How To Make The Perfect Vanilla Latte: 3 Creamy and Delicious Vanilla Bean Latte Recipes

The classic vanilla latte is a fan favorite amongst avid coffee devotest, with its subtle vanilla notes and creamy dairy goodness that compliment the buttery espresso. It’s no wonder why the infamous Starbucks vanilla latte has developed a cult following. This is why we wanted to make our own twist of the classic starbucks version and create different varites for various coffee drinks, whether you drink dairy, plant milk, or prefer sugar-free or regular, or hot or iced, we got you covered! We also made sure to cover the basics of creating the perfect vanilla latte at home or ordering the delicious brew at your local Starbucks.

This post is all about creating the perfect vanilla latte copycat recipe for Starbucks!

vanilla latte
Copyright Travis Bland via canva.com

Commonly Asked Questions For Vanilla Latte

What does Vanilla latte mean?

Vanilla latte basically just means a vanilla-flavored latte. If you make a normal latte you can use either a store-bought or homemade vanilla syrup to flavor the latte and turn it into a vanilla latte.

What’s the difference between vanilla coffee and vanilla latte?

Vanilla flavored coffee is made by using coffee and either a vanilla extract or vanilla syrup. A vanilla latte uses vanilla syrup as well. However, coffee is simply brewed coffee. While a latte is made from espresso and steamed milk. The difference between the two is how the coffee or espresso is made and how the drink is prepared.

How much coffee is in a vanilla latte?

Typically you will use 1/2 cup of strongly brewed coffee or 2 ounces of espresso.

What’s usually in a latte?

A latte contains either strongly brewed coffee or espresso. Plus, steamed milk, milk foam and of course any flavorings and sweeteners added.

Is there dark espresso or blonde espresso in vanilla lattes?

Most commonly you will find that lattes are made using a dark espresso. However, some places like Starbucks uses blonde espressos for their lattes. For example, Starbucks has a blond vanilla latte thats made using blonde espresso. Blonde espresso is sweeter, lighter and creamier. While a dark espresso has that roasted smoky flavor. So, depending on the flavor you’re going for you can use either types of espresso and both will taste great!

Does Starbucks vanilla latte have caffeine?

Yes, Starbucks’ vanilla latte is made using a blonde espresso. Blonde espressos typically have a higher caffeine content than a dark espresso would due to the way the beans are roasted. For example, a grande Starbucks blonde vanilla espresso contains 170mg caffeine while a normal caffe latte contains 150mg in the same size.

How many calories is a vanilla latte from Starbucks?

This famous tasty drink from Starbucks is definitely not a low calorie drink so be prepared for the calorie intake! A Starbucks blonde vanilla latte contains about 250 calories in a grande size of drink.

What’s in an iced vanilla latte?

An Iced vanilla latte is basically the same thing as a regular vanilla latte only it’s served over ice instead and doesn’t have milk foam over the top of it. Because its missing that last part of the drink the iced version is a bit lower calories at about 190 calories for a grande size of an iced blonde vanilla latte.

Is the iced vanilla latte sweet?

This question is very based on personal preference. The latte probably isn’t very sweet in general for the average person. But we like to lower the sweetness in everything so for us it is a little sweet but it isn’t overbearing and undrinkable if we don’t lower the sweetness.

Is iced vanilla latte healthy?

The Vanilla latte is a pretty high-calorie drink with the iced vanilla latte being just a tiny bit lower in calories. In terms of sugar, the vanilla latte contains more sugar than the iced vanilla latte does. The vanilla latte also contains more fat than the iced vanilla latte does. So, when comparing the iced vs the hot vanilla latte, the iced one is definitely more healthy. But when compared to other drinks the vanilla latte is definitely not the healthiest drink with it having a pretty high sugar and calorie content. But it’s also not as bad as other drinks like Starbucks’ super sweet Frappuccinos. Plus, even if the drink isn’t the healthiest drink to start with, you can always customize it to be healthier just how you like it.

What’s in a Starbucks Vanilla Latte?

A Starbucks vanilla latte has 3 main ingredients to it. These ingredients are..

-Milk

-Espresso

-Vanilla Syrup

What’s in Starbucks blonde vanilla latte?

A Starbucks Blond Vanilla Latte has 3 main ingredients

  • milk
  • espresso – For at-home recipes, starbucks recommends using Nespresso pods
  • vanilla syrup

Different Ways to order a vanilla latte at Starbucks!

You can order a Starbucks vanilla latte either in person at the store or online through the Starbucks app for pickup. If you decide to utilize the Starbucks App for ordering you can find the vanilla latte in two places. You can find the hot version of the Starbucks Vanilla Latte under “Hot Coffee” in the “Lattes” portion of the page. You can now customize your hot vanilla latte to be made how you like it. If you’re choosing to go with the cold version of the Starbucks Vanilla Latte you can find it under the “cold coffee” tab in the “Lattes” section of the page. You can now customize your drink and order it for pickup. If you’re the in-person ordering type you can always walk up and order either the hot or cold vanilla latte with any customizations you might desire. You can always swap out milk type, sweetener levels, toppings of the drink, and more.

Premade Starbucks Vanilla Latte Drinks

Starbucks Discoveries vanilla latte iced espresso

Starbucks VIA Vanilla Latte Single Serve Packets

Different ways to Make Vanilla Lattes at home! Iced, Dairy Free, and more!

Vanilla Syrup Ingredients (used for the recipes below)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract

How to make

In a pan you’ll heat water until hot. Once your water is hot you’ll add your sugar and stir until dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved you will remove the pan from the heat and add your vanilla extract. The syrup should be thicker than water of course but not too thick. Add sugar and vanilla extract as desired if you like it more sweet or flavored.

Milk Foam (for hot drinks) Ingredients

1/2 cup milk- You can use any milk you desire. Some milks might take longer to froth than others but most will produce great frothy results!

How to make

There are several ways to make milk foam but I’ll only discuss a few options here. In a pan heat milk until hot on the stove top. Use an immersion blender, hand held mixer or hand held milk frother to froth the milk. You can also do this using an actual milk frother machine. You can also pour milk into a mason jar, shake it up until frothy, heat it up in the microwave and its ready! Once your milk is frothy you can pour it atop your drink and enjoy!

Starbucks Vanilla Latte Copycat Recipe

Vanilla Latte ingredients

2 shots espresso or 1/2 cup strongly brewed coffee

1 cup milk

2 tbsp Vanilla Syrup

Optional if desired

Whipped Cream

Milk Foam

How to make

First you’ll need to make a strongly brewed coffee or espresso. You can do this by simply brewing 2 tbsp coffee in 6oz water. Or on the other hand you can make espresso shots. Now that you have either your strongly brewed coffee or your espresso shots you’ll pour it into the cup that you intend to drink out of and set it aside. Meanwhile, you’ll want to steam milk. You can do this by using a stovetop, heating your milk and using an immersion blender, handheld mixer or milk frother. Or you can put milk in a container, shake it and heat it up. Once you have your steamed milk you will now pour your steamed milk over your espresso or coffee. Lastly, if you desire you can top your latte off with whipped cream. Or you can make a frothy milk foam to use as a topping for your latte.

Starbucks Iced Vanilla Latte Copycat Recipe

Iced Vanilla Latte ingredients

2 shots espresso or 1/2 cup strongly brewed coffee

1 cup milk

2 tbsp Vanilla Syrup

1/2 cup ice

Optional if desired

Cold Foam

Whipped Cream

How to Make

The first step here is to make a strongly brewed coffee or espresso. You can make strongly brewed coffee by simply brewing 2 tbsp coffee in 6oz water. Or you can make espresso shots using an espresso machine. Once you have either your strongly brewed coffee or your espresso shots you’ll set it aside and let it cool. Meanwhile, you will add your ice to the cup that you intend to drink out of. Once your espresso/coffee is cool you can pour it into the glass that you have your ice in. Now you can add your milk, cold foam, whipped cream, etc., and enjoy!

If you’d like to learn how to make a sweet cream cold foam to use as the perfect topping for your vanilla latte read our post by clicking below!

Dairy Free Vanilla Latte recipe

Dairy Free Vanilla Latte Ingredients

2 shots espresso or 1/2 cup strongly brewed coffee

1 cup of any non-dairy milk

2 tbsp Vanilla Syrup

1/2 cup ice

Optional if desired

Milk foam (if served hot)

Cold foam (if served cold)

Whipped Cream

How to make

First and foremost you will want to make a strongly brewed coffee or some espresso shots. You can either make strongly brewed coffee by simply brewing 2 tbsp coffee in 6oz water or you can make espresso shots using an espresso machine.

Once you have either your strongly brewed coffee or your espresso shots you’ll set it aside and let it cool.

Meanwhile, you will add your ice to the cup that you intend to drink out of.

Once your espresso or coffee is cool you can pour it into the glass that you have your ice in.

We recommend waiting until the coffee or espresso is cold so you don’t unintentionally and prematurely water down your drink. Now that you’ve poured your espresso into your cup you can add your dairy-free milk and enjoy hot or over ice!

That wraps up our post on the best ways to make the infamous vanilla latte! Whether you love the Starbucks vanilla latte or making your own creation we hope you enjoyed this post and if you love coffee then make sure to read our other post!

Skip to content