Ingredients
- 2 cup milk, or dairy/non-dairy alternative of your choice (Starbucks uses oat milk in the 2022 version of this drink, but used 2% in 2021)
- 3 oz Apple Brown Sugar Simple Syrup (recipe below), plus more for drizzling
- 4 shots (2 oz) brewed espresso or strong coffee (Starbucks uses blonde espresso in the 2022 version of this drink, but used regular espresso in 2021)
- 0.5 cup frothed milk (Starbucks uses oat milk in the 2022 version of this drink, but used 2% in 2021)
- Caramel sauce, for drizzling (optional)
- Ground cinnamon, for topping
Apple Brown Sugar Simple Syrup
- 2 cup water
- 2 cup brown sugar (I recommend dark for more caramel flavor, but you can use light too ), packed
- 4 cups sliced apples (from 1-2 apples)
- 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat milk to about 140-150 degrees (you can do this in the microwave or on stovetop. See post and notes for how to steam and froth milk at the same time in a mason jar).
- Add apple brown sugar simple syrup and brewed espresso to a heat-proof glass.
- Pour in steamed milk and top off with froth.
- Drizzle with additional apple brown sugar simple syrup and caramel. And sprinkle on some cinnamon.
Apple Brown Sugar Simple Syrup
- Put water, sugar, sliced apples, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until mixture thickens and apples have softened.
- Strain mixture into a bowl, being sure to press down on the apples with a wooden spoon or spatula to extract as much juice as possible.
- Keep syrup in bowl or pour into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.
Notes
- To steam and froth milk at the same time without a frother, pour about 1 ¼ cups milk into a mason jar and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds. Place in microwave for 30-45 seconds, until about 140-150 degrees. Pour 1 cup steamed milk into the macchiato and spoon froth over the top.
- If you prefer not to froth the milk, you can leave it out and the drink will still be delicious. Feel free to top with whipped cream if you want.
- If this drink is too sweet or too milky for you, you can certainly play around with the ratios to get the strength and flavor that you like best!
- I recommend using a sweet apple like Honeycrisp, Fuji, Gala, etc.
- You should get about 1 ¼ cups of simple syrup with this recipe.
INGREDIENTS
You only need a few simple ingredients to make this copycat Apple Crisp Macchiato! Here’s what’s required (be sure to see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full directions)
- Apple Brown Sugar Syrup (I’ll show you how to make this below or you can buy it)
- Brewed Espresso or Strong Coffee (use blonde espresso if you want to follow Starbucks’ 2022 changes)
- Milk (or dairy/dairy alternative of your choice), steamed with some frothed (use oat milk if you want to follow Starbucks’ 2022 changes)
- Caramel and ground cinnamon for topping, if desired
The Starbucks macchiato also has a “spiced apple” drizzle, but that seemed super close to the apple brown sugar syrup I was already making, so I used that instead. Plus, I drizzled on some caramel sauce for fun.
🍎 HOW TO MAKE APPLE BROWN SUGAR SYRUP
This apple simple syrup is super easy to make and great to keep in your fridge during the fall season! I’ll show you how to make it here, but I also have a full post on it if you want even more details.
If you really don’t want to make a homemade syrup, I recommend either buying Starbucks’ apple brown sugar syrup or combining an apple syrup and a brown sugar cinnamon syrup. I haven’t tried this recipe with store-bought simple syrup, but I’m sure it would be close.
I usually make my simple syrups with granulated sugar, but since the Apple Crisp Macchiato calls for an apple brown sugar simple syrup, I used brown sugar instead for this one.
Starbucks doesn’t specify what kind of Apple they use, but I highly recommend a sweet apple.
I love Honeycrisp, but Fuji, Gala, and red delicious are also quite sweet.
To make the syrup, put water, brown sugar, sliced apples, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.
Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until mixture thicken and apples have softened.
Strain mixture into a bowl, being sure to press down on the apples with a wooden spoon or spatula to extract as much juice as possible.
Keep syrup in bowl or pour into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using.
Syrup will thicken as it cools.
When stored properly, this syrup will keep for about a month in your fridge, so you can have a homemade fall macchiato whenever you want!
☕️ HOW TO MAKE APPLE CRISP MACCHIATO
Now that your apple brown sugar simple syrup is done, you’re ready to make the macchiato! Don’t worry; this is a very easy recipe and results in an incredible hot drink with some fabulous fall flavors!
Simply heat the milk to about 140-150 degrees. You can do this in the microwave or on the stovetop (see below for how to heat the milk and froth it in a mason jar).
Now, add apple brown sugar simple syrup and brewed espresso to a heat-proof glass.
From all the research I did, I found that Starbucks generally uses 2 shots of espresso and 3 pumps of syrup in their grande macchiatos.
A shot of espresso is 1 ounce and there’s a lot of conflicting information on how many ounces a pump of syrup is. Answers seem to range anywhere from .25 oz to 1 oz, but it seems the general consensus is .5 oz.
So, I recommend using 2 oz brewed espresso shots and 1 ½ oz apple brown sugar simple syrup. But, of course, you can use any measurements you want!
Now, pour in the steamed milk. And top off with frothed milk.
Drizzle on more of the simple syrup… And caramel sauce if you want to. I also recommend sprinkling a little ground cinnamon over the top.
This coffee drink tastes just like the Apple Crisp Macchiato you get at Starbucks! It’s sweet and milky with a nice touch of apple flavoring, making it the ultimate fall drink.
I’m honestly shocked by how much I enjoy the apple flavor along with the coffee and milk, but it’s so good!
🥛 HOW TO FROTH MILK WITHOUT A FROTHER
If you’re serious about coffee drinks, chances are you own a milk frother. But if not, there’s a super easy way for you to froth milk without one! Actually, there are quite a few ways, but this is one of my favorites.
When I use this technique, I do it for the froth and the steamed milk all in one.
Simply pour milk into a mason jar (no more than halfway full).
Put the lid on and shake the jar as hard as you can for about 30 seconds.
See how frothy it got just from shaking it?
Then pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute, depending on how much milk is in your jar.
I use about 1 ¼ cups milk for this recipe and heat it for 45 seconds.
You can pour the steamed milk right into your coffee and then spoon the froth in.
Check out that froth!
❓ DO I NEED TO FROTH THE MILK?
Starbucks Apple Crisp Macchiato does have frothed milk in it, but if you don’t feel like going through the effort, you can certainly leave it off and this drink will still be delicious.
And if you want a fun substitute, you can always add whipped cream instead!
🍬 WHAT IF THE DRINK IS TOO SWEET FOR ME?
If you think this drink is too sweet, simply use less simple syrup! Starbucks special drinks are certainly known for being sweet, but you can always order them with fewer pumps of syrup.
And, of course, when you’re making them at home, you can use less syrup. Or more if you like a really, really sweet drink! It’s so easy to give this cup of coffee the right amount of sweetness for you.
🥤 CAN I USE LESS MILK?
Yes! I tried to stay close to the ratios that Starbucks baristas use when making macchiatos, but once you have all the ingredients, you can use any measurements you want.
In fact, Starbucks macchiatos are a little too milky for me. I’m a black coffee drinker typically and while I do love a “treat” coffee from time to time, I still like more of a coffee flavor.
I’ve been making this apple crisp coffee with 1 oz. apple simple syrup, 4 oz. coffee, and 4 oz. milk with some froth. And it’s still a milky sweet treat!
CAN I USE A NON-DAIRY ALTERNATIVE?
Yup! Just like how at Starbucks you can order your drinks with almost any kind of milk or dairy/non-dairy alternative, you can use whatever you want in this Apple Crisp Macchiato, too.
And now, in 2022, Starbucks uses oat milk, a very popular non-dairy milk in their Apple Crisp Macchiato… And I think it tastes best with it! Plus, this makes for an easy vegan drink.
Just note that all milks aren’t made equal when it comes to frothing and some may be harder to froth than others. Luckily, oat milk is really easy to froth!