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Homemade Caramel Iced Coffee is the recipe you need to make when you want a drink that's cool, refreshing, and full of rich caramel flavor! With only three ingredients this coffee recipe comes together in just a few minutes!
The flavors of caramel and coffee are a perfect pairing in this iced coffee recipe. A sweet caramel simple syrup is mixed with cold coffee and topped with a splash of cream to make a seriously delicious drink you'll be enjoying in minutes!
If you love this iced coffee recipe be sure to check out my homemade vanilla iced coffee, salted caramel cold foam cold brew, and vanilla sweet cream cold brew!
Ingredients for this recipe
Making Caramel Iced Coffee at Home
This is just a very brief overview, you can find more in-depth instructions in the recipe card below!
Can I Use Hot Coffee to Make Iced Coffee?
Yes, technically you can but I don’t recommend it. Pouring hot coffee over ice will cause the ice cubes to melt and can dilute the coffee significantly.
If you’re craving iced coffee and only have hot coffee on hand, I recommend mixing the coffee, syrup, and cream together in a glass first before adding the ice, so the coffee cools down a little bit from the syrup and cream.
It’s always best to brew your coffee and chill it in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight, before using.
I like to pour any leftover coffee from our morning brew into a mason jar and store in the fridge to make a quick iced coffee in the afternoon when I need a pick-me-up!
Alternatively, you can make your own coffee ice cubes out of leftover coffee and use them in this recipe to avoid diluting the drink!
How much caramel simple syrup should I use?
If you’re familiar with getting an iced coffee drink from Starbucks, you may (or may not) know that one pump of their syrups is roughly equivalent to 1 tablespoon.
So if you order a tall iced coffee from Starbucks it will have 3 pumps of syrup in it, which is equivalent to 3 tablespoons.
Personally, I like a less-sweet coffee drink so I tend to only add 1 or 2 tablespoons. I always recommend starting with less simple syrup and adding more if you find the coffee isn’t yet sweet enough to your liking!
Watch the recipe video!
Homemade Caramel Iced Coffee
Equipment
- Glass and Straw
Ingredients
- Ice
- 1 - 3 tablespoons caramel simple syrup
- 8 ounces coffee, either brewed and chilled or homemade cold brew
- Favorite cream/dairy, to taste (we like half & half, but you can use whatever you prefer)
Instructions
- Fill a glass with ice. Add in the caramel simple syrup, to taste.
- Add in the brewed coffee and cream.
- Stir to combine and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- See post for recipe notes and tips!
Mara says
This looks so yummy! I've never made homemade caramel syrup before so I'll have to give that a try over buying the premade versions.
(This comment was left by a contractor of midwestniceblog.com)