Cold, slushy Dunkin Donuts frozen coffee recipe made with coffee, creamer, ice, sugar, and flavoring syrups.
Listen, y’all… this frozen coffee is off the chain! I can drink one of these every day, but I’m on a diet and tryna lose weight, so unfortunately, I can’t drink one as often as I’d like to. But let me tell y’all how my love for this drink started.
Love at first taste (my first frozen coffee)
My love for frozen coffee is anything but NEW! The first time I tried frozen coffee was around 1997, when I was 10 years old. I remember being with my mom and her best friend, Carla, who was doing some clothes shopping at Cheltenham Mall.
My mom had bought a frozen coffee and shared some with me, and I swear I thought it was the best drink my taste buds had ever made contact with – that’s how much I loved it. I begged her for more, but she only gave me one more sip.
She wouldn’t give me much because she didn’t want us drinking coffee for some reason. I remember adults not allowing their children to have Coffee when I was young. Btw, what’s that all about?
Is it because it has caffeine in it and they don’t want us to develop a caffeine addiction, or because drinking caffeine keeps us up at night and they don’t want it disrupting our sleep?
Whatever the reason, I remember kids from our church only being allowed to drink tea, and we’d sneak and get a cup of coffee when there were no adults around. Lol! Because of that, I have always seen coffee as an adult drink.
Dunkin Donuts coffee coolatta
Anyway, about 5 years later, around 2002 or so, when I was much older, like 15. I remember going to Dunkin Donuts with my grandma Viola. I was never a big fan of donuts, so I rarely bought anything from Dunkin’ Donuts.
The only thing I’d get from there was the croissant bacon eggs & cheese breakfast sandwich or tea. Lol! But one day I saw a lady leave out with what looked like that frozen coffee I saw my mom with 5 years prior.
It even had the same smell, and so I was intrigued. I ordered one; it was called a Coolatta. They had different flavors: vanilla bean, strawberry, and my favorite, Coffee. I bought one; a small one, and from the first sip, I fell in love!!!
I felt like I was reunited with someone I fell in love with at first sight. From that point on, you could find me with a coffee Coolatta in my hand every day, and that’s no lie. My mom would always tell me to stop drinking, so many of them.
I was addicted; maybe that’s why Mom didn’t want me drinking too much when I was young. Well, I was 15, and no one could tell me anything. Lol! I’d buy myself one every morning before school, and folk started calling me the Coolatta boy!
My frozen coffee addiction became contagious🤣🤦🏾♂️
Years later, as an adult, I introduced my friend Barb and play aunt Tina to it, and they ended up falling in love with Coffee Coolatta’s, too. Haha! Unfortunately, around 2015 or so, Dunkin Donuts decided to get rid of the coffee Coolatta altogether.
The end of the Coolatta era😞🥹
I remember being devastated like it was a death in the family. I had fell in love with this drink when I was a little boy and been drinking it ever since. I didn’t know how to cope with this change Dunkin Donuts made.
I remember asking one of the customers why. “Why did they get rid of it? It was one of the best-selling drinks on the menu!! This is so stupid! Whose idea was this, and is there any chance they could bring the Coffee Coolatta back?”
It sounds like someone is in great distress, doesn’t it? LMBBO! I was hurt! They were looking at me with this pitiful look and a look of shock, as if they were thinking, “Dang, this poor guy is really hurt by this.”
It took me some time to get used to the new “Dunkin Frozen Coffee.” I like it, but it’s not the same as the Coolatta. It has a stronger coffee taste and the ice isn’t as smooth. Those are the main differences.
To me, the Coolatta had more of a 50/50 coffee/cappuccino taste. The Dunkin Frozen Coffee tastes 100% like Coffee, and I remember reading an article on the Dunkin Donuts website explaining why they changed the Coffee Coolatta.
They explained that they wanted to cater to coffee lovers, so they changed the flavor to make it taste more like COFFEE!!! Anyway, I had no choice but to settle for the Dunkin Frozen Coffee drink.
I eventually got used to it. Then, they also started giving us options to add different flavors like Butter Pecan, Caramel, Vanilla, and Hazelnut. They’re like shots of syrups we can add to make Dunkin Frozen Coffee flavorful.
Why I created this frozen coffee recipe
My cousin Krystal, who recently started learning to cook and now enjoys it (she cooks every day now and swears she’s a chef, lol), suggested that I make my version of the frozen coffee recipe.
That’s because we hang out a lot, and every time she drives over to my crib to chill, I ask her to pick me up one from Dunkin Donuts. She even knows how I like it now – I don’t even have to tell her how I want it!
She has it all memorized now and even picks herself up one from time to time. Lol! As I said, my addiction has rubbed off on everyone. I’m sort of a bad influence because these aren’t healthy by any means. Lol!
Cookware & utensils you’ll need:
- Measuring cups and spoons: To follow the recipe to a T, make sure you have measuring cups and spoons on deck.
- Blender: You can’t make this without a blender. A blender is what makes it nice and slushy.
- Big spoon or spatula: You need this to stir the ingredients in before blending it. You don’t need to do this but I like to ensure everything is well incorporated before blending.
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Coffee: The base ingredient
- Cream: Makes it a little milky, adds flavor, and lightens the coffee.
- Sugar: Sweetens the drink.
- Ice: Ice is needed to create a slushy consistency.
- Flavoring syrup (optional) For flavor.
- Whipped Cream: This adds a creamy flavor and serves as an optional topping.
The coffee and alternatives
- Cold-brew Black Coffee: I use the premade coffee called cold brew coffee. I keep it in the refrigerator after opening it and pull it out whenever I want to make a frozen coffee or hot coffee.
- Homemade Coffee: Now, if you want to use fresh homemade coffee and brew it yourself, you can do that. Wait until it chills, then use it to make frozen coffee. Just make sure you’re sticking with the same amount
- Unsweetened Coffee: Make sure to use unsweetened cold brew coffee. If you use coffee that’s already sweetened, there’s no need to add sugar unless it’s not sweet enough for you.
- Flavored Coffee: As you can see in the photo below, they come in all flavors, types, and brands: Use your favorite and make the recipe yours.
- Creamed Coffee: If you use cold bottled coffee that has cream in it already, there’s no need to use a creamer unless you want to.
The creamer
Just like with the coffee and syrups, the creamers come in different flavors as well. I use the original creamer, but they have Hazelnut, Vanilla, Caramel, Butter Pecan, snickers… and every flavor you can think of.
They also have different brands. I like to use the brand in the photo below, Coffee Mate by Nestle, but there are other brands you can use, such as your favorite.
- Powder creamer: There shouldn’t be any reason you can’t find the liquid creamer, but if all you have on hand is the powder kind, that’s fine. Use as much as needed to attain the desired color.
- Flavored creamer: If you use a creamer with hazelnut, vanilla, caramel, butter pecan, etc, you don’t need to use any of the same syrups. If you use hazelnut creamer, for example, there is obviously no need to use hazelnut syrup.
The sugar
I only use a small amount of sugar because the syrups I use are pretty sweet. But a small amount of sugar is definitely needed because I don’t use enough syrup to make the frozen coffee as sweet as it should be.
If you don’t like yours very sweet or want to cut down on the sugar, feel free to omit it. Again, you can customize this recipe. My mother loves my recipe, but when I make it for us, she always asks me to make her a cup before adding sugar.
So I always blend everything and then add the sugar to mine because she doesn’t like a lot of sugar. The syrup sweetens it enough for her.
The Ice
Ok, so when it comes to the ice, you can use the ice cubes in your freezer if you want – Ice is ice! Lol! I like to keep a big bag of ice in my freezer, especially in the summer, for cocktails, etc
Okay, so when Aunt Lorretta and I worked on this recipe, we figured out what ingredients to use and how much to use pretty quickly. The problem is we didn’t realize we were supposed to use more ice than liquid.
We filled the blender almost to the top with coffee and didn’t add enough ice. When we blended it, we were left with delicious cold coffee and were confused as to why it didn’t create a frozen coffee.
I had to look on YouTube to see how Dunkin Donuts made it, and then I remembered that they only used a little coffee and a lot of ice to make this drink. So I reduced the amount of coffee and doubled the amount of ice.
That was the key, so remember that! Lol! Using a lot of ice or a cup or two more ice than coffee is what gets you the consistency you need.
Whipped cream
- Reddi-Wip: Reddi-Wip is the standard brand for whipped cream. I like to add it to the frozen coffee to provide depth of flavor. You won’t notice much of a difference, but the Reddi Wip adds a nice touch.
- It’s optional: It’s completely optional, by the way, and the frozen coffee will taste just as good without it, so don’t worry if you don’t have any.
- Alternatives: As far as alternatives go, Cool Whip is probably your best bet, even though it has a different flavor from Reddi-Wip.
Flavoring syrups
Y’all can use whatever kind of flavor you like best. You can use caramel syrup, hazelnut syrup (my mom’s favorite), or whatever flavor you like best.
- Butter pecan & Vanilla syrup: So, in this recipe, we’ll be using butter pecan and vanilla syrup. I like butter pecan more, but vanilla is necessary, so I use more butter pecan than vanilla. But vanilla flavoring is essential to any sweet or dessert recipe.
- Torani syrup: Just try to stick with using the same amounts I use at first until you master the recipe. I use the Torani brand, as you can see in some of the preparation photos. You can use whatever brand you want but this seems to be one of the top brands.
And just so you know, you don’t have to use any flavoring syrup at all. If you’re a coffee lover and love the strong taste of coffee, then the coffee, ice, sugar, and creamer are all you need.
How to make frozen coffee
- Add your coffee to the blender with the creamer to get a nice color.
- Add in the sugar and syrups.
- Add in the ice and blend until smooth.
- Then add in the whipped cream and blend well.
Tips for best results:
- Stir before blending: Just so that everything blends well, I like to stir after adding the syrup, which is heavy and seeps to the bottom before blending.
- Blend well: Blend until you don’t see any more ice – like little clear chips of ice because those little pieces will block the goodness as you’re sipping the drink with a straw. Lol! So blend that ice well.
What to top it with:
- Whipped cream: The most common thing to top this drink with is whipped cream. The whipped cream they use at Dunkin Donuts is Reddi Wip… you can use Cool Whip, too, but Reddi-Wip tastes best and is the standard.
- Chocolate chips or syrup: You can drizzle a little bit of chocolate syrup over the whipped cream or sprinkle some shredded chocolate or chocolate chips. You can’t go wrong with a chocolate and coffee combo.
- Caramel syrup: Just like chocolate syrup, caramel syrup goes great with coffee, too. You can even squirt some chocolate or caramel syrup around the insides of the cup before adding the coffee to it like they do with frappes at McDonald’s.
Storage and reblending
- Storage: If you have any leftovers that you didn’t drink, you can simply store it in the freezer, just make sure it’s covered to prevent freezer burn.
- Reblending: When you’re ready to drink it, all you have to do is sit it out until it becomes slushy and soupy again like a frozen coffee, or you can add a little creamer and coffee to it and blend it.
Other frozen beverages you might like:
So that’s it, guys! I hope you enjoy this frozen coffee. Make sure to comment below if you enjoy this recipe. Also, like, share, and subscribe to get notified whenever I post a new recipe!
Enjoy, later.
Pbj~
The Best Dunkin Donuts Frozen Coffee Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 Mins
- Total Time: 15 Mins
- Yield: 6
- Category: Beverages
Description
Cold, slushy Dunkin Donuts frozen coffee recipe made with coffee, creamer, ice, sugar, and flavoring syrups.
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Black Unsweetened Cold Brew Coffee
- 1/4 Cup Creamer
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 3 Tbs Butter Pecan syrup
- 2 Tbs Vanilla syrup
- 3 Cups Ice
- 1 Cup Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Shake the coffee well, then add coffee to the blender.
- Add in the creamer.
- Add in the sugar and syrup, then stir well with a spatula or spoon.
- Add in the ice and blend until smooth, about 45 secs.
- Add in the whipped cream and blend again for 15 secs.
Notes
If you feel this amount maybe too little because you’re making it for more than just yourself, simply double each ingredients.
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3 thoughts on “The Best Dunkin Donuts Frozen Coffee Recipe”
Didn’t have hazelnut, so I used vanilla and caramel, and didn’t add sugar. Soooooo good!
Happy To See you’re back. Love your old Videos too. Salmon Patties & Mac n Cheese.
I will be trying thank you for sharing looks good