If you’ve tried the brown sugar shaken espresso before and want something new and exciting, then you need to try this salted caramel cookie butter shaken espresso! It’s literally the same method, just with different flavors added. This one is much more decadent and dessert-like, but it scratches that itch for an easy iced coffee, caffeine, and sweets all in one.

Here’s how to make this shaken espresso drink at home!

What is Shaken Espresso?

Shaken espresso is not a new coffee technique! The OG is the classic Italian shakerato, which inspired the now-famous Starbucks’ version! A shakerato is espresso and sugar shaken with ice until you get a creamy froth. (Similar to how you would make an espresso martini!) What makes a shaken espresso different is that there’s milk added!

The frothy texture is what really makes this drink special, as it adds a nice texture and airiness that is really satisfying to drink. It also has less milk in it than an iced latte so it has a better coffee to milk balance. This is for all the people who don’t like lattes cause they’re too milky!

What is a Salted Caramel Cookie Butter Shaken Espresso?

It’s exactly what it sounds like: a shaken espresso with salted caramel and cookie butter added! Because of the added fat, the espresso doesn’t get as frothy as a normal shaken espresso would but it still has a nice creamy and airy texture. 

But the real reason you add the two ingredients is so that you get a delicious, sweet treat in your coffee! You can buy the salted caramel or cookie butter or make them yourself! But it takes less than 5 minutes to make this yummy drink.

What Does a Salted Caramel Cookie Butter Shaken Espresso Taste Like?

Well, the salted caramel adds a nice sweet and salty flavor to the espresso, while the cookie butter adds a slightly cinnamon, spiced, caramel cookie flavor. Together, they have a lot of overlapping flavors, but ultimately give a spiced, caramel cookie flavor to the espresso. 

You can’t go wrong with these flavors, and it tastes like a cinnamon caramel white mocha. It’s also surprisingly not too sweet, but maybe that’s because I made my own salted caramel. Store-bought caramel will always be much sweeter than the actual thing!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Easy Starbucks-style drink: Nothing better than saving a couple of dollars and enjoying a delicious iced coffee without needing to leave home!
• Quick and simple recipe: Shaken espressos are generally an easy coffee drink to make, and also easy to vary or experiment with flavors. 
• Fancy iced coffee: This coffee feels fancier than it is to make! There are less than 4 steps for a bevy that looks really impressive!
• Good practice for making espresso: If you’re trying to make espresso better at home, use one of your tests on this drink! No waste. 😉

Salted Carmel Cookie Butter Shaken Espresso: Ingredients You’ll Need

• 1 tsp salted caramel 
• 2 tsp cookie butter
• 1-2 shots of espresso
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup ice
• A dash of cinnamon (optional) 

How to Make Salted Caramel Cookie Butter Shaken Espresso

1. Brew 1-2 shots of espresso using a machine or manual method. You can also use instant espresso powder, cold brew concentrate, or coffee concentrate as a substitute.
2. Add ice, salted caramel, cookie butter, and espresso into a shaker cup or sealable jar. Make sure the lid is on tight and leakproof.
3. Shake the espresso for 1 minute or until it triples in size and creates a nice frothy texture. 
4. Either transfer the espresso to a different glass or use the same jar to drink out of. Add a little more ice and top with milk.
5. Mix and enjoy!

Tips for Salted Caramel Cookie Butter Shaken Espresso

• Make homemade salted caramel: Salted caramel sauce is so easy to make at home and uses essential pantry items so you don’t need to buy any extra ingredients. All you need is sugar, butter, and heavy cream. Make it using my salted caramel sauce recipe! It’s less sweet than store-bought and more buttery.
• Make cookie butter: Don’t have cookie butter but have graham crackers or cookies? You can make cookie butter by blending the cookies with a little bit of milk until it’s a creamy consistency. 
• Dump shaken ice: The ice you use to shake the espresso will melt from the heat of the espresso. If you’re serving it to friends or family, pour the espresso into a new glass and top with fresh ice so it stays strong and colder longer.
• Use a clear shaker: It’s easy to tell when the shaking is done when you can see what the coffee looks like inside the shaker or jar. An opaque one is also fine, but harder to tell when to stop.

Substitutions and Variations

• No caramel sauce: Use caramel syrup instead; it’s easy to get store-bought or make it at home. You can always add salt afterwards, but it won’t have the same buttery flavor that caramel sauce has. 
• No cookie butter: Crush up or blend cookies into a paste to add to your shaken espresso. It will have more texture since it’s not a butter, but it adds the same Biscoff flavor! You can even use regular cookies or even graham crackers. 
• Make it vegan: Opt for a vegan caramel sauce or use caramel syrup, use vegan cookie butter, and your favorite plant-based milk! Oat, pistachio, or pecan milk works great here.
• Make it skinny: If you want to lessen the decadence, you can always omit the caramel and/or cookie butter, which would lower the calories but change the flavor slightly. OR find a caramel cookie syrup and use that instead!
• Cold brew or latte: You can make this into a latte by combining the caramel and cookie butter into the milk as the base or adding it to cold brew! The taste is most milky to least from a latte, to shaken espresso, to cold brew.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Can I make this without espresso?

Yes! For an espresso substitute, use instant espresso powder, an Aeropress, or a moka pot to get a concentrated coffee similar to espresso. You could also use cold brew or coffee concentrate, but the flavor isn’t quite the same. 

How much caffeine is in this?

Depends on how much espresso you use! A standard drink uses 2 shots of espresso, which has 120 mg of caffeine. It’s pretty caffeinated! But you can always use decaf if you’re sensitive to caffeine.

Where can I get salted caramel and cookie butter?

You can find them at most grocery stores in the baking or spread aisle. I’ve also seen them in the ice cream aisle being marketed as ice cream toppings (which is so smart). Biscoff is the brand name for cookie butter, but you can use any brand because they all taste the same. If you can’t find salted caramel, you can always get regular caramel sauce and add salt. 

Other Shaken Espresso Drinks You’ll Love

Shaken espresso is so easy to make at home and incredibly fun to get creative and experiment with. Here are some other shaken espresso recipes you need to try next:

• Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso
• Brown Sugar Shaken Chai
• Salted Maple Shaken Espresso
• Pumpkin Spice Shaken Espresso