How to Make a Vegan Vanilla Cold Foam (Dairy Free)

Fancy an iced coffee topped with a tasty vegan creamy foam? Well, we don’t want you to have to splash out on the Starbucks version. Would you like to know how to make your own vegan vanilla cold foam? If yes, then get that cold brew coffee steeping and read on!

Alright, straight to the point, our cold foam recipe uses soy milk, and we have tried oat milk and almond milk and nothing works as well as soy milk. Science warning, it’s because it’s richer in protein and that’s what helps to make all those many micro bubbles. We are also going to teach you how to make a vanilla simple syrup because we are going to froth that up with our chosen soy milk for a foamy and flavorsome homemade cold foam.

What soy milk should I use we hear you ask? Well, trust me we have tried a few, and we have had the best results with Alpro’s Barista Soya Milk because it’s “fabulously foamable” to quote them. You would probably be just fine with any vegan barista milk of the soy variety though (and this is a British brand). The barista versions just behave a bit more like whole milk would when compared to a semi skim milk which would foam up more like another dairy-free alternative such as oat milk. But we are using non-dairy milk here obviously for our cold foam vegan coffee, so soy milk it is!

The good news, you don’t need much equipment to make this recipe. Just one specific piece of kitchenware and that’s a handheld frother. You can pick up an electric frother easily online for very little money, and they’re great to have sitting in a kitchen drawer somewhere for any small foaming tasks. Other than that, you just need a mason jar, a jug, and a saucepan. You don’t need a French press to make cold-brew coffee either, a jar and a fine mesh strainer will do fine.

We’re using simple ingredients for our easy recipe, just coffee beans, sugar, soy milk, vanilla extract, and some cinnamon. And the best part is you can make a whole load of simple syrup and use it again and again as it will keep for a month when refrigerated. So any time you fancy making up some cold foam drinks just froth up some milk and add a dash of your already-made syrup. The syrup keeps best in an airtight container, which is why we mentioned a mason jar above, but you can use an open jar and plastic wrap as well if you’re like us and have a bad habit of losing the lids.

Finally, if you’re looking for a couple of breakfast ideas that would pair really well with a cold brew coffee on a weekend morning, what about trying out our crepe recipe, or giving our banana pancakes a go?

Vegan Vanilla Cold Foam Ingredients

1/4 cup soy milk

2 cups cold brew coffee

1 cup water

1 cup granulated sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Dash of ground cinnamon

How to Make a Vegan Vanilla Cold Foam

1. Firstly you are going to need to make 2 cups of cold brew coffee ahead of time. Your ground coffee beans need to be steeped in water for 12 hours before being strained through a very fine mesh strainer. A good coffee-to-water ratio is 1 cup of beans to 4 cups of water.
   
2. Next, we will make the vanilla syrup that we will mix with the foamed soy milk. To do this you need to set a small saucepan over medium-high heat and then add 1 cup water and 1 cup granulated sugar.
   
3. Slowly stir the sugar and water together as it comes to a boil and then leave it bubbling over medium heat for at least 3 minutes, until all of the sugar has dissolved.
   
4. Take the saucepan off of the heat and add the 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. Stir it in until the syrup is a golden colour and then leave it to cool down to room temperature.
   
5. Once the syrup has cooled you can pour it into a jar or any other air-tight container (best if it’s one that’s easy to pour from though) and then keep it in the fridge, where it should stay good for up to a month.
   
6. Next, into a jug add a 1/4 cup of soy milk and 2 teaspoons of your homemade vanilla simple syrup. Using a milk frother (with the end submerged into the soy milk) froth the syrup and milk mixture for 20 seconds. There should be no liquid soy milk remaining, only foamy, vanilla-flavoured, micro-bubbles.
   
7. Pour your strained cold-brew coffee into a couple of glasses, but leave the top 1/3 empty. Then using a spoon, fill the rest of the glasses with the vegan cold foam and then dust with a pinch of ground cinnamon. And there you have it, your very own cold brew coffee with a vegan cold foam.

HOW TO MAKE A VEGAN VANILLA COLD FOAM (DAIRY FREE)

Craft your own vegan vanilla cold foam coffee at home! Learn the secrets to the perfect creamy foam using soy milk and simple ingredients.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 6 minutes mins

Total Time 6 minutes mins

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Servings 2 cups

Equipment

• 1 Handheld frother
• 1 Small saucepan

Ingredients

  

• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 2 cups cold brew coffee
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• Dash of ground cinnamon

Instructions

 

• Firstly you are going to need to make 2 cups of cold brew coffee ahead of time. Your ground coffee beans need to be steeped in water for 12 hours before being strained through a very fine mesh strainer. A good coffee-to-water ratio is 1 cup of beans to 4 cups of water.
• Next, we will make the vanilla syrup that we will mix with the foamed soy milk. To do this you need to set a small saucepan over medium-high heat and then add 1 cup water and 1 cup granulated sugar.
• Slowly stir the sugar and water together as it comes to a boil and then leave it bubbling over medium heat for at least 3 minutes, until all of the sugar has dissolved.
• Take the saucepan off of the heat and add the 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. Stir it in until the syrup is a golden colour and then leave it to cool down to room temperature.
• Once the syrup has cooled you can pour it into a jar or any other air-tight container (best if it’s one that’s easy to pour from though) and then keep it in the fridge, where it should stay good for up to a month.
• Next, into a jug add a 1/4 cup of soy milk and 2 teaspoons of your homemade vanilla simple syrup. Using a milk frother (with the end submerged into the soy milk) froth the syrup and milk mixture for 20 seconds. There should be no liquid soy milk remaining, only foamy, vanilla-flavoured, micro-bubbles.
• Pour your strained cold-brew coffee into a couple of glasses, but leave the top 1/3 empty. Then using a spoon, fill the rest of the glasses with the vegan cold foam and then dust with a pinch of ground cinnamon. And there you have it, your very own cold brew coffee with a vegan cold foam.

Keyword cinnamon, coffee, foam, soy milk, vanilla

Frequently Asked Questions About Vegan Vanilla Cold Foam