The first time I recreated the discontinued Dunkin Coffee Coolatta at home, my friend, who had mourned its removal from the menu since 2017, took one sip and closed her eyes in pure nostalgia. “It’s exactly how I remember it!” she exclaimed, immediately requesting the recipe. This blended frozen coffee treat captured the hearts of Dunkin fans when it debuted in the late nineties, offering something uniquely positioned between coffee and milkshake. Though Dunkin replaced it with their Frozen Coffee line in 2017, many devotees still crave the original’s distinctive flavor profile. Now, you can recreate this beloved frozen coffee drink at home in just minutes with simple ingredients. Perfect for hot summer days or whenever you’re craving that nostalgic Dunkin experience without leaving your kitchen.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Table of Contents
What Makes the Dunkin Coffee Coolatta So Special?
The combination of chilled coffee, milk, and specific flavoring syrups creates the authentic Coolatta taste that fans remember. Using pre-chilled coffee ensures the drink blends perfectly without becoming watery. The dual-stage blending technique—starting with crushing ice before switching to smoothie mode—creates the signature texture that’s smooth yet thick enough to hold a straw upright. This method allows you to control the sweetness and flavor intensity while enjoying a freshly made version without artificial preservatives or stabilizers found in commercial versions.
Ingredients
- Whipped cream – Adds the perfect creamy topping
- Chilled coffee – Forms the essential base flavor and caffeine boost
- Milk – Creates creaminess and balances the coffee’s intensity
- Vanilla syrup – Adds sweet aromatic notes characteristic of the original
- Hazelnut syrup – Provides a distinctive nutty flavor profile
- Ice – Creates the frozen texture and refreshing temperature
How To Make This Dunkin Frozen Coffee
To make a copycat recipe of the original Dunkin Coolatta:
- Add the cold coffee, milk, vanilla syrup, hazelnut syrup, and ice to the jar of a blender. Use a powerful blender like a Vitamix or a Blendtec for the best results. If you don’t have a commercial-quality blender, you can still make this drink, but you may have to use a spoon to remove some of the larger chunks of ice.
- Start blending the drink on the CRUSH ICE setting and switch to the SMOOTHIE setting once the larger pieces of ice break up.
- Continue to blend until you can’t hear any large chunks of ice rattling around in the blender jar.
- Pour the mixture into the serving glass. You may need to use a rubber spatula to scrape out of the Coolatta.
- Add a swirl of whipped cream on top and serve with a thick straw.
What To Serve With a Dunkin Donuts Coffee Coolatta
You may want to sprinkle a few mini chocolate chips or chocolate curls on top of the whipped cream as a garnish. A swirl of chocolate or caramel sauce on top is also a welcomed addition.
Recipe Variations
There are almost endless ways to customize this drink. Here are just a few:
- Use coffee ice cubes instead of regular ice.
- Swap out the hazelnut and vanilla syrups for other or additional flavors. Chocolate and caramel-flavored syrups are natural choices, but you can get a little more exotic with French Vanilla, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Brown Butter Toffee, or Irish Cream syrups.
- Make it a Chocolate Raspberry Coolatta. Use chilled hot chocolate to replace the coffee, two tablespoons of Creme de Cacao, and a tablespoon of Raspberry or Blue Raspberry syrup for a fruity finish.
- Make it dairy free and use plant-based milk such as almond or coconut milk.
- A shot of your favorite alcohol turns this refreshing drink into a delicious adult beverage. Rumchata makes a particularly good addition.
Homemade Dunkin Coffee Coolatta – Frozen Coffee Delight
Ingredients
- 1 cup cold coffee
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons vanilla syrup
- 1 tablespoon hazelnut syrup
- 2 cups ice
- 2 tablespoons whipped cream
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients (except for the whipped cream) in a blender, adding the liquids first, followed by the ice.
- Blend, but do not over-blend; the key to the coolatta is to make it icy and not creamy.
- Pour into a glass and top with whipped cream. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Love coffee house drinks? Try these favorite recipes!
- Butter Pecan Iced Coffee
- DIY Caramel Macchiato
- Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee
- Eggnog Latte
- Green Tea Starbucks Frappuccino
- How to Make Cold Brew
- How to Make Caramel Frappe
- Iced Mocha Recipe
- Starbucks Cafe Mocha
- White Flat Starbucks
Homemade Coffee Flavorings
Check out my easy drink recipes and the best coffee house copycat recipes.
Tried. Does not come out like Dunkins. I will keep trying. Next time I will not add milk because it makes it foam up. The ice does not have the consistency of Dunkins. Again, may have to alter it. More ice, less coffee. I will add milk to finished product. Basically, there is a reason a frappe machine costs a lot of money. Can’t 100% duplicate it.
I don’t know if you have a Vitamix or not, these do a good job of blending everything together.
This is the perfect way to cool off in the summer!
it tasted pretty good after i made it
How do you make the banbamilla bean?
Sorry the vanilla bean
is there any way to make this without the sugar in the syrups? i l Love coolattas, but i am on a forever diet.
I altered this recipe a bit.I found vanilla sugar free syrup at market and blend w/ frozen ff coolwhip, and add hazelnut creamer instead of syrup. Do Follow the general recipe given .delicious!
This combination will bring me significant innovation. It’s simple but impressive. I like the idea form you suggested! Thanks a lot.
Was truly addicted to the dunkin donut coolatta and this week they discontinued making them.I ordered the syrups from amazon( they actually came as a set)and I tried it out today.I really liked it.Thank you so much for the recipe
I’m going to try it.looks so good.
Can I use another flavour syrup than the hazelnut one as I have a nut allergy?
Would love to give this a go as very few dunkins in the uk 🙁
This recipe sounds great. Can I use hazelnut spread instead of hazelnut extract?
The flavor should be ok, but the spread would add a texture to the coffee you may not want.
That sounds sooooooooo good!!! I used to have one every afternoon but haven’t had one in 6 years since retiring. Sadly, we moved and there is no Dunkin in the vicinity or a decent cafe! Now I can make one myself even though it is only 27F!!!! LOL!!! I will definitely keep the recipe for the dog days of summer which I can hardly wait! Thanks for the recipe
Looks so scrumptious. Will give it a try.
This look amazing and I love how easy it is too. Also, I so could have used this this morning. Monday was rough! Oy!
I want some now! this looks so delicious that is a must have. I will be printing out the recipe to make it myself. Thanks for letting us know about this amazing yummy drink.
I love these recipes, nothing worse than chemical laced, over priced drinks.
This sounds so delicious and refreshing! I want to try this recipe!
We just got a bunch of snow so this is a recipe I will be pinning for later. It looks so refreshing and great use of left over coffee.
This is a dangerous recipe to look at in the morning when you haven’t had breakfast yet. Now my stomach is rumbling.
This recipe sounds so good. I can’t wait to try it tomorrow morning!