Apple Crisp Macchiato

The past few weeks have been all about working on our fall favorites, and indulging in the nostalgic flavors of the season.

We’ve gone through a TON of pumpkin and apple goods lately, making all sorts of baked goods and fall drinks.

See, I’ve been on a bit of a Starbucks copycat recipes kick lately, as you may have noticed across two of my blogs. SO far, I’ve posted my version of the classic Pumpkin Spice Latte- The OG ultimate fall drink, and legitmately a cultural phenomenon at this point - and the Pumpkin Chai Latte.

Last year, they added a new drink to their fall menu - a kicked up apple macchiato, a hot drink with a spicy baked apple flavor.

... I’m always down to try new seasonal drinks. It’s a fun, tasty way to celebrate the start of the fall season.

This new apple crisp macchiato is, IMHO, the new drink of the fall. I prefer it to the pumpkin spice latte, and enjoy the layers of apple, spice, and brown sugar flavors it has going on.

The downsides?

Starbucks drinks are expensive, and these new flavor options are only available for a limited time!

Maybe I want a PSL in April, or a hot apple crisp macchiato in the middle of July!

Like the recipes linked above, this apple crisp macchiato copycat recipe lets you make your favourite coffee drink options at home, whenever you want.

So, now you can enjoy that Starbucks apple crisp macchiato you love... in the middle of May.

Ingredients

This recipe is made in two parts: a brown sugar apple syrup (a simple syrup that brings the fall flavors to the drink), and the drink itself.

Both are made with simple ingredients that you can find at any grocery store:

Apple Brown Sugar Syrup

The apple crisp syrup is made from boiled down apple cider, brown sugar, and a couple warm spices: Ground Cinnamon
Ground Cloves & Ground Nutmeg.

If you can’t find apple cider, you can use apple juice - it just won’t necessarily have as robust of a flavour.

Apple Crisp Macchiato

Aside from the syrup, you’ll need milk and coffee to make this drink.

The Milk

To be true to the source material - Starbucks’ Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato - recommend using oat milk.

It’s got such a great flavour and richness, we prefer it over every other non-dairy milk variety, when it comes to this recipe. Make sure yours is gluten-free, if you need it to be!

That said, you can definitely use almond milk, cashew milk, flax milk, soy milk, or even whole milk for making these.

I like to keep it to the first few options, with this one, as they’re closer to the flavours you’d expect in an apple crisp dessert!

As a note, the amount of milk called for gives a good balance to the drink, but it’s a suggestion. Feel free to use a bit more or less milk, to your tastes.

The Coffee

The source material uses shots of espresso - blonde espresso, specifically. It’s a lighter roast coffee, with a higher caffeine content than darker roast coffees.

So, for accuracy, you may want to use a Blonde Roast Coffee ... or Starbucks Blonde Roast Coffee, specifically.

That said, any strong coffee will work - made with an espresso machine or not!

I like to use a neutral coffee flavor, to really showcase the other flavours in the drink.

Garnishes

Garnishes are optional, but can be fun.

I like to just drizzle the froth with a bit of extra caramel sauce, but there’s definitely room to play with things.

Cinnamon sticks are great in the hot macchiato, and apple slices make a nice garnish to sit on the rim of an iced coffee. Red apple or Granny Smith apple, just whatever floats your boat.

Equipment

If you happen to have an espresso maker, awesome. If not, no big deal - just brew the coffee strong.

I do recommend having a Milk Frother.

They’re cheap and a lot of fun - I’ve been using them to make fancy coffee drinks, but ALSO to mix up small batches of vinaigrette dressings for our salads.

Handy little thing!

Finally, you’ll want something to serve them in.

I like to use 14 oz Glass Coffee Mugs, but really... any coffee mug will do.

14 fl oz is about the perfect size, though - it’s big enough to allow room for the foam!

How to Make Apple Crisp Macchiatos

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post. This is the pictorial walk through, with some additional info.

Apple Brown Sugar Syrup

This makes about 1 ½ cups of sauce, or about 24 Tbsp.

I use 2 tablespoon of syrup in the mug, and a bit less than 1 tablespoon as the drizzle. This gives me about servings per batch of syrup.

If you use less syrup, you’ll end up with more than 8 servings. If you use more, you’ll end up with fewer than servings.

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Measure apple cider into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer until volume is reduced to 1 cup.

Add brown sugar to pot, stir well to combine. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

Remove from heat, add cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Allow to cool to room temperature, store in a mason jar in the fridge until use.

To Assemble Hot Version

Measure apple brown sugar syrup into a mug, set aside.

Heat oat milk just to a simmer, use a milk frother to froth it up as much as you’d like.

Pour frothed oat milk over the syrup in your mug.

Pour your shot of espresso over the hot oat milk, without stirring.

To Assemble Iced Version

This recipe can also be used to make an iced macchiato.

On a basic level, you’d do the same as for a hot version, just skip heating and frothing the milk:

Fill a glass with ice cubes.

Measure the syrup and then the (cold!) oat milk over the ice cubes.

Top with the coffee, garnish as desired - Whipped cream and caramel drizzle is how I like it.

*****

That said, I like to take the additional step of making oat milk ice cubes ahead of time.

I’ll make a batch of syrup, coffee, and oat milk, mix it up well, and freeze it in an ice cube tray.

When I want a drink, I use those ice cubes, and proceed as normal with making the iced apple crisp macchiato.

I like to take my time sipping iced coffee drinks, and this prevents the flavour from getting diluted as the ice melts.

More Gluten Free Apple Recipes

Looking for some more tasty, gluten free apple desserts? I’ve got you covered with even more easy gluten free recipes!

Apple Cinnamon Caramel Popcorn
Candy Apples
Gluten Free Apple Cake
Gluten-Free Apple Crisp
Gluten Free Apple Pie
Gluten Free Caramel Apple Pancakes
Hard Apple Cider
Maple Caramel Apple Recipe

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