Kat's Kitchen

If there’s one thing I know to be true, it’s that cold foam makes any drink better! It adds a lovely sweet and creamy layer to any drink, not just coffee! Starbucks has some really delicious cold foams flavors you can perfectly replicate at home with only a few simple ingredients! So let’s dive into how to easily make your favorite Starbucks cold foams at home, so you can save your money, and elevate your at home drinks!

Equipment Needed For At Home Cold Foam

• A small cup
• A handheld milk frother

That’s it! With a cup and a handheld milk frother, you can create the most perfect, creamy, fluffy textured cold foam at home. Now let’s dive into the ingredients.

Ingredients Needed For At Home Cold Foam

• Flavored syrup, sauce or powder: You can make any flavored cold foam your heart desires by simply switching out the flavored syrup, sauce or powder you’re using!
• 2% milk: 2% milk is what Starbucks uses in their “sweet cream” which is the base of all their cold foams. To most accurately replicate the taste and texture of Starbucks cold foam, I recommend using 2% milk, but you can absolutely switch this up and use 1% milk, almond milk, coconut milk, oat milk, etc. Just know switching up the milk can affect the overall taste and texture of the cold foam.
• Heavy cream: Heavy cream is an essential ingredient in Starbucks cold foams! It gives the cold foam that thick, fluffy, and creamy texture, as well as keeping the cold foam on top of the drink, rather than immediately seeping into the drink. Yes you need heavy cream AND milk! This combination together gives the cold foam the thick texture while maintaining a soft, light and airy texture at the same time. I will share modifications later in the recipe, just know alternatives may affect the overall taste and texture of the cold foam!

Now that we’ve established the basics of what’s needed to make cold foam at home, let’s get into some popular substitutions you can make depending on your dietary preferences!

How To Make a Dairy Free Cold Foam?

To make Starbucks cold foam at home, you need: flavored syrup/sauce/powder, 2% milk and heavy cream. The dairy in the milk and heavy cream give the cold foam a high fat content which is what helps it get thick and creamy and stay on top of the drink. For a nondairy cold foam, we have to mimic that high fat content, using dairy free ingredients. A couple ways to do that:

Dairy free flavored syrup/sauce/powder + barista style oat milk+ soy milk

This method contains barista style oat milk which has a higher fat content than regular oat milks. Barista style oat milks usually have some sort of oil as an ingredient which helps increase the fat content of the milk so it can steam better and froth up better! Some of my favorite oat milks to use include: Oatly Barista Edition, Mooala Organic Barista Oat Milk, and Chobani Extra Creamy Oat Milk.

The soy milk is another plant based milk with a high fat content. Since soy milk is higher in fats, it is able to get thick when you steam or froth it! Frothing barista style oat milk and soy milk together will give you a beautifully thick at home cold foam that tastes delicious, sits on top of your drink, and is dairy free!

Dairy free flavored syrup/sauce/powder + barista style oat milk + chilled coconut whipping cream

Another dairy free combination you can use to make at home cold foam is using barista style oat milk with chilled coconut whipping cream! Again, the barista style oat milk will have a higher fat content than regular oat milk which will help with the cold foam texture. Coconut whipping cream has an incredibly high fat content so it makes it a perfect dairy free candidate for at home cold foam! The coconut whipping cream MUST be chilled in order for it to get thick and creamy so the moment you get it from the store, pop the entire unopened can in the fridge (or the freezer for an hour if you need it ASAP) overnight to get nice and cold. Then open the can, mix it with a spoon and then add it to your cup with the oat milk and your flavored sweetener!

Dairy free flavored syrup/sauce/powder + plant based milk + dairy free heavy cream

The last dairy free option I’ll share is one using any plant based milk you have in the fridge, along with dairy free heavy whipping cream- yes, such a thing exists. The higher fat content the plant based milk has, the better your cold foam will be! Great options include: barista style oat milk, coconut milk, and soy milk. The dairy free heavy whipping cream, like the barista style oat milks, have a high fat content, which makes it great for at home cold foam! Using both the plant based milk and the dairy free heavy cream will give you that perfect cold foam texture, just like Starbucks!

How To Make a Low Calorie Cold Foam?

I recommend simply using a sugar free syrup/sweetener and using half the amount of milk and heavy cream. Instead of 2 tablespoons of milk and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, simply use 1 tbsp of milk, and 1.5 tbsp of heavy cream. This will take the calories from 215 to 83 calories!

What Should I Do If My Cold Foam Won’t Get Thick?

1. You need a better milk frother! No, not all milk frothers are created equal. The best one I have tried is the BonsenKitchen handheld milk frother. It’s $6 on Amazon, and is essential for great at home cold foam!
2. You need more heavy cream! The 1:2:3 ratio I use in this recipe is fool proof, but if you steer away from it too much, you’ll notice your cold foam won’t get as thick. If you try to substitue with half & half or almond milk, your cold foam will not be the same texture as Starbucks, so keep that in mind. Be sure your heavy cream amounts are higher than your milk amounts!
3. Your milk frother needs new batteries! Sometimes you may notice your cold foam doesn’t get as thick as it used to and you didn’t change anything! Simply swap out the old batteries with new ones, and I guarantee you’ll have thick cold foam again!
4. Make sure your coconut heavy cream is chilled. For the dairy free cold foam recipe using coconut whipping cream, the cream HAS to be chilled or else it will not thicken. It should be chilled and thick, not room temperature and liquidy. Place the entire can in the fridge overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours before you froth it up.

Now let’s dive into the best part, the Starbucks copy Kat cold foam recipes!

Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Vanilla Syrup
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Salted Caramel Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Salted Caramel Syrup
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Salted Caramel Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Homemade Pecan Syrup (or Torani Butter Pecan Syrup)
• Pinch of salt (1/8 teaspoon)
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Homemade Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon canned pumpkin
• 1/2 tablespoon Vanilla Syrup
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• (Alternatively: use 1 tablespoon Torani Pumpkin Pie Sauce, 2 tablespoons 2% milk, and 3 tablespoons heavy cream for the cold foam)

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Homemade Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

For a dairy free version, see my Dairy-Free Homemade Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam Recipe!

Chocolate Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon Vanilla Syrup
• 1/2 tablespoon Chocolate Malt Powder
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Chocolate Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon Vanilla Syrup
• 1/2 tablespoon Macadamia Nut Syrup
• 1/2 tablespoon White Chocolate Sauce
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Nondairy Salted Caramel Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Salted Caramel Syrup
• 2 tablespoons barista style oat milk
• 3 tablespoons soy milk

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Nondairy Salted Caramel Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Nondairy Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Vanilla Syrup
• 2 tablespoons barista style oat milk
• 3 tablespoons soy milk

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Nondairy Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Cinnamon Caramel Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon Vanilla Syrup
• 1/2 tablespoon Torani Cinnamon Syrup
• 1/2 tablespoon Torani Caramel Syrup
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Cinnamon Caramel Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Nondairy Chocolate Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon Vanilla Syrup
• 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons barista style oat milk
• 3 tablespoons soy milk

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Nondairy Chocolate Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Matcha Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Vanilla Syrup
• 2 teaspoons sweetened matcha powder
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

**Note for the nondairy version, use 2 tablespoons oat milk and 3 tablespoons soy milk

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Matcha Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Horchata Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Homemade Horchata Syrup
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

**Note for the nondairy version, use 2 tablespoons oat milk and 3 tablespoons soy milk

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Strawberry Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Strawberry Cream Cold Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Strawberry Syrup or Strawberry Puree
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

**Note for the nondairy version, use 2 tablespoons oat milk and 3 tablespoons soy milk

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Strawberry Cream Cold Foam over any drink you’d like!

Oleato Golden Foam

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Vanilla Syrup
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

**Note for the nondairy version, use 2 tablespoons oat milk and 3 tablespoons soy milk

Recipe:

• Add all the ingredients to a small cup, and froth together with a handheld milk frother for 30-60 seconds or until the cold foam is thick and creamy.
• Pour the Oleato Golden Foam over any drink you’d like!

Seasonal Cold Foams

I think by now you get the gist that you can make any cold foam you want by simply frothing together:

• 1 tablespoon flavored syrup/sauce/powder
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

For a non dairy cold foam, froth together:

• 1 tablespoon nondairy syrup/sauce/powder
• 2 tablespoons barista style oat milk
• 3 tablespoons soy milk

For the seasonal Starbucks cold foams, I’ll share my recommended syrups, sauces, and powders for each cold foam:

Pistachio Cream Cold Foam

• Pistachio Syrup

Lavender Cream Cold Foam

• Homemade Lavender Syrup (or Torani Lavender Syrup )

Apple Crisp Cream Cold Foam

• Apple Brown Sugar Syrup (or equal parts: Torani Apple Syrup and Torani Brown Sugar Cinnamon Syrup)

Chocolate Peppermint Cold Foam

• Homemade Peppermint Syrup (or Torani Peppermint Syrup OR Peppermint Bark Sauce) + Chocolate Malt Powder
• For sugar free: Torani Sugar Free Peppermint Syrup + cocoa powder
• Optional Toppings: chocolate shavings/chocolate curls and crushed candy cane pieces

Sugar Cookie Cold Foam

• Homemade Sugar Cookie Syrup (or Torani Cupcake Syrup)
• Optional Topping: sugar sprinkles

Chestnut Praline Cold Foam

• Homemade Chestnut Praline Syrup (or Torani Hazelnut Syrup + Torani Salted Caramel Syrup
• For sugar free: Torani Sugar Free Hazelnut Syrup + Torani Sugar Free Salted Caramel Syrup
• Optional Chestnut Praline Topping: 1/4 tsp ground clove, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp raw sugar (regular sugar works too), 1/8 tsp sea salt – mix to combine

Caramel Brûlée Cold Foam

• Homemade Caramel Brûlée Sauce (or equal amounts of Torani French Vanilla Syrup and Torani Caramel Sauce)
• For sugar free: Sugar Free French Vanilla Syrup + Sugar Free Caramel Sauce
• Optional Topping: Crushed butterscotch candy

Irish Cream Cold Foam:

• Irish Cream Syrup
• For sugar free: Sugar Free Irish Cream Syrup
• Optional Topping: Cocoa powder

Non Starbucks Cold Foams To Try

As we’ve discovered, the limit does not exist when it comes to at home cold foam! You can make whatever flavored cold foam you want to make! Here are some of my non Starbucks cold foam flavors you have to give a try!

• Brown Butter Cold Foam
• Ube Cold Foam

It’s time to get your favorite syrup flavor(s) and handheld milk frother ready! Save your money and make your own Starbucks cold foam at home for much cheaper!