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–+ servings
A café-worthy drink comes together in minutes – faster than a Starbucks drive-thru and more economical too! Use this recipe as a guide. Like your coffee a stronger? Reduce the milk – or add an extra splash for a weaker blend. Similarly, the vanilla and caramel may be adjusted up or down to create your ideal beverage.

Vanilla or Caramel Iced Coffee (or caramel-vanilla!)

5 from 1 vote
A café-worthy drink comes together in minutes – faster than a Starbucks drive-thru and more economical too!
Use this recipe as a guide. Like your coffee a stronger? Reduce the milk – or add an extra splash for a weaker blend. Similarly, the vanilla and caramel may be adjusted up or down to create your ideal beverage.
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Prep Time 3 minutes
Total Time 3 minutes
Servings 1 serving

Ingredients
 

For Vanilla Iced Coffee

  • Ice
  • 2 tablespoons Vanilla Simple Syrup*
  • 1 cup Cold Brew Coffee or your favorite strong brewed coffee, chilled**
  • ¼ - ⅓ cup (60-80ml) half & half, whole or 2% milk, oat milk, or other milk of choice (or up to ½ cup if you prefer a creamier beverage)

For Caramel Iced Coffee

  • Ice
  • 2 tablespoons Caramel Sauce*
  • 1 cup Cold Brew Coffee or your favorite strong brewed coffee, chilled**
  • ¼ - ⅓ cup (60-80ml) half & half, whole or 2% milk, oat milk, or other milk of choice (or up to ½ cup if you prefer a creamier beverage)
  • Optional: a pinch of sea salt stirred into the coffee for a salted caramel option; whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce for topping

Instructions

  1. Fill a glass with ice. Add vanilla or caramel syrup (or half and half) and coffee and stir to combine. (If using homemade caramel sauce and it's cold, gently warm to melt before adding to coffee.)
  2. Top with half & half or milk of choice, stir again, and enjoy!

Notes

For a vanilla caramel iced coffee, use half vanilla syrup, half caramel.
*To adjust sweetness: Start with 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon syrup if you prefer a lightly sweet drink and increase by up to an additional tablespoon if you prefer a sweeter drink.
**The cold brew recipe is perfect if you’d like to keep a pitcher on hand.  For an easy store-bought shortcut, Dunkin’ sells cold brew pouches, which steep in a pitcher of water overnight and are quite good. Similarly, most grocery stores now sell 48-ounce jugs of Starbucks cold brew and similar products. Also, I often make a pot of very strong coffee and chill it for use throughout the week.
Tip: If you like strong iced coffee, make ice cubes out of coffee, and use them in place of regular ice cubes.
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