This copycat Starbucks vanilla sweet cream cold brew recipe is a delicious iced coffee made with a handful of simple ingredients. Not only are these delicious, making them at home is a great way to save money. Once you make your own, you won’t even miss the Starbucks version!
Are you a sucker for a fancy iced coffee drink when the weather is warm? I know I sure am! As someone who’s been making homemade coffee drinks for over 15 years and developed lots of copycat Starbucks recipes for this website, I’ve learned the secrets to recreating coffeehouse favorites at home.
Adding a DIY vanilla sweet cream cold foam to our homemade drink recipes library was a no-brainer because I almost always order these when we stop at Starbucks on a hot day. Let’s face it, that glorious vanilla cold foam really takes smooth cold brew coffee to the next level.
I’ve tested this recipe countless times to get the cream-to-milk ratio just right so it froths beautifully and the cold foam is thick and luxurious without being too heavy. I’ve also figured out the ideal amount of vanilla syrup to use so it has that signature sweet vanilla flavor without being too sweet.
If you’re a coffee lover like me, you’ve got to try making DIY coffees recipes at home. Not only are they delicious, it’s a great way to save money!
In addition to this vanilla sweet cream cold brew, some of my favorite summer coffee drinks to make at home include this iced brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso recipe, a homemade honey almond milk cold brew, and an iced sugar cookie latte (because sugar cookie awesomeness is good all year around in my book!).
Jump to:
- What is Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
- Why You’ll Love this Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew Recipe
- Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Recipe Ingredients
- How to Make Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
- Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew Recipe Variations
- Sweet Cream Vanilla Cold Brew Tips
- Other Uses for Vanilla Sweet Cream
- How to Store Sweet Cream Vanilla Cold Brew
- Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew FAQs
- Love this Recipe? You May Also Enjoy
- Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew Recipe
What is Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
Starbucks launched their Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew in 2016 and it has become one of their most popular iced coffee drinks, featuring smooth cold brew coffee topped with a layer of vanilla sweet cream cold foam. The cold foam is made by frothing together heavy cream, milk, and vanilla syrup until it gets super light and airy. When you pour it over the cold brew, you get those gorgeous swirls as the cream slowly mixes into the coffee.
What makes this drink different from a regular iced coffee with cream is the texture. The frothed sweet cream is lighter and fluffier than regular cream, making each sip extra creamy and luxurious. The vanilla adds just the right amount of sweetness without overpowering the smooth, slightly sweet flavor of the cold brew coffee itself.
Why You’ll Love this Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew Recipe
- Quick and easy to make. This is such an easy recipe to pull off at home, and it only takes a few minutes to whip together!
- Light, sweet, and refreshing. A vanilla sweet cream cold brew tastes like a vanilla-forward sweetened iced coffee. This simple and delicious coffee is perfect to sip on when the weather is warm.
- Cost effective. There’s no need to spend a lot of money on these at the coffee shop! This delicious coffee drink is super easy to make at home. Save even more money by making your own homemade vanilla syrup and your own cold brew too!
Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Recipe Ingredients
- Heavy Whipping Cream. You’ll need heavy cream to make the perfect sweet vanilla cream.
- Skim Milk or 2% Milk. Used in addition to the heavy cream to lighten things up a smidge.
- Vanilla Simple Syrup. This is what adds the vanilla flavor and sweetness in this vanilla cold foam recipe. You can make your own vanilla syrup (I’d highly recommend it!) or use store bought syrup. Popular purchased options (that you may even see at your local coffeeshop) are Starbucks vanilla syrup, Torani vanilla syrup, or Monin vanilla syrup.
- Cold Brew Coffee. You can use homemade cold brew or pre-made cold brew in this recipe. I personally use this easy cold brew coffee recipe for mine, using freshly ground medium roast coffee beans from a local coffee shop.
- Ice Cubes. Used to keep your drink nice and cold.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Helpful Equipment
Using a milk frother to make your vanilla sweet cream cold foam is super helpful in this recipe! I personally love and use this handheld frother for my coffee drinks. You could also use an electric milk frother if preferred.
Serve your drink in a tall glass, like a highball glass or tall juice glass. You could also serve this up in a large mason jar!
I also recommend using reusable straws when you can because they’re a better option for the environment.
How to Make Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
Step 1: Add milk and heavy cream into a small to medium container.
Step 2: Add vanilla syrup to the milk and heavy cream.
Step 3: Use a handheld milk frother to blend until doubled in size and foamy. Set aside.
Step 4: Fill a tall glass with ice.
Step 5: Top with cold brew coffee until the glass is about ¾ full.
Step 6: Top with vanilla sweet cream cold foam. Give it a little stir and enjoy!
Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew Recipe Variations
- Make it extra creamy by using whole milk instead of the skim or 2%. Want an extra decadent experience? Use whole milk with your heavy cream for your cold foam.
- Use half and half. Cut down on the number of ingredients (or use what you have on hand) by replacing the heavy cream and milk with half and half.
- Amp up the sweetness and vanilla flavor. If you prefer extra sweet coffees, add additional vanilla simple syrup to your milk mixture when making the cold foam. You could even add a teaspoon of vanilla extract straight to your coffee if you want your drink really vanilla-y.
- Make it dairy free. If you need a non-dairy milk option, I’d recommend trying oat milk because it froths really well. You could also try using coconut milk. Please note doing so won’t make an exact replica of the Starbucks version, but it will still be delicious.
Possible Dietary Restrictions?
This Starbucks copycat recipe is vegetarian and gluten free as written. See below for modification to make this a dairy-free coffee recipe.
- Make this into a dairy-free iced coffee replace the heavy whipping cream and other milk with oat milk! Note your vanilla sweet cold foam may not be quite as creamy, but it will still make a lovely cold coffee drink.
Sweet Cream Vanilla Cold Brew Tips
Make sure to use a liquid measuring cup (or vessel) that has at least 2x the capacity needed for frothing the vanilla sweet cream cold foam. Bigger is better here because frothing your heavy cream, milk, and vanilla syrup will nearly double your liquid’s volume! Having a large enough liquid measuring cup (or whatever vessel you want to use) helps ensure you’re not creating a tidal wave over the edge (I maybe know this from experience…learn from my mess, no need to create your own).
Other Uses for Vanilla Sweet Cream
This vanilla sweet cream cold foam isn’t just for cold brew! You can use it to elevate all kinds of coffee drinks and beverages:
- On other iced coffees and espresso drinks. Top your regular iced coffee, your DIY Starbucks brown sugar shaken espresso, iced mochas like our iced white chocolate mochas with this sweet cream for an instant, luxurious upgrade.
- Over iced teas. This is especially great on iced chai tea / iced chai tea lattes and on iced matcha lattes! You can also try it on iced black teas (like earl grey) or other teas that would pair nicely with a vanilla flavor for a creamy, vanilla twist.
- Make a soda float. Try it on root beer or your favorite cola for a float-like drink.
- On cocktails and mocktails. Add to fruity drinks for a fun, float-like drink experience (think like an orange creamsicle vibe)!
- Over hot drinks for a foamy cap. Try it on a hot chai, mocha, or latte!
You can also adjust the flavor by using different syrups instead of vanilla. Try caramel syrup, hazelnut syrup, or even seasonal flavors like pumpkin spice syrup to create different variations of sweet cream cold foam.
How to Store Sweet Cream Vanilla Cold Brew
Unfortunately, this vanilla sweet cream cold brew doesn’t store well once assembled. The cold foam will gradually sink into the coffee and lose its frothy texture, so these drinks are best enjoyed immediately after making them. If you try to save a completed drink, you’ll end up with sweetened cold brew coffee rather than that signature layered look with fluffy cream on top (which is still delicious).
If you’ve made more sweet cream cold foam than you need, you can store the frothed foam in the fridge for a few hours, but it will deflate and lose some of its airiness. You can re-froth it before using, though it won’t be quite as fluffy as when freshly made.
Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew FAQs
You may see both of these items on the Starbucks menu, but they are different! Sweet cream is a vanilla-flavored cream that gets mixed into drinks whereas sweet cream cold foam is a frothed and airy milk and cream mixture that sits on top of a variety of drinks.
This depends on the brewing method and coffee-to-water ratios used when making the cold brew and your regular coffee. As a baseline, the Mayo Clinic has estimated that 12 ounces of cold brew contains 144mg of caffeine whereas 12 ounces of regular coffee contains anywhere from 109mg – 285mg of caffeine.
No, the ingredients used and the resulting texture is different. Cold foam is a frothed or aerated milk and cream mixture (with vanilla cold foam being made by whipping a mixture of heavy whipping cream, 2% milk, and vanilla syrup together), resulting in a light and airy froth that is pourable. Whipped cream is made with heavy whipping cream, a sweetener (usually powdered sugar), and sometimes a small splash of vanilla extract, resulting in a cream that holds hit shape.
While “healthy” is a relative term depending on your dietary needs, cold foam generally has fewer calories, less fat, and less sugar that whipped cream.
Love this Recipe? You May Also Enjoy
Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon skim or 2% milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla syrup
- ice cubes
- 8-12 oz cold brew coffee (depends on glass size, fill glass ¾ full)
Instructions
- In a medium sized liquid measuring cup (or container of choice), make the vanilla sweet cream cold foam by adding the heavy cream, milk, and vanilla syrup and frothing until nearly doubled in size and foamy. Set aside.
- Fill a tall glass with ice.
- Fill the glass ¾ full with cold brew coffee.
- Top with vanilla sweet cream cold foam.
- Sip and enjoy!
Notes
- Make it extra creamy by using whole milk. Do so by replacing the skim or 2% milk one-for-one with whole milk.
- Use half and half. Option to replace the heavy cream and milk one-for-one with half and half.
- Amp up the sweetness and/or vanilla flavor. Adjust to your desired sweetness level by adding additional vanilla syrup to your cold foam before frothing. Option to increase vanilla flavor (without adding more sweetness) by adding a small splash of vanilla extract straight to your cold brew coffee before topping with the vanilla sweet cream cold foam.
- Make it dairy free. If you need a non-dairy milk option, I’d recommend trying oat milk because it froths really well. You could also try using coconut milk. Please note doing so won’t make an exact replica of the Starbucks version, but it will still be delicious.
Meredith says
we’ve had spring-like weather here this week, and this DIY vanilla sweet cream cold brew is the perfect coffee to sip on to enjoy it! so good!
Della says
Trying to save $$$$ so making this at home. So delicious! I’ve tried it with dairy and oat milk and it’s great both ways!
Meredith says
YAY! So happy to hear you’re enjoying this DIY coffee at home!
Chelsea Vetre says
This recipe is so creamy and flavorful! Who needs Starbucks when you have this: awesome recipe for a nice little morning treat.
Meredith says
So happy to hear you loved this recipe Chelsea! Thanks so much for giving it a try 🙂
Nikki says
Do yourself a favor and make this! It tastes just like Starbucks but it’s cheaper, requires little effort, and really elevates your morning coffee! Thank you for sharing this recipe with the world!
Meredith says
This makes me so happy! Thank you for giving the recipe and try, and I’m so glad to hear that it rivals Starbucks for you 🙂
Brad V says
Super tasty! I’m more of a straight-up iced coffee guy, but my wife saw this and wanted to try it. No regrets!
Meredith says
So happy to hear you gave this a try Brad, and that you and your wife both enjoyed it!