Cold, sweet, slushy like Dunkin Donuts frozen coffee recipe.
Listen yall… this frozen coffee is off the chain! I can drink one of these everyday but I’m on a diet and tryna lose weight so unfortunately I can’t drink one as often as I’d like too. But let me tell yall 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 a frozen coffee was around 1997 when I was 10 yrs old. I remember being with my mom and her best friend, Carla, who were doing some clothes shopping in 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 let me have 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 dont want us to develop a caffeine addiction or because drinking caffeine keeps you up at night and they dont want it disrupting our sleep?
Whatever the reason, I remember me and 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 always saw 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 site. From that point on, you could find me with a coffee colatta in my hand everyday, 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 moms didn’t want me drinking too much when I was young? Well, I was 15 and no one couldn’t tell me nothing. Lol! I’d buy me one every morning before school and folk start calling me the Coolatta boy!
My Frozen Coffee addiction became contagious
Years later as an adult, I end up introducing my friend’s Barb, and play aunt Tina to it and they end 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.
Dunkin Donuts discontinued the Coffee Coolatta
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 every 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! Who idea was this and is there any chance they bring the Coffee Coolatta back?”
Sounds like someone under great distress doesn’t it? LMBBO! I was hurt! They were looking at me with this pitiful look and a look of shock like they were thinking, “Dang he is really hurt by this – poor guy.”
It took me some time to get use 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 like a 50/50 Coffee/Cappucino taste. The Dunkin Frozen Coffee taste 100% like Coffee and I remember reading an article on Dunkin Donuts website explaining why they changed the Coffee Coolatta.
Their explanation was that they wanted to cater to Coffe lovers and so they changed the flavor to make it taste more like… well, COFFEE!!! Anyway, I had no choice but to settle for the Dunkin Frozen Coffee drink.
I eventually got use to it and they also started giving us the option to add different flavors to it like Butter Pecan, Caramel, Vanilla, and Hazelnut. They’re like shots of syrups we can add to give the Dunkin Frozen Coffee different flavors.
Creating my own Frozen Coffee recipe
My cousin krystal, who recently started learning how to cook and now enjoys it suggested that I make my own frozen coffee recipe.
That’s because we hang out a lot and everytime 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 dont even have to tell her how I want it!
She has it all memorized now and even picks herself up one time to time. Lol! As I said, my addiction has rubbed off on everyone. Im 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.
- A 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 dont need to do this but I like to just to make sure everything well incorporated before blending.
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Coffee: The base
- Cream: Makes it a little milky, adds flavor, and lightens the coffee.
- Sugar: Sweetens the drink.
- Ice: Is needed to create the slushy consistency.
- Flavoring syrup (optional) For flavor.
About 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.
And as you can see in the photo below they come in all flavors so you can switch things up and use whatever kind you like and customize this recipe to your liking.
This is just a base recipe to show you how to make frozen coffee but you can use whatever flavors or kind of coffee you want. As long as you’re using the same amounts you’re good.
Also be mindful that if you use a coffee that already has cream in it or a sweetened coffee, you wont need to add sugar or cream unless you want to add more.
About the Creamers and alternative
Just like with the coffee and syrups, the creamers comes 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 others you can use.
- Powder cream: There shouldn’t be any reason you cant find the liquid creamer but if all you have on hand is the powder kind, that’s fine.
It serves the same purpose and has the same effect so it doesn’t matter which one you use. How much would you use? As much as you need to achieve the color of the coffee you see in the photos below.
About 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 need because I dont use enough syrup to make the frozen coffee as sweet as it should be.
If you dont 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 ask me to make her a cup before adding sugar.
So I always blend everything and then add the sugar to mine last because she doesn’t like a lot of sugar. The syrup sweetens it enough for her.
About 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 because I like small pieces of ice you can suck on. Lol!
Blending the ice: Ok so when me and aunt Lorretta 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 suppose to use more ice than liquid.
We filled the blender up almost to the top with the coffee and didn’t add enough ice. When we blended it, we were left with delicious cold coffee and was 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 did only use a little coffee and a lot of ice to make this drink. So I reduce the amount of coffee and doubled the amount of ice.
That was the key so remember that! Lol! Using the same amount of ice as coffee or slightly more ice than coffee is what gets you the consistently you need.
About the flavoring syrup
Butter pecan & Vanilla syrup: So in this recipe we’ll be using butter pecan and vanilla syrup. I like butter pecan more but feel vanilla is necessary so I use more butter pecan than vanilla.
Yall can use whatever kind of flavor you like best. You can use caramel syrup, hazelnut syrup (my moms favorite) whatever flavor you like best. 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 because it’s what I see people using the most and always see in grocery stores.
And just so you know, you dont have to use any flavoring syrup at all. If you’re a coffee lover and love the strong taste of coffee, than the coffee, ice, sugar, and creamer is all you need.
How to make frozen coffee
1. Add your coffee to the blender with the creamer to get a nice color.
2. Add in the sugar and syrup.
3. Add the ice.
4. Blend until nice and slushy.
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 dont see any more ice – like lil clear chips of ice because those lil 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. I use to always get it with whipped cream until I got older. Then I started to buy it without it.
So that’s it guys! I hope you enjoy this frozen coffee and make sure to comment below if you enjoy this recipe. Also like, share, and subscribe!
Enjoy, later.
Pbj~
The Best Frozen Coffee Recipe (Taste Like Dunkin Donuts)
Cold, sweet, slushy like Dunkin Donuts frozen coffee recipe.
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
Instructions
1. Shake the coffee well, then add coffee to the blender.
2. Add in the creamer.
3. Add in the sugar and syrup, then stir well with a spatula or spoon.
4. Add in the ice and blend until smooth.
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2 Responses
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