In 2009, McDonald's took its McCafe coffee drink menu national and featured a refreshing cup of iced coffee. This frosty concoction is made with coffee brewed from 100-percent Arabica beans and includes cream and sugar syrup. It can also be flavored with French vanilla, sugar-free French vanilla, caramel or hazelnut. The key to recreating the McDonald's iced coffee recipe is to start with an extra strong brew and not to skimp on the cream.
Total Time: 20 minutes Prep Time: 10 Minutes Serves: 2-4
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Tip
Making your own simple syrup is one of the most important McDonald's iced coffee hacks. This syrup gives the finished drink its consistent sweetness, with none of the graininess of plain sugar.
Simple Syrup Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Directions
- In a small saucepan, combine water and sugar.
- Bring the ingredients to a simmer and stir well until the sugar is fully dissolved.
- Simmer for 10 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken slightly.
- Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool.
- Pour the syrup into a glass bottle topped with a pour spout and store it in the refrigerator for up to one month.
Tip
Good coffee beans are probably the most important of all the McDonald's iced coffee ingredients. Choose whatever beans you prefer.
The ice will melt and dilute the coffee, so one of the most important McDonald's iced coffee hacks is to brew very strong coffee, using twice the amount of beans you would normally use.
McDonald's Iced Coffee Ingredients
- 10-15 tablespoons coffee grounds
- 3 cups water
- ice
- 2/3 cup cream
- 1/2 cup simple syrup
Directions
- Using your favorite brewing method, brew a pot of coffee.
- Fill a pitcher with ice while the coffee brews.
- As soon as the coffee finishes brewing, pour 2 1/2 cups of coffee over the ice.
- Add simple syrup and cream to the pitcher of coffee, and stir well with a long spoon.
- Fill four 8-ounce glasses or two 16-ounce glasses with ice.
- Pour the iced coffee mixture into each glass and serve with a drinking straw.
Vanilla Syrup Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split down the center
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Following the directions for simple syrup, add the vanilla bean to the saucepan with the water and sugar mixture.
- Once the mixture has simmered, remove the pan from the heat and take out the vanilla bean. Use a fork or tongs to remove the bean from the hot syrup.
- Stir in teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Bottle and store it as you would for the simple syrup.
Tip
There are a few simple ways to modify this vanilla syrup recipe. To make sugar-free vanilla syrup, substitute 1 cup of sweetener such as sucralose for the sugar. Follow the rest of the directions for the vanilla syrup. To make hazelnut syrup, add 1 teaspoon of hazelnut extract to the simple syrup after it has been removed from the heat and mix well.
Caramel Syrup Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Directions
- In a small saucepan, combine sugar with ¼ cup of water, and stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and cover the pot.
- Cook for 2 minutes, then remove the cover and stir the mixture well until it starts to darken and turn a light amber color.
- Remove the pan from the heat and carefully stir in 1/2 cup water, vanilla and salt.
- Stir well and let the caramel syrup cool, then pour it into a bottle. Store it in the refrigerator for up to one month.