Caramel Macchiato is a popular coffee drink with espresso shots, frothy milk, and caramel sauce. Skip the Starbucks line and make it home!
This Copycat Recipe is inspired by the beloved and popular coffee shop drink. If you like iced coffee drinks, be sure to check out other coffee shop Drink Recipes like our Cold Brew and Sea Salt Coffee.
Table of contents
- About our Caramel Macchiato Recipe
- Caramel Macchiato Ingredients
- Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- How to Make Caramel Macchiato
- Nutritional Facts
- Caramel Macchiato Recipe Tips & Tricks
- How to Store Caramel Macchiato
- Ideas to Serve Caramel Macchiato
- FAQ for Caramel Macchiato
- Caramel Macchiato Variations
- Related Recipes
About our Caramel Macchiato Recipe
Although you can get a Caramel Macchiato at your local coffee shop, making it yourself is quicker than waiting in line and so much cheaper than paying for your favorite drink every morning. An at-home Caramel Macchiato is not only a money and time saver, but it’s just as delicious, if not better than if you bought a fancy coffee house drink.
This delicious and easy Caramel Macchiato recipe is sure to become a favorite coffee drink in your house. It has everything you want in a sweet morning drink, including strong hot espresso, warm foamy milk, and delicious buttery caramel flavor. It comes together in just a few minutes, just a couple minutes longer than it takes to brew the espresso. It’s quick enough to pour it into a to-go cup to take on the road for busy mornings. If you make some treats like Blueberry Muffins the night before, you’ll never have to hit up a drive thru again.
Caramel Macchiato Ingredients
- Vanilla Syrup: Surprisingly, the Caramel Macchiato doesn’t start with caramel but with vanilla. The vanilla syrup works well to sweeten the drink. Caramel also has notes of vanilla in it, so the vanilla flavor ultimately adds to the overall caramel taste of the drink recipe.
- Milk: Next, you’ll need the milk. Whole milk gives you the richest, creamiest consistency, but you can use a lower percentage if you prefer. The key to this recipe is adding warm milk to the coffee, as well as topping it off with the fluffy foam. You can do this using a milk frother. When frothing the milk, turn the cup the milk is in at an angle. Put the frother in the milk and move it up and down. Bubbles will start to form on the surface of the warm milk until you have a thick foam that you can separate from the rest of the milk.
- Espresso: Depending on how strong you like your coffee, you can always add an extra shot or half shot of espresso to the mixture. Just keep in mind that espresso shots are already much stronger than regular brewed coffee.
- Caramel Sauce: Finish the recipe with delicious caramel sauce for the signature caramel flavor. You can even make your own Caramel Sauce using vanilla, milk, butter, corn syrup, and sugar.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Milk Frother: This little kitchen gadget is one of those tools that once you get it, it is life changing especially if you like coffee! It whips up your milk without steam so you can make cold foam and warm foam. It elevates a simple cup of coffee and the easiest way to make fancier drinks like cappuccinos, lattes, and macchiatos.
- Espresso Maker: A good quality espresso machine is another worthwhile investment for coffee lovers, but that doesn’t mean you need a fancy expensive one. The important thing is that you feel comfortable using it.
How to Make Caramel Macchiato
Time needed: 10 minutes.
- Make Vanilla Syrup
To start, prepare 4 espresso shots. Pour a tablespoon of vanilla syrup into the bottom of 2 heatproof mugs or cups. Glass cups work well, so you can see the layers of the Caramel Macchiato when serving.
- Prepare the Milk
Pour milk into a small saucepan and turn the stovetop to medium heat. Wait for the milk to reach 140 degrees, never letting it come to a boil. Use a milk frother to froth the milk until you have ½ cup froth milk along with the warm milk.
- Assemble Caramel Macchiato
Add half of the warmed milk to each cup. Top the milk with the espresso. Spoon ¼ cup of milk froth over the top of each cup.
- Caramel Drizzle
Finish with a caramel drizzle in a criss-cross pattern over the top, and serve the homemade Caramel Macchiato warm.
Nutritional Facts
Caramel Macchiato Recipe Tips & Tricks
Make a coffee-shop worthy macchiato with these barista tricks!
- How to Foam Milk
- The key to getting a good foam on the milk is to heat it at the right temperature, about 105-110 degrees. You want it slightly hot but not scalding, and as the foam starts forming, slowly move the frother to the top of the cup to create more foam.
- Perfect Temperature Coffee
- To keep your coffee at the perfect temperature, preheat your cup as you are making your espresso and foam. Simply pour hot water into your mug and let the water keep your cup warm while you prepare the drink.
How to Store Caramel Macchiato
- Serve: Due to the milk content, you really shouldn’t leave this coffee recipe sitting out at room temperature for more than an hour or two.
- Store: If you don’t finish your drink, you can cover it or pour it into an airtight container to store the leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just keep in mind that the milk foam will disintegrate. You can, however, reheat the coffee mixture and add an additional spoonful of milk foam before serving the drink.
- Freeze: Unfortunately, the milk and coffee will separate and not freeze well together. It’s much better to make this morning drink fresh than to try to freeze it.
Ideas to Serve Caramel Macchiato
Iced Caramel Macchiato: If you prefer iced coffee, you can make a copycat iced caramel macchiato instead. For this version, replace the hot espresso with cold brew concentrate. Add the vanilla syrup to your glass, then add a handful of ice cubes and pour the milk over top. Pour in the cold brew, then top it all off with a caramel sauce drizzle. You can also top the iced version with whipped cream.
Toppings: If you want an even sweeter drink, you can top your Caramel Macchiato with fresh Whipped Cream. Try mini chocolate chips, toasted coconut flakes, chocolate syrup, or even a little sea salt to add some extra flavor.
FAQ for Caramel Macchiato
Unfortunately, the milk foam and layers of the Caramel Macchiato won’t keep well in the fridge. However, if you prefer iced coffee, you can prepare the milk, espresso, and caramel sauce mixture in advance to store in the fridge. Then pour over ice before serving. Follow the instructions for making an iced Caramel Macchiato in the variations section.
A traditional macchiato is an Italian espresso with a little bit of milk. Starbucks created a Caramel Macchiato, which is a much sweeter spin on a classic macchiato. The coffee chain introduced the beloved drink in the ’90s. It’s made with espresso, warm milk, milk foam, sweet vanilla syrup, and caramel sauce to finish off the sweet and foamy espresso beverage.
Yes, if you don’t have an espresso maker, you can just use a regular drip coffee maker, French press, or however else you typically make your coffee. But espresso has a stronger flavor and higher concentration of caffeine. If you swap out the 2 shots of espresso for 2 ounces of coffee, you’ll want to use less milk and sweetener so that you can still taste the coffee flavor.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vanilla syrup
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 espresso shots
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce
Instructions
- Add one tablespoon of vanilla syrup to the bottom of a heat safe 12 ounce mug or cup (preferably glass to show the beautiful drink).
- Heat the milk to 140 degrees on a slow and steady heat (do not let milk come to a boil) and using a frother, froth the milk until you have about ½ cup of frothed milk in addition to the heated milk.
- Add half the milk to each cup, add in 2 espresso shots per cup.
- Spoon over the froth, about ¼ cup onto each cup.
- Drizzle the caramel sauce in a back and forth criss-cross pattern.
Nutrition
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Caramel Macchiato Variations
Dairy-free Caramel Macchiato: If you want to make a dairy-free version of this coffee recipe, replace the regular milk with a non-dairy alternative. Coconut, oat, soy, or almond milk are all good options. It may take a little more work to froth the non-dairy milk. But, the more protein and fat content that the substitute milk has, the better it will foam up.
More Flavors: This recipe walks you through making a Caramel Macchiato, but you could make the same drink with flavors apart from caramel. You can get coffee syrups in a variety of flavors like cinnamon, gingerbread, mocha, mint, and raspberry. Combine the espresso and milk as usual, then add your choice of flavoring for your own personal take on this drink recipe.
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