A completely homemade copycat Starbucks Caramel Macchiato recipe. Easy to make from scratch and absolutely delicious!
The photos in this post have been updated. Don’t worry. You’re in the right place. 😉
Some of the recipes I post go through careful planning and consideration before they come forth into the world. Some are complete accidents. This is one of the latter.
While the family was all together for the holidays, I made caramel sauce for one of our pies and had a ton left over. I hate wasting food, so I started putting it on everything, including my mom’s morning coffee.
My mother, being a huge Starbucks fan took one sip and said, “Hey, this is better than Starbucks!” And thus, this post was born.
To be 100% honest, my Starbucks drink of choice is their white chocolate mocha, but I did try one of their caramel macchiatos just so I could compare the two, and I definitely prefer this one. I find the homemade flavors a little brighter, a little stronger.
Plus, YOU can control the level of sweetness which is always my biggest beef with Starbucks drinks.
And I know this doesn’t technically qualify as an authentic macchiato because it simply uses cream instead of foamed milk and strong black coffee rather than espresso, but Starbucks plurals their panini “paninis,” so they’re not exactly a paragon of Italian authenticity either. 😉
This recipe is both wonderful and terrible because you are not limited by whether or not you have caramel sauce at home to make it. You whip up the caramel yourself in five minutes flat. So if you keep heavy cream on hand (which I do), you can make these any time you feel like it (which I definitely shouldn’t).
The finished product has a robust caramel flavor but isn’t too artificially sweet the way so many caramel creamers are. It’s delicious. It’s amazing. It’s better than Starbucks.
And if you are looking for more tasty coffee drinks, try my Pumpkin Spice Latte (Two Ways!), Eggnog Latte, Easy Homemade Mocha, and White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha.
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Better Than Starbucks Caramel Macchiato
Ingredients
Caramel Sauce
- 2 tablespoons (1oz) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Coffee
- 1 cup of your favorite strong black coffee very hot
- 1-3 teaspoons sugar*
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- Whipped cream optional
Instructions
Caramel Sauce
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add heavy cream, brown sugar, and salt. Stir well.
- Bring to a gentle simmer and allow to cook for 4 minutes, until thickened, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and mix in vanilla. Transfer to a mason jar with a lid for storage.
Mix
- Stir coffee, 1 tablespoon of the caramel, sugar, and cream together. Taste and add more sugar if needed.
- Top with whipped cream and another drizzle of caramel if desired.
- Drink and enjoy that $4.50 you just saved yourself.
Notes
Nutritional Information (1 tablespoon sugar, no whipped cream)
Caramel adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Small-batch Information: This sauce can be a little tricky to cook in a small batch because it very easily overcooks and becomes hard candy. But if you watch it like a hawk, you can halve it and cook for 3-4 minutes. I wouldn’t try quartering.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
Original photography, circa 2016.
Pat says
Love it! Love it! Love it! Thank you for posting this recipe. It is easy, quick and inexpensive. The taste is just as good if not better than some of the places I go to buy a cup of coffee. Another bonus is I don’t have to sit in a long line and wait for my order. Order up at home!!!!
Tracy says
Lol thanks, Pat!! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Tali says
This is freakin’ delicious!
I made the caramel and ate most of it by the spoonful before I had the chance to make the drink , when I finally made the drink, it was delicious
Glenda says
Thank you sooooo much for sharing. I agree with your mom! This is better than Starbucks. So creamy.
Marla says
I know this is an old post, but I just ran across it today. Luckily I had all the ingredients to whip up a batch immediately! This is so much better than a chain-produced coffee, seriously! I accidentally bought some espresso-ground coffee recently and it is REALLY strong, so it made the perfect base for this. Thanks for the lovely tutorial, recipe and post. The photos are gorgeous!
Tracy says
Thank you, Marla!! So glad you enjoyed it!
Norma says
OMG…I made the caramel sauce with truvia brown sugar and I made homemade whip cream with truvia powdered sugar. You are not kidding, better than Starbucks.
Tracy says
Thanks, Norma!! So happy to hear this works with truvia!!
Amanda Muskego says
I used vegan butter and replaced heavy cream with coconut cream. It turned out amazing!!!! The coconut gives it an extra hint of flavor. Can’t wait to add it to my coffee!
Tracy says
So thrilled to hear this works with coconut cream! Thanks for taking the time to comment. It’s so helpful for other people who want to make a vegan version!
Jane says
My husband, who is not a coffee drinker, loves this coffee. I now make it for him every morning. I went to write the recipe on a notecard and realized I was adding not 1 TBSPN of the caramel, heavy cream, and sugar combined, but 1 Tbsp. Of caramel, 1 TBSPN heavy cream, and 1 tsp sugar to his coffee. Oops a little rich for my taste, but he likes it that way! He agreed it’s as good if not better than Starbucks.
Kimberly says
It’s very delicious. We’re out of butter so I used margarine and I only had heavy whipping cream so I used what I had it still came out super yummy. Now I can save money buying macchiato creamer and I probably won’t ever by caramel sauce again! Thanks for the recipe!
Tracy says
Glad to hear this works with margarine! And so happy you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks, Kimberly!
AnnaB says
Thank you for posting this!! Just what I was looking for 🙂
Tracy says
Yay! Happy to help. 😉
Kimberly J Ballard says
I am making this sauce now mainly because stire bought sauce is expensive and too thin. I doubled the recipe and can’t figure out how long to cook it.
Tracy says
Hi, Kimberly, I usually do about 5 minutes for double this recipe. Hope you enjoyed your macchiato!