The Holidays are here at Dunkin’, it’s the first of the month (November 1) and it’s World Vegan Day!
Let’s get into Dunkin’s 2024 holiday menu. Is it new and fresh? Do we have any returners from last year? Most importantly, are any of the menu items vegan? And if not, can they be modified?
Dunkin’s 2024 Holiday Menu
According to Dunkin’s holiday menu announcement
, the following drinks & food are being highlighted for 2024.
- Holiday Cookie Signature Latte (new)
- White Hazelnut Bark Coffee (new)
- Almond Croissant (new)
- Hash Brown Brisket Scramble Bowl (new)
- Cookie Butter Cold Brew
- Peppermint Mocha Signature Latte
- Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte
- Cookie Butter Donut
What is NOT Vegan?
Let’s get this out of the way. What is not vegan and cannot be modified to make vegan.
- White Hazelnut Bark Coffee (dairy is in the white chocolate swirl syrup)
- Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte (dairy is in the white chocolate swirl syrup)
- Almond Croissant (contains dairy & egg)
- Hash Brown Brisket Scramble Bowl (contains it all 🙁 )
- Cookie Butter Donut (contains dairy & egg)
Side note –> Only because this is a holiday time go-to, I also want to add that Dunkin’s Hot Chocolate is NOT vegan. They use a hot chocolate powder that contains dairy.
What is Vegan-Friendly at Dunkin’ for the 2024 Holiday Season?
…or can be modified.
Holiday Cookie Signature Latte
The Holiday Cookie Signature Latte is NOT vegan as-is. In its original recipe, this latte automatically comes with skim milk, whipped topping and a caramel flavored swirl syrup that contains dairy.
Can you order it vegan? Of course you can. But it will come with a lot of modifications AND will taste different from the original–not that any of us who are vegan or dairy-free will know what that taste is supposed to be.
HOW TO ORDER VEGAN:
Instead of dismantling this drink with modifications, let’s make it simple. Order a latte (iced or hot) with brown sugar cookie flavored syrup and your choice of non-dairy milk.
Your latte will include your choice of non-dairy milk (oat or almond) +
Brewed Espresso Coffee; Brown Sugar Cookie Flavored Swirl Syrup: Brown Sugar, Water, Invert Sugar, Molasses, Contains 2% or less of: Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative)
Peppermint Mocha Signature Latte
As a returning favorite, Dunkin’s Peppermint Mocha Signature Latte is NOT vegan as-is. In its original form, it automatically comes with skim milk, whipped cream and a topping that contains dairy.
HOW TO ORDER VEGAN:
Order an iced or hot Latte with Peppermint Mocha Swirl and your choice of non-dairy milk (oat or almond). –> The original has Peppermint Mocha Swirl Syrup AND the Mocha Swirl Syrup. Order however you would like. 😉
The ingredients will be your choice of non-dairy milk +
Brewed Espresso Coffee; Peppermint Mocha Flavored Swirl Syrup: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Cocoa processed with alkali, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Citric Acid, Salt
Dunkin’s Peppermint Mocha Swirl is one of Ryan’s favorite flavors (the other being Mocha Swirl). His typical order is a Coffee with Peppermint Mocha Swirl and Oat Milk.
Cookie Butter Cold Brew
Another returner, the Cookie Butter Cold Brew is NOT vegan as-is. In its original form, it has a Cookie Butter Flavored Cold Foam that contains dairy. Last year, the topping for this drink contained dairy. The 2024 version does not.
HOW TO ORDER VEGAN:
Order a Cookie Butter Cold Brew. Ask to SUB the cookie butter cold foam with your choice of non-dairy milk (oat or almond).
The ingredients will be your choice of non-dairy milk +
Cold Brew Coffee: Steeped 100% Arabica Coffee; Brown Sugar Cookie Flavored Syrup: Brown Sugar, Water, Invert Sugar, Molasses, Contains 2% or less of: Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative); Topping: Unenriched Wheat Flour, Sugar, Palm Oil, Brown Sugar, Water, Natural Flavor, Cinnamon, Baking Soda, Salt, Soy Lecithin.
–> I want to note that your experience with this drink will also be different than those that get it in its original form since they are getting the cold foam that is also flavored with cookie butter. You can always ask for an extra shot of the brown sugar cookie syrup if you get it one time and think it could use more flavoring.
I personally do not like a lot of sweetness in my coffee drinks so I liked it as-is. It is subtle though. Ryan wasn’t a fan because he likes some sweetness.
Dunkin’s Holiday Drink Not Highlighted But Is Vegan-Friendly!
Spiced Cookie Iced Coffee
Not sure why Dunkin’s Spiced Cookie Iced Coffee from 2023 is not being highlighted because it is on their ingredients/allergens page and is accidentally vegan as-is!! The Spiced Cookie Iced Coffee is a simple iced coffee with oat milk and the limited-time holiday syrup, Brown Sugar Cookie Flavored Syrup.
The Spiced Cookie Iced Coffee comes with:
Brewed Arabica Coffee; Oatmilk: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Oats), Sunflower Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Dipotassium Phosphate (Stabilizer), Guar Gum, Sea Salt, Sunflower Lecithin, Gellan Gum, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D2, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and Vitamin B12; Brown Sugar Cookie Flavored Syrup: Brown Sugar, Water, Invert Sugar, Molasses, Contains 2% or less of: Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative); Vanilla Flavor: Natural Flavors, Fruit Juice For Color.
Other Holiday Dunkin’ Drink Options
Vanilla Cold Brew
Order a Cold Brew with a Vanilla flavor syrup and your choice of non-dairy milk (oat or almond).
Hazelnut Latte
Order a Latte with Hazelnut flavor and your choice of non-dairy milk (oat or almond).
Chai Latte
Order a Chai Latte with your choice of non-dairy milk (oat or almond).
Hot Teas
Dunkin’ isn’t exactly known for its teas so if you were not aware, you can always get a hot tea.
Dunkin’s Vegan Food Options
It is unfortunate that Dunkin’ did not bring us a vegan food option with their holiday menu so we’ll have to stick with what we are already familiar with.
- Avocado Toast
- Bagels: Plain, Cinnamon, Everything & Sesame. Order with NO cream cheese. It should not come with it but we have received info that some locations automatically add it.
- English Muffin
- Hash Browns
In Conclusion…
While it would have been cool if Dunkin’ highlighted at least one dairy-free drink option (it is World Vegan Day!), we are thankful that the brown sugar cookie syrup (that is their special holiday flavor again) is accidentally vegan. Ryan is a big fan of the peppermint mocha so he’s happy. Now all we need is a new vegan-friendly food item… the wait continues.
If these drinks do not suit you, check out our Vegan Guide for Dunkin’! It lists everything you can order dairy-free & vegan.
We also have an app you can download to get to our guides quickly. There is a free and pro version of the app. The pro version is paid ($1.99 monthly or $19.99 for the year). You get over 400 vegan guides for chain restaurants, airports, sports venues and amusement parks without ads or pictures getting in the way. And you can try it for free for 30 days to see if you like it!
Happy Holidays!
Hi Rosemary! Thankfully we do not make assumptions and do the proper research so we can put out the most accurate information for the vegan community. Here are the ingredients for Dunkin’s accidentally vegan English Muffins according to their ingredients document: “Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Bleached Wheat Flour, Sugar, Yeast, Contains 2% or less of: Wheat Gluten, Wheat Sourdough (Water, Fermented Wheat Flour, Inactivated Yeast, Salt, Potassium Citrate, Enzymes, Xanthan Gum), Soybean Oil, Salt, Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Dough Conditioner (Wheat Flour, Ascorbic Acid, Enzymes), Fumaric Acid, Degerminated Yellow Corn Meal, Pan and Grill Oil [Soybean Oil, Palm Oil, Beta Carotene (Color), Natural Flavor]. Allergens: Wheat”
Generally English muffins aren’t vegan. They usually contain dairy or eggs. I doubt dunkin donuts has specially made vegan ones.