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Pistachio Cream Cold Brew is a delicious and refreshing iced coffee recipe you can make at home in a matter of minutes. Whipped and fluffy vanilla sweet cream cold foam is flavored with nutty pistachio goodness and poured over a glass of cold brew coffee that’s been sweetened with vanilla simple syrup for a delightful Starbucks-level drink right in your own kitchen!
I’m a sucker for pistachio. Whether it’s a recipe for a beloved chocolate and pistachio Bundt cake or a simple pistachio latte, I love to find recipes to enjoy pistachios.
So naturally, my latest recipe had to be the pistachio cream cold brew coffee that Starbucks has on their menu. Scroll down to checkout the recipe video!
I’m a bit obsessed with cold foam coffees. Like my pumpkin cream cold foam, salted caramel cold foam, Irish cream cold foam, and peppermint mocha cold foam.
I love them all! It’s so hard to pick a favorite. This pistachio variation might be inching toward the top of the list though!
Ingredients for this recipe
- Cold Brew Coffee – I’ve shared an entire outline on how I make homemade cold brew coffee for you to use!
- Heavy Cream – We combine this with milk and vanilla syrup to make a homemade vanilla sweet cream.
- Milk – Starbucks uses 2% milk in their vanilla sweet cream cold foam recipes, but you can use whole milk or skim if you have it.
- Pistachio Syrup – from a bottle or homemade, whichever you prefer.
- Vanilla Syrup – Yes, you guessed it, I’ve got a recipe for homemade vanilla simple syrup, too!
- Browned Butter Cookie Topping – not totally necessary, but totally delicious! Find out how to make it below.
Pistachio Cream Cold Foam Cold Brew Recipe
This is just a quick overview, more detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
- Make the vanilla cold brew coffee. By combining vanilla simple syrup and cold brew coffee (homemade or store-bought) in a glass filled with ice.
- Make the vanilla sweet cream. It’s so easy and keeps in the fridge for days.
- Turn the sweet cream into pistachio cold foam. By adding the pistachio syrup to the sweet cream and frothing.
- Top the cold brew with the pistachio cold foam. For even more coffee flavor you can use coffee ice cubes.
- Sprinkle with browned butter cookie topping. It really makes the whole drink, imo.
Homemade Browned Butter Cookie Topping
While you don’t have to make the garnishes for homemade cold foam recipes, I like doing it to feel like I’m getting the full Starbucks experience right at home.
For this pistachio cream cold foam recipe that means making a buttery and crunchy browned butter cookie topping. Here’s how it’s done:
- Crush up the butter cookies until only small crumbs remain. I do this in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. Measure out ¼ cup of crumbs and set aside.
- Next, brown 2 tablespoons of salted butter. I have an entire walkthrough on how to make browned butter, and also detailed how to do this more thoroughly in the recipe card below.
- Once the butter is browned, combine it with the cookie crumbs.
Voila! Now you’re ready to top your homemade cold foam drink and enjoy!
How much vanilla simple syrup to add to iced coffee?
As I state in my homemade vanilla iced coffee recipe, one pump of Starbucks syrup is roughly equivalent to 1 tablespoon.
In their pistachio cream cold foam, a Grande (16oz) size gets two pumps of vanilla syrup. This equates to 2 tablespoons or 1 fluid ounce.
If you like a really sweet coffee or are making a larger serving, feel free to use more. Vice versa, if you’re making a smaller glass or prefer your drink less sweet, use only 1 tablespoon.
The bonus of making a Starbucks copycat recipe at home is that you can totally customize it to your liking!
Other Coffee Recipes You May Enjoy
- Homemade Caramel Iced Coffee (Made with homemade caramel simple syrup!)
- Espresso Tonic
- Easy Iced Mocha (I’ve also got a post outlining how to make a hot mocha latte.)
- 3 Ingredient Iced Vanilla Latte (I’ve got a hot vanilla latte recipe, too!)
Watch the recipe video!
Pistachio Cream Cold Foam Cold Brew Coffee
Equipment
- Hand-held milk frother, optional
- Ninja blender, optional
Ingredients
For the cold brew coffee:
- 12 ounces cold brew coffee
- 2 tablespoons vanilla simple syrup
For the pistachio cream cold foam:
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup 2% milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla simple syrup
- 2 tablespoons pistachio syrup
For the browned butter cookie topping:
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- ¼ cup finely crushed butter cookies
Instructions
For the cold brew coffee:
- Add 12 ounces of cold brew coffee and 2 tablespoons of vanilla simple syrup to a glass filled with ice, stirring to combine.
For the pistachio cream cold foam:
- Meanwhile, combine ¼ cup heavy cream, ¼ cup 2% milk, 1 tablespoon vanilla simple syrup, and 2 tablespoons pistachio syrup in a ninja blender and blend on high for 10 – 20 seconds, or until thick and foamy. (This is the same as adding 2 tablespoons of pistachio syrup to ½ cup of my vanilla sweet cream recipe.)
- Alternatively, you can use a hand-held milk frother to whip the cold foam in a separate glass or mason jar.
- Pour the cold foam over your prepared cold brew and top with a sprinkle of browned butter cookie topping (recipe follows), if desired.
For the browned butter cookie topping:
- In a small saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons salted butter over medium-low heat until butter begins to gently bubble.
- When butter is bubbling, begin to gently swirl the pan, keeping the liquid moving. Bubbles will increase and butter will foam. As this happens, the water is evaporating and the milk solids are falling to the bottom of the pan.
- As the milk solids fall, they will toast and become brown. Continue swirling pan until bubbling and foaming subsides. Remove from heat and immediately stir in ¼ cup finely crushed butter cookies.
- Sprinkle a small pinch over your pistachio cream cold brew when serving.
- Store leftover browned butter cookie topping in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Video
Notes
- Refer to post for recipe notes and tips!
- Nutrition facts based on pistachio cream cold brew served without cookie crumb topping.
Genevieve says
Hello! I had a question about the pistachio syrup. Is a more liquid syrup still okay for the recipe, or a thicker syrup? I've seen the company's pistachio syrups and noticed that it is a thicker syrup. I wanted to double-check and see if a thicker or thinner syrup is needed, or if both are fine.
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Genevieve (that's my niece's name too!),
A more liquid version is absolutely ok! I know Sbucks uses more of a "sauce" and that brands like Monin or Torani really have more of a flavored simple syrup that is thinner but both/either work fine. It's more about the flavor of the pistachio than a thickness of liquid as it gets mixed into the espresso and milk. So as long as you're using something pistachio flavored you are good to go!
I've also contemplated seeing if I can recreate the thicker Sbucks version using whole pistachios at home. Maybe I should give it a try?!
Thanks 🙂
Amanda