Go Back
+ servings
Pistachio cream cold brew in a Starbucks cup with pistachios all around.

Pistachio Cream Cold Brew

Do you love the Pistachio Cream Cold Brew from Starbucks? This make-at-home copycat version tastes just like the real thing and is easy to make! The step-by-step recipe instructs you on how to make each component, but also offers lots of simple shortcuts, too.
4.60 from 5 votes
Print Pin
Course: Drink
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Coffee Drinks, Pistachio Recipe, Starbucks Copycat, Starbucks Drinks
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Makes: 1 grande drink
Author: Sues

Ingredients

  • 10 oz. cold brew (store-bought or homemade)
  • 1 oz. vanilla syrup (store-bought or recipe below)
  • cup pistachio cream cold foam (recipe below)
  • Salted brown butter cookie topping (recipe below or substitute with brown butter syrup or crushed shortbread cookies)

Pistachio Cream Cold Foam

  • ¾ cup 2% milk
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • 2 Tbsp pistachio sauce (recipe below or substitute with pistachio syrup)

Pistachio Sauce

  • cup shelled salted pistachios (or store-bought pistachio butter)
  • ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
  • ¼ cup 2% milk

Salted Brown Butter Cookie Topping

  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • Pinch salt (if using unsalted butter)
  • ½ Tbsp brown sugar

Vanilla Syrup

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean

Instructions

  • Pour cold brew into an ice-filled glass. Stir in vanilla syrup.
  • Add pistachio cream cold foam. Top with salted brown butter cookie topping and enjoy!

Pistachio Cream Cold Foam

  • Mix milk, cream, and pistachio sauce (or pistachio syrup) in a mason jar and shake to combine. Alternatively, you can stir all ingredients together in a bowl. This is the "pistachio sweet cream." If you're not using right away, keep in an airtight container in the fridge.
  • Turn mixture into cold foam right before using. You can either use an electric frother, hand mixer, or blender. Just add the sweet cream and froth, mix, or blend until the mixture turns into a foam. Alternatively, you can shake the mixture in a mason jar until it's frothy.

Pistachio Sauce

  • If making your own pistachio butter, put shelled pistachios in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. You can also put them in a mortar and use a pestle to crush them and turn them into a paste. You want the pistachio butter to be fairly smooth, but you can leave some chunks if you want.
  • Add condensed milk, 2% milk, and pistachio butter to medium saucepan over medium-low heat. While stirring, bring to a simmer and let cook for 2 minutes.
  • Pour pistachio sauce into a heat-proof jar or bowl and put in fridge to cool completely before using.

Salted Brown Butter Cookie Topping

  • Put butter in a light-colored pan over medium heat (it should be light color so it's easy to see when it's browning). Constantly stir butter as it melts. Once melted, it should start to bubble and in just a minute or two, you'll start seeing brown flecks on the bottom of the saucepan and the butter will start smelling nutty.
  • Remove from heat and continue to stir for another 30 seconds. Pour into a small heat-proof bowl. If you used unsalted butter, stir in a pinch salt here.
  • Immediately stir in brown sugar until well combined. If making ahead of time, store in an airtight container in your fridge. When you're ready to use, warm it in the microwave and stir until it's liquid again. You can also warm over very low heat on the stovetop.

Homemade Vanilla Syrup

  • Put water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has thickened a bit.
  • Pour syrup into a heat-proof jar or container. Scrape out some of the seeds from the sliced open vanilla pod with a sharp knife and add them and the vanilla bean into the syrup. 
  • Place syrup in fridge and let steep for at least 6 hours**. Syrup will thicken more as it cools. If you want a more intense vanilla flavor, you can leave the bean in after 6 hours.
  • For a quicker vanilla syrup, you can use vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean. Stir about a Tablespoon of the extract into the saucepan right when you remove it from the heat. Syrup will be ready to use as soon as it cools.

Notes

  • I also like to top the drink with some crushed pistachios, though they don't do this at Starbucks.
  • You should be able to make about 3 drinks with cold foam recipe, 10 drinks with vanilla syrup, and and 4 batches of cold foam with the pistachio sauce) .
  • You can either use all the brown butter cookie topping for one drink or split it between 2 (in my photos, I split one batch between 2 drinks).
  • Pistachio sweet cream should keep in your fridge in an airtight container for about a week. I recommend turning it into cold foam right before using. 
     
Share a Photo of Your Finished Recipe!Mention @wearenotmartha and share a photo if you've made the recipe!