Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew {Starbucks Copycat}

A cold brew with all the flavors of candied pecans is the perfect holiday drink. And this Starbucks Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew copycat recipe shows you how to make the festive sweet and salty drink at home!

Jump to:

• 🧋 What is the Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew?
• 🗒 Ingredients
• 🌰 How to make pecan syrup
• 🥣 How to make pecan crunch topping
• ☁️ How to make cold foam
• 🥤 How to make the drink
• ⚡️ Do I need to use cold brew?
• 🎉 Variations on recipe
• ☕️ More Starbucks winter drink copycat recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

When a new seasonal menu launches at Starbucks, some drinks get way more buzz than others.

For holiday 2024, the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher was definitely the talk of the town. But that doesn't mean you should sleep on new cold brew drink -- the Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew.

I feel like this drink didn't get as much attention since Starbucks already has a Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte. But the pecan cold brew is completely different and very, very delicious!

🧋 What is the Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew?

In addition to using cold brew rather than espresso, the Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew is different from the similarly named latte in that it actually has vanilla syrup in it and salted pecan cream cold foam on top.

In contrast, the latte has pecan syrup in the espresso and is topped with a vanilla cream cold foam. Both drinks have the pecan crunch topping sprinkled over the cold foam.

According to Starbucks, the new drink was "inspired by our love of sweet-and-salty, candied pecan flavors during the holidays" and though it doesn't have any of the typical intense holiday flavors like cranberry, peppermint, eggnog, gingerbread, or spices, it does feel like the perfect holiday drink.

🗒 Ingredients

Although this drink is really easy to make, it does have a few different components to it and several steps.

However, you can purchase some of the items if you wish. And if you're making everything from scratch, you can do everything ahead of time, so it's quick and simple to whip up your pecan cold brew whenever you want.

Here's what you need for the drink and each of its components (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):

• 10 oz cold brew: you can brew your own cold brew or use Starbucks cold brew concentrate or another brand cold brew. If you don't have cold brew, you can use the iced coffee of your choice.
  
• Ice
  
• Vanilla syrup: you can make your own syrup using the recipe found here or you can purchase Starbucks vanilla syrup or another less pricey brand of vanilla syrup.
  
• Salted pecan cold foam: I'll show you how to make this and share the ingredients below.
  
• Pecan crunch topping: I'll show you how to make this, too, and list ingredients below.

For the salted pecan cold foam, you'll need:

• 2% milk
  
• Heavy cream
  
• Pecan syrup: you can either use a store-bought pecan syrup (you may need to add a little salt to it) or use my homemade recipe with the ingredients listed below.

For homemade pecan syrup, you'll need:

• Water
  
• Granulated sugar
  
• Chopped pecans (salted or unsalted): if you prefer, you can substitute with pecan extract
  
• Salt: only use if your pecans aren't salted

And lastly, for the pecan crunch topping:

• Pecans (salted or unsalted)
  
• Granulated sugar
  
• Salt: only use if your pecans aren't salted

🌰 How to make pecan syrup

First I'm going to show you how to pecan homemade pecan syrup since you'll need it in order to make the cold foam.

Like I mentioned, you're welcome to buy your own pecan syrup, but you might need to add a little salt when you make your cold foam.

The syrup is super easy! To start, I recommend toasting the pecans. You can do it right in the medium saucepan you'll be making the syrup in.

You can also toast the nuts for the pecan crunch topping now, too. Just add an additional ¼ cup of pecans and be sure to remove ¼ cup of nuts to set aside to cool after toasting.

Toast over medium heat while you stir or shake saucepan frequently so they don't burn. It should take about 3-5 minutes, until the nuts are darkening and are fragrant.

Put water, sugar, and chopped pecans in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.

Once boiling, lower the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until the mixture has thickened a bit.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in salt if you used unsalted pecans.

I recommend letting the syrup rest for about 30 minutes to let the pecan flavor continue to steep into the syrup (if you don't have time to do this, it will still be fine).

Then, strain the mixture into a bowl, leaving the nuts behind.

I highly recommend saving the pecans for snacking or topping ice cream with! They're so tasty.

Keep the mixture in the bowl or transfer it into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely.

The syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

This is great for making ahead of time as it will stay fresh in your fridge for about a month in an airtight container.

🥣 How to make pecan crunch topping

You can also make the pecan crunch topping in advance. It's super easy to prepare, especially if you toasted your topping pecans along with the syrup pecans.

It only requires two ingredients!

If you didn't toast your pecans with the syrup nuts, you can do this now, either in your toaster oven or conventional oven.

Once cooled, crush the nuts in your food processor, blender, or in a bag with a mallet or rolling pin. Put them in a bowl.

And mix them together with the sugar. Mix in salt if you're using unsalted pecans.

The pecan flavor will infuse into the sugar more and more as the mixture rests. But you can certainly use it right away.

Be sure to keep the topping stored in an airtight container at room temperature until you're ready to use it.

☁️ How to make cold foam

Now for the pecan cold foam! You can start this in advance by making the pecan cold cream and keeping it in the fridge in an airtight container.

When you're ready to enjoy a Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew, you can turn the cold cream into cold foam!

Just add milk, cream, and pecan syrup to a mason jar and shake well to combine.

This is the cold cream.

To turn it into a cold foam, you can either use an electric frother, hand mixer, or blender.

Alternatively, you can shake the mixture in a mason jar until it's frothy.

This salted pecan cold foam is new to Starbucks this season and now you can order it to top any of your iced drinks.

🥤 How to make the drink

Now that all of the components are set, you're ready for the easy part... whipping up the pecan cold brew!

Just pour the cold brew into an ice-filled glass. And stir in pecan syrup.

And top the drink with salted pecan cream cold foam and sprinkle on the pecan crunch topping over the cold foam.

I love how the cold foam swirls through the drink, but a luscious cloud-like layer stays on top.

Candied pecans are perfect for the holiday season, but honestly, this iced coffee works any time of year. I'll never say no to candied pecans!

⚡️ Do I need to use cold brew?

I get this question on my cold brew recipes a lot and the answer is no, it's not totally necessary for you to use cold brew for this iced drink.

You can easily make a salted pecan crunch iced coffee instead! You can also make it with nitro cold brew if you prefer.

I really do love the bold smoothness of cold brew, but you can use regular iced coffee if you prefer. This is also a great option if you're trying to cut down on caffeine as cold brew generally has more caffeine than regular iced coffee.

🎉 Variations on recipe

I always like to make my Starbucks copycat drinks as close to the originals as possible, but there is still a lot of room for you to customize this drink to your own liking.

Here are some ideas:

• Use pecan syrup in your cold brew instead of vanilla syrup. The Starbucks version uses vanilla syrup in the cold brew, but I'm all about the candied pecan flavor and think this drink is even better with pecan syrup in the coffee and in the cold foam.

• If you prefer a nondairy drink, you can make the cold foam using soy milk and oat milk. Starbucks actually makes a lot of their cold foams dairy-free! For instructions, you can use this nondairy cold foam recipe, but use pecan syrup instead of vanilla.

• Add a caramel drizzle or line the cup in caramel sauce before making the drink: pecans and caramel make for a fabulous combination.

• In addition to the pecan crunch topping, sprinkle on some ground cinnamon and/or nutmeg. Pumpkin spice would also be delicious.

There are so many ways to customize the Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew to make it the perfect holiday iced coffee for you!

And one of the best parts of making the drink at home is that you can make it with any ingredients you have on hand.

I can't wait to see what winter drinks Starbucks comes up with next!

And in the meantime, I'll be sipping this Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew during the holiday season and long beyond.

I might even carry it all the way to summer!

📖 Recipe