How to Make a Starbucks Apple Crisp Macchiato at Home
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We’re not wasting any time making this new Fall beverage at home. Buckle in, kids, we’re making a Starbucks Apple Crisp Macchiato at home! The best part is you’ll have plenty of flavorful apple crisp syrup so you can enjoy as many “free refills” as your heart desires (can handle… maybe switch to decaf after two).
What’s in a Starbucks Apple Crisp Macchiato? This drink starts with a layer of steamed milk flavored generously with apple brown sugar syrup. Then, there is a layer of dreamy espresso. To finish, there is a cap of foam latticed with spiced apple drizzle.
To make this at home, we need four essential elements: steamed milk with a bit of foam, two shots of perfectly pulled espresso, a caramel-like spiced apple drizzle, and most importantly, the soon-to-be iconic apple brown sugar syrup.
Before we get started, my hot tip is this: make your drizzle and syrup ahead of time. It’s the most time-consuming part to prep your syrups. Otherwise, assembly of the actual drink is pretty easy.
Make Starbucks’ Spiced Apple Drizzle at Home
For this first part, I highly recommend you get a squeeze bottle with a cap to store your spiced apple drizzle. The squeezy nozzle makes it easier to trace a beautiful lattice pattern on top of your drink. If you’re feeling yourself, you might also drizzle this sauce on vanilla ice cream, pancakes, or waffles. Go nuts, my friends.
This is going to look familiar to those who have made caramel sauce in the past. It starts with apple cider and sugar on the stovetop. Bring this up to a simmer, but do not stir. You’ll want to keep a pastry brush with a cup of warm water nearby. This is to brush down the edges to prevent crystallization.
When your caramel reaches 350ºF, you’ll add room temperature, cubed butter, and whole milk (also room temperature). Stir generously until it smooths out and looks like caramel sauce. Finish with a generous pinch of apple pie spice. If you don’t have that on hand, it’s a couple of dashes of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and clove.
Apple Crisp Macchiato Syrup
The syrup is less involved than the drizzle. We’re creating a brown sugar simple syrup with apples steeped in it. Let’s throw in a cinnamon stick for good measure. Simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water, so for our use, we’ll do 1 cup of each. However, instead of water, we are using cider to amp of that apple flavor.
To get even more good apple flavor in there, I’m using one small Granny Smith apple.
Cover the pot and steep your apples and cinnamon until your syrup has completely cooled. Then, strain them out and store your syrup in the fridge. This syrup is also incredible when combined with a bit of bourbon and bitters for something of an apple-spiced Old-fashioned.
The Best Hacks for Making Frothy Steamed Milk at Home
When it comes to making steamed milk at home, you may be lucky enough to have a fancy espresso machine with a milk frother. If so, that’s fantastic! However, if your coffee-making equipment is a little lacking, I have some hacks for you.
The first involves using a French press. Warm 8 ounces of your favorite milk in the microwave. 30 seconds to 1 minute depending on your microwave’s power is good enough. You want it just steaming, but you do not want a skin to form on top. Pour your hot milk into the French press and lift and lower the plunger vigorously until your milk has nice foam on top.
The second hack is to use a wand frother. Take heated milk, and beat it with your frother until the foam on top is creamy and, well, frothy.
Third, if you don’t have a French press or a wand frother, maybe you have a single-serving blender. This is a slightly less controlled way to make foamy milk, but it will work in a pinch. Pulse your milk, watching for signs of thickened foam. That means you’re looking for very small, fine bubbles in a thick layer.
Making Espresso without an Espresso Machine
If you do have an espresso machine, please pull two shots. That’s easy enough. However, if you do not have one and do not wish to buy one, we’re going to put our French press to work again.
Put your espresso grounds into your French press and top with hot water. You want your water to be around 175ºF to make sure the flavor of your beans is neither scorched nor underdeveloped. I’ve found sources that say to heat the water to 200ºF, but boiling water tends to overheat the grounds leading to a bitter burnt taste. This can be avoided by underheating the water.
Two “2 shots” of espresso, you’ll pour 3 ounces of water over 1 ounce of grounds. Stir it until the foam on top goes lightens in color. Allow it to steep for 5 minutes, then press the plunger down. The grounds are going to absorb some of that liquid, and you’ll be left with a little more than 2 ounces of “espresso.”
In truth, this is just really strong coffee, but it does the trick. You could similarly brew too-strong coffee in a coffee pot. It’s not truly espresso, but it will give your macchiato the proper jolt.
Pouring an Apple Crisp Macchiato
Grab your favorite 16-ounce mug because we’re making a grande drink today. Start by pouring the liquid steamed milk. Hold back the foam with a spoon, and save it for the end.
Next, you’ll want to flavor the milk with your apple brown sugar syrup. The Starbucks app shows that a grande gets 3 pumps of syrup. Each pump is roughly 1 fluid ounce or 2 Tablespoons. So, to do the math, you need either 3 fluid ounces or 6 Tablespoons of syrup.
This is a lot for me, and I actually prefer it with 2 or 3 Tablespoons. It’s perfectly okay to start with a couple of spoonfuls and see how you like the flavor. Just like at the coffee shop, you can customize the sweetness to your liking.
Now, you’ll carefully top your steamed, flavored milk with two shots of espresso. This is about 1.5 ounces, according to good old Google. However, my espresso maker generously gave me 2 ounces. You can attempt to layer it by tilting your cup toward you and drizzling the coffee down the side of the cup.
Please note, that layering generally only works if you use whole milk. A milk with a lower fat content won’t be heavy enough to support a layer of espresso, so it mostly just mixes together. This is true of non-dairy milks.
We’re almost there! Spoon your steamed milk foam on top. Use as much as you want, or as much as the cup can hold. Finally, drizzle a generous portion of your spiced apple caramel sauce on top.
What Makes It a Macchiato?
To be fully technical, Starbucks’ Apple Crisp Macchiato is a latté macchiato. A true macchiato is an espresso topped with a thin layer of milk and foam. However, a latté macchiato has a lot of milk at the bottom. If you want to achieve defined layers, as I mentioned before, you need to use whole milk. Otherwise, your espresso and milk will bleed together. Not a big deal, really. It’s still delicious.
The layers and the amount of foam on top are really the difference between a latté and a macchiato latté. Lattés have a bit more foam and the milk and espresso are mixed together for a homogenous liquid the whole way down. Drinking straight espresso with your first couple of sips is the mark of a really good latté macchiato.
So, to sum up:
- A Macchiato is just espresso with a thin layer of milk foam on top.
- A Latté is espresso mixed with milk with a medium layer of milk foam on top.
- A Latté Macchiato is a layer of whole milk topped with a layer of espresso topped with milk foam.
And just as a note, yes, I see the thick layer of foam in my photos… Technically, what is pictured is more of a latté than a macchiato or a macchiato latté. That’s entirely a photography set-up choice, not a coffee purist choice.
Scone Pairings for Your Macchiato
It wouldn’t be the full coffee shop experience without a little baked treat, am I right?
Why not try a Maple Oat Scone? If you’re vegan, you might want to give my Golden Milk Latté Scones a shot.
If you’re really leaning into the apple experience, bake up my Chai Masala Apple Dumplings.
The Tools You’ll Need to Make Apple Crisp Macchiatos
Before you make your apple crisp macchiato at home, here are the tools you’ll need plus some alternate options that I talked about above:
- Philips 4300 Automatic Espresso Machine with Milk Frother – I used my Christmas bonus for this baby, and it’s my favorite kitchen appliance!
- Mr. Coffee Espresso Maker – This is what we started out with, and it works great!
- Milk frother wand – In truth, I got mine at IKEA. This one is comparable.
- French press – I prefer the Meuller stainless steel French press because the whole thing can go in the dishwasher, and it keeps my coffee hot for longer.
- 16 ounce coffee mug – These Gibson Owl mugs are my favorite!
- Squeeze bottle for the drizzle
- Jar for storing syrup
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Apple Crisp Macchiato
Equipment
- Espresso Maker with Milk Frother (see blog post for alternatives)
- Squeeze bottle
- Jar
- 16 ounce mug
Ingredients
Brown Sugar Apple Syrup
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1 cup diced apple Granny Smith works best
- 1 cinnamon stick
Spiced Apple Drizzle
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup apple cider
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ tsp apple pie spice
Macchiato Latté
- 2 oz brewed espresso (strong coffee works, too)
- ½ cup milk (whatever your preference)
Instructions
Brown Sugar Apple Syrup
- Combine dark brown sugar, water, diced apple, and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and steep until completely cooled. Strain and store in a glass jar in the fridge.
Spiced Apple Drizzle
- Combine apple juice and water in a saucepan. Heat to 350ºF (for approximately 6 to 12 minutes), brushing the sides of the pan down with a wetted pastry brush to prevent crystallization.
- Whisk in cubes of room temperature butter until combined. Continue whisking as you slowly drizzle in the milk. Add apple pie spice and cool completely.
- Store in a squeeze bottle in the fridge.
Apple Crisp Macchiato
- Heat milk and froth until you are happy with the amount of foam on top. Use a spoon to hold the foam back and pour the remaining liquid milk into your 16 oz mug.
- Add 3 to 6 Tbsp of brown sugar apple syrup and stir to combine.
- Top with espresso. NOTE: I've listed 2 oz (or 2 shots). You can use as much as you want, or substitute coffee.
- Spoon the milk foam on top. Drizzle the spiced apple sauce in a criss-cross/lattice pattern on top.
- Enjoy!
