Forget the morning rush at your local coffee shop – make your favorite vanilla iced coffee drink right at home. This Vanilla Bean Iced Coffee is made with a simple vanilla bean syrup, cold brew coffee, and half and half. The ultimate vanilla bean coffee recipe!
When its 90+ degrees outside before 9am, its definitely time for vanilla iced coffee. Don’t get me wrong, I love nothing more than drinking a warm, comforting, delicious cup of joe first thing in the morning, but when the heat is overly oppressive, iced coffee is where it’s at!
A cold, refreshing iced coffee always hits the spot, especially when you don’t have to leave home to enjoy a cold glass first thing in the morning.
In this post, I’ll show you exactly what you’ll need to make a homemade vanilla iced coffee. I’ll also show you how to make homemade vanilla syrup to have on hand for quick and easy iced coffee.
How to Make Cold Brew Coffee:
Cold brew has all of the amazing flavor and smoothness of coffee, but none of the bitterness or acidity that regular brew can sometimes bring. As soon as I tried cold brew, I knew I had to make my favorite vanilla iced coffee drink.
Here’s my tutorial for how to make Homemade Cold Brew Coffee.
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Want to make both coffee AND espresso at home? This is the machine I use and LOVE. The fresh espresso is amazing and the brewed coffee tastes equally fantastic. I highly recommend!
How to Make Vanilla Syrup:
In addition to the cold brew, I made my own vanilla bean syrup. I’m so glad I did. Not only was is really easy, but the flavor was so much better than the store-bought bottled stuff and gives this vanilla iced coffee the perfect amount of flavor.
Making syrup is simply a matter of bringing sugar, water, vanilla, and a vanilla bean to a simmer. You’ll dissolve the sugar, and then let cool.
How the Vanilla Iced Coffee comes together:
To make the iced coffee recipe, I added a shot (1 oz., or 2 Tbsp.) of the homemade vanilla syrup, along with 1/2 c. of the cold brew coffee over coffee iced cubes.
FYI – making coffee ice cubes is a great way to not end up with watered-down iced coffee.
From here, you’ll add half and half (about 1/4 cup), or your choice of milk.
Is half and half not your thing? Here are some other milk suggestions that are great in this iced coffee:
- Whole Milk, 2% or Skim – Dairy Milk
- Heavy Cream
- Almond Milk
- Cashew Milk
- Coconut Milk
- Oat Milk
Wondering what to serve with vanilla iced coffee? Here are some treats that would be a perfect snack:
- Zucchini Banana Bread
- Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf
- Better Than Starbucks Pumpkin Loaf
- Healthy Blueberry Muffin Recipe
- No Bake Granola Bars
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
If you loved this awesome coffee drink, check out some of my other coffee and tea recipes:
- Iced Vanilla Latte
- Nutella Coffee
- Mocha Smoothie
- Chai Tea Latte Recipe
- Caramel Brulee Latte
- Iced Caramel Latte
- Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino
- Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappuccino Recipe
- Starbucks Pink Drink Recipe
- Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino Recipe
- Skinny Starbucks Eggnog Latte
- Almond Coconut Mocha Frappuccino
- Skinny Starbucks Strawberries & Cream Frappuccino
- White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Easy Peppermint Mocha
- Easy Iced Coffee
- Cinnamon Mocha Iced Coffee at Real Housemoms
Here’s the easy, delicious recipe for my Vanilla Iced Coffee:
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Vanilla Bean Iced Coffee
Equipment
- Smoothie Tumbler These glass smoothie tumblers are fantastic for taking your drinks on-the-go!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cold brew coffee homemade or store-bought
- 1 oz. 1 oz. vanilla bean syrup or a sugar free syrup can be used
- 1/4 cup half and half
- coffee ice cubes
Vanilla Bean Syrup:
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 whole vanilla bean split
Instructions
- For the Vanilla Bean Syrup: In a small saucepan, add the water, sugar, extract and split vanilla bean. When adding the bean, split the bean lengthwise with a sharp knife, and scrape out the caviar adding it to the pan.
- Bring the ingredients to a low boil over medium low heat. Simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce the liquid slightly. Let cool completely. Transfer the ingredients to a jar or resealable container. Can be used for up to two weeks if refrigerated.
- For the Iced Coffee: In a tall glass, add 6-8 coffee ice cubes. Pour in the vanilla syrup, cold brew coffee, and top with half and half (or other milk preference.) Enjoy right away.
Notes
Nutrition
This vanilla bean iced coffee sounds so good right now, yummm!
Looks really yummy! I’ll have to try this!
Michelle
I wish I had this iced coffee for an afternoon pick-me-up today!
Oh this looks so good! I’m not a coffee drinker, but I like frappuccino so I would probably like this. I know I could use something to perk me up in the morning. I have everything except the vanilla bean, and tomorrow I will go find that. Thanks for sharing! Pinned!
Yum…I want to invite you to come share your awesome post with us at Home Cooking Share the Love blog party. I hope you can join us, we would love to have you. http://homecookingrecipebox.blogspot.com/2016/07/share-love-blog-party-15.html
I don’t know how to make a cold brew! You need another post about this!!! Maybe a silly question, but if you make a cold brew, can you still serve it warm? Thanks for sharing at the Family Joy Linkup! Hope to see you again next Sunday!
Hi actually I have done that before! I make the cold brew then heat in microwave! Eliminates bitter taste!
Sounds good! Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner link up!
Love the idea of coffee ice cubes! I can hardly wait to try this!
Yum! This looks amazing. I love vanilla iced coffee. I can’t wait to try this.
Thanks for linking up with Share the Wealth Sunday.
Ugh this is making my mouth water just STARRING at your beautiful pictures of this – pinned for when I need to cool off in a mommy sort of way! 😉
Thanks so much for sharing this at The Pretty Pintastic Party! We’ve chosen your recipe as a feature at this weekend’s party, so we hope you’ll stop by!
Looks so good! I loved iced coffee. Thanks for sharing at the Inspiration Spotlight party. Shared.
Hi there, I would like to subscribe for this web site to get most up-to-date updates,
thus where can i do it please help out.
Can I sub vanilla extract? How much would I use?
Thanks?
Is there a way to make the vanilla bean syrup sugar free? and still taste good 😉
Another alternative in the milk line up is heavy cream. It is sugar free…and carbs are pretty much non existent.
This looks amazing! About how much of the syrup do you add to each drink? If a single bean costs $4-ish, I’m trying to figure if I can afford to tempt this addiction. Thanks!
Somehow I just found the measurements listed clearly. Sorry about that, please delete my previous comment.
This look so good. Do you ever use the vanilla bean pod too?
Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party.
How refreshing for summer! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
That looks delicious! Thank you so much for sharing with us at Encouraging Hearts and Home. Pinned.
Mmm, this looks so good! Thank you for sharing at Celebrate Your Story!
I have been in a coffee lull lately. Bored of the same old same old everyday. I drink LOTS of coffee. Only iced coffee. No matter the weather (need to be able to chug my coffee to reach my soul quicker and you can’t chug hot coffee). Anyway- this is bringing me out of my lull!! This is DELICIOUS!! And SOOOO easy to make!!