My homemade Apple Crisp Oatmilk Frappuccino is warmly spiced, salty-sweet, and brimming with fall-flavored goodness. This easy, frosty, dairy-free frappuccino recipe is the perfect budget-friendly way to celebrate the transition from late summer to autumn—it’s cozy AND cold!
Anyone else in an apple-picking mood? We’re barely into October, and the siren song of the orchards is calling me. I have all kinds of plans for baking apple-flavored yums like air fryer apple crisps, chewy apple cider cookies, and apple cinnamon monkey bread. But right now, when the daytime temps are still quite summery, I’m not quite ready to turn on my oven.
So, what’s a girl to do? Why, whip up some frosty, slurp-tastic Starbucks apple drinks, of course! Iced caramel apple cream lattes, iced apple crisp macchiatos, dairy-free iced apple crisp chai lattes, and iced apple crisp oatmilk shaken espressos have been regular morning fixtures at our house. We’re talking drinkable apple crisps, people. Sweet tooths, rejoice!
While all of these Starbucks copycats have been delightfully refreshing for shoulder season, last week the mercury climbed to an unreasonably high 90ºF. 🥵Clearly my only recourse was to bust out the blender and give my apple crisp coffee a frozen frappuccino makeover. For any fans of caramel apples, cinnamon apples, coffee, and milkshakes—this one’s for you!
[feast_advanced_jump_to]What is the apple crisp oatmilk frappuccino from Starbucks?
Starbucks’ frappuccinos are the brand’s signature line of frozen drinks, known elsewhere as “frappés.” They’re basically a sweet and creamy mashup of your favorite iced coffee drinks and smoothies. My DIY versions are simply made with cold brew, ice, milk, and flavored coffee syrup like the apple brown sugar syrup we use here.
Recently, they’ve started to incorporate dairy alternatives in these frosty treats, with offerings like the cinnamon crumble oatmilk frappuccino and this new apple crisp oat milk frappuccino. The dairy-free difference is subtle to the palate—oatmilk is a good stand-in for milk, offering the slightest nutty undertone while maintaining a rich, dreamy consistency.
This harvest-inspired frozen drink is arguably tastier than one made with dairy—after all, what’s an apple crisp without oats?? Then, to top it all off, we add a cloud of fluffy whipped cream and a drizzle of spiced caramel sauce—just like your favorite dessert, but in coffee form. 😋
What does it taste like?
If a crisp, cool day at the apple-picking farm could be distilled into a coffee-laced cup, this apple pie frappuccino would be it. The spiced apple brown sugar simple syrup adds a warm, sweet-tart brightness, perfect for balancing the robust, smooth flavor of cold brew.
Creamy oat milk introduces an a la mode richness and the faint flavor of toasty oats. Topping it off with a cloud of ethereally light whipped cream and a spiced apple caramel drizzle brings the apple crisp vibes in a big way, transforming your coffee break into a moment of childlike glee.
Why You’ll Love This Apple Crisp Frappuccino Recipe
- Actually Dairy-Free. Sadly for vegans and dairy-free folks everywhere, any Starbucks oatmilk frappuccino you order in store is not fully free from dairy. Luckily, my homemade version is!
- Customizable. Not only can you make your DIY apple frappuccino vegan-friendly, you can also tinker and tweak the recipe to your heart’s (and diet’s) content. Read on below for instructions on how to make it sugar-free, skinny, and more!
- Sensationally Seasonal. Cinnamon. Apple. Brown sugar. Caramel. Coffee. Milkshake. Need I say more?!?
- Money-Saving. Sure, I’ll splurge on a Starbucks drink from time to time, but mama needs caffeinated drinks pretty much all day, every day. If you’re in the same boat, don’t ditch the fancy coffee drinks—just ditch the outrageous Starbucks prices by making your own! 😉
Ingredients Needed
As with most recipes on the site, we only need a few basics. Here’s what to grab:
- Ice - For adding the frosty element any frappuccino recipe needs. If possible, start with filtered water for the cleanest tasting results.
- Cold Brew Coffee - For deep, delicious coffee flavor with low acidity and extra caffeine. While you can certainly buy it from the store, homemade is cheaper, tastier, and more customizable, and only requires 5 ingredients!
- Oat Milk - To achieve the proper creamy mouthfeel, make sure you’re reaching for full-fat oat milk (I love the Oatly brand) and/or a specific “barista blend.”
- Apple Brown Sugar Syrup - My homemade recipe is a snap to throw together and coss just a fraction of what you’d pay for store-bought. Wanna make it even cheaper? Instead of using whole fruit, use the peels and cores from your apple-baking adventures to get every last drop of flavor out of your groceries before they hit the compost bin.
- Xanthan Gum - Many readers have asked me about this ingredient—namely, they want to know what it is, whether it’s natural/safe, and why we add it. Not to fret! Xanthan gum is a safe, natural powder that’s most often extracted from corn. It acts as an emulsifier to hold the ice, milk, syrup, and coffee in perfect suspension so every sip of your apple frappuccino tastes like an autumn breeze.
- Whipped Cream & Caramel Sauce - Both are optional as garnishes, but I highly recommend adding them. The fluffy whipped cream and salty-spicy-sweet apple caramel drizzle take this Starbucks copycat over the top!
Substitutions
Fresh out of a key ingredient? Here are some easy alternatives to try:
- Ice - For more coffee-powered oomph, swap in coffee ice cubes.
- Cold Brew Coffee - You can also use strongly brewed and chilled espresso, Moka pot coffee, or conventional drip coffee.
- Oat Milk - Can’t do grains? Try using full-fat soy milk or coconut milk instead! Dairy options are also a-okay so long as you’re not allergic.
- Apple Brown Sugar Syrup - This Starbucks oat milk frappuccino recipe will work with any coffee syrup you like! For a similar spiced vibe, try my toasted cinnamon syrup, cinnamon dolce syrup, or cinnamon syrup. Pumpkin spice frappuccinos are also always welcome in fall!
- Xanthan Gum - Feel free to use an equal amount of guar gum or konjac powder, or add pantry basics like protein-packed chia seeds or flax seeds. (1 Tablespoon of either flax or chia = ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum.)
- Whipped Cream - Feel free to omit the whipped cream, or swap in another favorite coffee topper like apple caramel cold foam.
- Caramel Sauce - You’re welcome to omit this, or swap in maple syrup (which is a bit thinner, so drizzle carefully!), maple sugar chunks, cinnamon sugar, cookie crumbles, or the garnish of your choice.
How To Make Starbucks Apple Crisp Frappuccino With Oatmilk
This simple apple crisp Starbucks dupe comes together in just a few simple steps:
Step 1: Make Spiced Apple Drizzle (Optional). Stir together the caramel sauce and 1 tablespoon apple brown sugar syrup until well combined and set aside.
Step 2: Add the ice, cold brew coffee, oat milk, 3 tablespoons of apple brown sugar syrup, and xantham gum to a high-speed blender.
Step 3: Blend until smooth.
Step 4: Pour the frappuccino into a tall glass.
Step 5: Top with whipped cream for added richness. Garnish with spiced apple drizzle for even more yumminess. Drink up!
Optional Variations & Dietary Adjustments
Are you someone whose Starbucks orders end up being a paragraph long? I see you. Here are just a few of the ways you can customize your at-home order:
- Fully Vegan/Dairy-Free - This homemade frappuccino base is naturally vegan, but you’ll need to make sure your whipped cream and caramel are, too!
- Sugar-Free - Follow my instructions for making sugar-free apple brown sugar syrup, or purchase your favorite sugar-free syrup brand.
- Skinny - Watching your diet? Swap in sugar-free syrup, use a lighter milk choice (e.g. almond barista blend or skim milk), and omit the optional garnishes.
- Corn-Free - Make sure your xanthan gum comes from a corn-free source, or use any of the substitutes listed above.
Serving Suggestions
More often than not, I treat this apple crisp oatmilk frappuccino as a stand-alone treat, much like a slice of pie after dinner. But in case you’re looking for fun pairings or other ways to gussy up your glass, I’ve got you covered:
- Breakfast Beauty - Start your day off on a crisp note by serving this sweet frappuccino alongside high-protein apple cinnamon overnight oats. They’re both served cold while tasting warm, and the fiber and protein in the oats will help fend off a sugar crash.
- Caramel Swirl - For a pretty presentation, swirl some extra spiced caramel sauce around the inside of a clear glass Jackson Pollock-style, then pour the apple crisp frap in. The caramel will add an appealing golden brown swirl and extra salty-sweet goodness.
- Dessert Pairing - Split your apple crisp frappuccino with a partner, then go Dutch on a healthy apple crisp. The frap will act as both your ice cream and coffee for a fantastic end to any meal.
- Red Apple Eyed Frappuccino - Still in dreamland but need to work? Give your frozen coffee an added caffeinated boost by floating a shot of espresso on top and/or using coffee ice. Now go get ‘em, tiger!
- Adults-Only - The only thing better than rewarding yourself with a frappuccino after a long day is rewarding yourself with a boozy frappuccino. Try adding a shot of creamy Bailey’s (don’t feel limited to the original—cinnamon churros, salted caramel, espresso creme, vanilla cinnamon or dairy-free almande will all work!), spicy Goldschlager, or apple-flavored calvados. Happy hour just got a little happier!
Recipe Success Tips
- Blend to Order - While the xanthan gum does a bang-up job at holding the blended frap mixture together, time will eventually win out. Wait to blend your ingredients with the ice and emulsifier until you’re ready to enjoy.
- Get Ahead - Feel free to make your coffee break quicker by pre-assembling the cold brew, milk, and syrup in your blender pitcher to store in the fridge. You can also make the spiced caramel sauce in advance.
- Smooth Sailing - Starbucks uses super-powerful Vitamix blenders to achieve the perfect frappuccino consistency. To get similar results, stick to a high-speed blender like Vitamix, BlendTec, or Ninja.
FAQs
If you order from Starbucks, the unfortunate answer is “neither.” If you make it at home using my recipe, though, that’s a solid “yes” and “yes!”
Yes, and at the time of writing, yes—the apple crisp flavor is part of Starbucks fall lineup, and the frappuccino will be available for the rest of the 2024 fall season, or until they run out!
If you order from Starbucks, you might be getting more than you bargained for. According to the Starbucks website, each apple crisp frappuccino contains: ice, oatmilk [oatmilk (water, oats), canola oil, contains 2% or less of: dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, dicalcium phosphate, riboflavin, vitamin a, vitamin d2, vitamin b12], coffee frappuccino syrup [sugar, water, natural flavor, salt, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, citric acid], coffee, whipped cream [cream (cream, mono and diglycerides, carrageenan), vanilla syrup (sugar, water, natural flavors, potassium sorbate, citric acid)], apple brown sugar syrup [sugars (invert sugar, brown sugar), water, natural flavors, salt, preservative: potassium sorbate, malic acid], spiced apple drizzle [sugars (corn syrup, invert sugar, apple juice concentrate, sugar), water, cinnamon, salt, preservative: potassium sorbate, caramelized sugar (for color, wheat), malic acid, nutmeg].
My homemade version, on the other hand, is simply made with just ice, oatmilk, cold brew coffee, homemade 5-ingredient apple brown sugar syrup, and the optional whipped cream and caramel sauce.
Homemade Apple Crisp Oat Milk Frappuccino Nutrition
Each serving of this DIY apple frap (without the optional garnishes) has about 215 calories and 5 grams of fat—surprisingly not bad considering the dazzlingly dessert-y flavor. On the sodium front, you’re looking at a modest 171 mg, while protein rests at just 2 grams. Not much, but we’ll take it! Finally, this yummy drink comes baring 42 grams of carbs, with 35 grams of those coming from sugars—it’s definitely a treat served plain, so maybe save that extra garnish for a special indulgence!
Even so, our homemade recipe is not too shabby on the nutritional front, especially when you compare it to Starbucks’ version which has 420 calories, 15 grams of fat, 70 grams of carbs and 60 grams of sugar per serving. Granted, the Starbucks facts include the whipped cream and caramel drizzle, while mine does not.
If you decide to go all out and add that delicious apple drizzle on top, keep in mind it’ll which will tack on another 100 calories, a measly 1 gram of fat, and 23 grams of carbs, 21 grams of which are sugar. Even so, our homemade version is coming out ahead with 105 fewer calories, 9 fewer grams of fat, 15 fewer grams of carbs, and 4 fewer grams of sugar than the Starbucks recipe.
Total nutritional content per serving is:
- Calories: 215 calories
- Total Fat: 5 grams
- Protein: 2 grams
- Sodium: 171 mg
- Carbohydrates: 42 grams
- Sugar: 35 grams
*This nutritional information is an estimate and calculated based on the ingredients used to create the recipe. The nutritional value of your ingredients may differ slightly. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.
Other Copycat Starbucks Apple Crisp Recipes
Apple Crisp Oat Milk Frappuccino (Starbucks Copycat)
Equipment
Ingredients
Apple Crisp Oat Milk Frappuccino:
- 1 cup ice
- ½ cup cold brew coffee
- ½ cup oat milk
- 3 tablespoon apple brown sugar syrup
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- whipped cream (optional for garnish)
Spiced Apple Drizzle (optional)
- 1 tablespoon caramel sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple brown sugar syrup
Instructions
- Make the spiced apple drizzle (if using): Stir together the caramel sauce and 1 tablespoon apple brown sugar syrup until well combined and set aside.
- Make the frappuccino: Add the ice, cold brew coffee, oat milk, 3 tablespoon apple brown sugar syrup, and xantham gum to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour the frappuccino into a tall glass, then top with whipped cream and/or spiced apple drizzle if desired. Drink up!
Nutrition
xoxo Megan