium 141mg6%

Potassium 607mg17%

Carbohydrates 26.8g9%

Fiber 0.1g0%

Sugar 34.2g38%

Protein 5.3g11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.