Real Food Copycat Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice (Instant Pot & stovetop options!)
With Instant Pot and stovetop options, this Real Food Copycat Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice is THE fall and winter drink you need to get through parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Winter holidays! It’s paleo, vegan, and refined sugar-free!
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Oh my gosh, y’all.
I did it.
I freaking did it.
Real Food Copycat Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice!!!
It’s been some years since I frequented Starbuck’s. I’m not a coffee girl. I gave up on the stuff ages ago.
So, the Fall drink that captured my heart at Starbuck’s wasn’t the pumpkin spice latte… It was the Caramel Apple Spice.
Even well into my Real Food journey, I would occasionally go through the drive-thru and spoil myself with this cinnamon-y, apple-y, caramel-y, hot beverage.
Of course I knew it was full of sugar. And probably artificial flavors. But I figured, “Hey, this drink only comes around for the Fall and Winter seasons, so why not?”
I’m way past that now.
Living 65 miles from the nearest Starbuck’s quickly put an end to any drive-thru splurges I may have enjoyed.
And, if I’m being totally honest, I don’t miss that. I’ll take my 5 acres of forest, away from city lights and sounds, away from nosy neighbors and sirens, any day of the week over a drive-thru drink!
But that doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally miss it. Until now…
Why a Real Food Version of Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice?
There are only 2 reasons I ever try to copycat commercial foods and drinks:
- control over ingredients
- convenience
I think you understand why convenience is a big one. It’s not like I can hop in the car and get to a restaurant or a Starbuck’s without making it an entire production and a day-long event.
And control over ingredients? I don’t blame my inner control freak anymore. She’s quieted down a lot over the years. 😉
I want control over the ingredients because I love my body enough to not put crap into it. Sugary drinks and processed foods and even restaurants have lost their appeal to me.
It has nothing to do with being on a special diet or anything like that. It’s just that I lost my taste for most of that. I don’t want it or crave it any longer. Plain and simple.
Still, will you humor me for a moment?
Let’s pretend that you’re a Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice fan as much as I was. Let’s even pretend that there’s a Starbuck’s around the corner from your house — so convenience isn’t an issue for you.
But, for the sake of our game, you’re also aware of what you eat, you read labels, you don’t eat refined sugar or processed foods.
Now, let’s take a look at the ingredients in a Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice…
Ingredients in Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice
I screen-shotted this straight from Starbuck’s website:
If you care to know, there are also 77 grams of carbohydrates (71 grams of that being sugar) in a Grande-size Caramel Apple Spice.
Feel free to check out the nutrition info yourself right here.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I see some serious red flags here:
- Sugar, obviously. This drink is basically apple-cinnamon flavored sugar water.
- Natural flavor. Who the heck even knows what this is, but some possibilities are solvents, preservatives, propylene glycol, and GMOs (source).
- Carageenan. This is a known carcinogen and can trigger the digestive system in the same way that salmonella does (source).
- Corn Syrup. This isn’t organic, so I’m 100% positive it’s from GMO corn.
- Mono and Diglycerides. These emulsifiers are bi-products of oil-processing and are used to keep fat and liquid from separating. They are most often made from soy or canola oil and most definitely contain trans fats, but they aren’t required to be labeled as trans fat on nutrition labels (source).
There are glaring problems with several other ingredients, too, but I don’t want to take up more space. I think you get the point. 😉
Ingredients in My Real Food Caramel Apple Spice
Are you ready for this? Make sure to pay close attention because this ingredient list is so small that you might miss it if you blink!
- apple cider
- coconut milk
- coconut syrup
- ground cinnamon
- allspice
- ground cloves
That’s it, friends. 😉
This Real Food Starbuck’s Copycat Caramel Apple Spice is paleo, vegan, gluten-free, corn-free, grain-free, and refined sugar-free. There is nothing questionable whatsoever.
Now, before I share the Instant Pot and stovetop directions with you, let’s talk ingredients.
I don’t have fresh-pressed apple cider. What can I use instead?
We are so fortunate to have apple trees and access to a cider press for pressing our own apple cider, but I recognize that most people don’t. And that’s ok!
You can use store-bought cider. Look for one that is organic and contains only 1 ingredient: apple cider. If you can’t find that, you can use organic apple juice, so long as apple juice (and water) is the only ingredient. There’s no need for a sugar-sweetened juice or cider.
What is coconut syrup, and do I have to use it?
Coconut syrup is one of my favorite whole sweeteners! Lower on the glycemic index than both maple syrup and raw honey, coconut syrup is made similarly to maple syrup.
Coconut palm trees are tapped, releasing sap, and that sap is boiled down into syrup. The best thing about coconut syrup? It tastes like caramel!
Truly. Like almost-burnt-in-a-good-way caramel! So, you save yourself the trouble of making caramel just by using this amazing sweetener. And caramel is a MUST for a healthy copycat Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice!
Never tried coconut syrup? My friends at Wildly Organic will give you 10% off if you use my discount code NOURISHING.
If you just need to make this today and don’t have coconut syrup, use an equal amount of maple syrup. Just know that it won’t taste as caramel-y as you might like.
Real Food Copycat Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice — Instant Pot Directions
Place all the ingredients in the stainless steel insert pot of your Instant Pot. Whisk together.
Press the “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” button. Adjust the time to 2 minutes on high pressure. Make sure to seal the vent.
When it beeps, immediately release the pressure.
You can serve it right away, but you might notice that the fat in the coconut milk separates some. To counter this, you can use an immersion blender to emulsify it in the Instant Pot. Or transfer it to your blender and blend on high for about 30 seconds.
Real Food Copycat Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice — Stovetop Directions
Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 1-2 minutes.
Remove from the heat.
Use an immersion blender to emulsify the coconut milk fat and keep it from separating. Or, transfer it to your blender and blend on high for about 30 seconds.
No matter which method you choose, this copycat Starbuck’s Real Food Caramel Apple Spice is THE drink you need to get through all of Fall’s parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and right on into the Winter holidays!
Real Food Copycat Starbuck's Caramel Apple Spice (paleo, vegan, no refined sugar)
With Instant Pot and stovetop options, this Real Food Copycat Starbuck's Caramel Apple Spice is THE fall and winter drink you need to get through parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Winter holidays! It's paleo, vegan, and refined sugar-free!
Ingredients
- 1quartapple cider(or juice, no sugar added)
- 1canfull fat coconut milk
- 1/2cupcoconut syrupor maple syrup
- 2teaspoonscinnamon
- 1/2teaspoonallspice
- 1/4teaspoonground cloves
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
Combine all ingredients in the stainless steel insert pot of your Instant Pot and whisk together.
Press the "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" button and adjust the time to 2 minutes on high pressure.
When it beeps, immediately release pressure.
To emulsify, blend with an immersion blender or transfer to your blender and blend on high for 30 seconds. Serve immediately.
Stovetop Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and whisk together over medium-high heat.
Simmer for a minute or two.
Remove from the heat.
To emulsify, blend with an immersion blender or transfer to your blender and blend on high for 30 seconds. Serve immediately.
Pin it!
More Real Food Recipes for Fall & Winter You’ll Love…
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- Paleo Instant Pot Pumpkin Pie
- Grain-Free Pumpkin Spice Cake (sugar-free, nut-free, dairy-free)
- Sweet, Spicy, & Salty Pumpkin Seeds
- Soaked Gluten-Free Pumpkin Breakfast Cake
Have you tried a Caramel Apple Spice drink? Will you be making this healthier version?
[…] Copy-Cat Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice – With Instant Pot and stovetop options, this Real Food Copycat Starbuck’s Caramel Apple Spice from All the Nourishing Things is THE fall and winter drink you need to get through parties, Thanksgiving, and winter holidays! It’s paleo, vegan, and refined sugar-free! […]
Just made this drink. It was delicious. However I don’t need it to be as sweet as it turned out. The unsweetened apple juice is pretty sweet as it is. Next time I will add a lot less coconut syrup. Thanks for the recipe.
Sure thing! Glad you tried it! If using true apple cider, which is quite tart, the amount of sweetener I call for is required. Apple juice is sweeter than cider.