It’s officially holiday season at Starbucks!! What makes this time of the year special is the anticipation of what vegan-friendly drinks and hopefully food they will be debuting. Will there be any new menu items or mainly returners?

We answer all of your questions and even include ingredient lists for the items that are vegan-friendly.

Below the holiday menu information, we added a couple of our favorite drinks (which includes a list of Starbucks non-dairy cream cold foams) and their vegan-friendly food items.

This article takes a deep dive into Starbucks’ holiday menu. If you’d rather go to our straight up list of dairy-free/vegan options, head over to our complete Starbucks Vegan Guide.

Without further ado, let’s see what is on Starbucks’ 2025 Holiday Menu.

Starbucks 2025 Holiday Menu

According to Starbucks stories, the following food and drink items are on the 2025 holiday menu.

Food

Cranberry Bliss Bar
Snowman Cookie
Sugar Plum Cheese Danish
Polar Bear Cake Pop
Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Drinks

–> Before thinking a specific one of these is automatically vegan-friendly because it was last year and the year before that and the year before that, look what it is now called. I share more below.

Iced Sugar Cookie Latte
Peppermint Mocha
Caramel Brulée Latte
Iced Gingerbread Chai Latte

The Chestnut Praline Latte will make an appearance later in the season according to Starbucks press release. Once it’s available, you can order it with your choice of non-dairy milk and NO whip. It is NOT vegan as-is.

What is NOT Vegan?

Let’s get the non-vegan items out of the way. Here is a list of which holiday menu items are NOT vegan-friendly and cannot be modified.

Cranberry Bliss Bar (contains egg & dairy)
Snowman Cookie (contains egg & dairy)
Sugar Plum Cheese Danish (contains egg & dairy)
Polar Bear Cake Pop (contains egg & dairy)
Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread???
Iced Gingerbread Chai Latte (contains honey & dairy — I share my thoughts below)
Caramel Brulee Latte (contains dairy)

I do want to expand on the Caramel Brulée Latte a bit.

The Caramel Brulee Latte contains brewed espresso, milk, caramel brulée sauce, whipped cream and a caramel brulee topping. The caramel brulee sauce is the main flavor component of the drink which contains dairy so that in itself makes this drink NOT an option.

However, the Caramel Brulee Topping is accidentally vegan. So if you want to try this topping on another drink, go for it! We think it could be fun on Starbucks’ Blonde Vanilla Latte.

If you try it, let us know! Here are the ingredients according to Starbucks:

CARAMEL BRULEE TOPPING [SUGAR, CORN SYRUP, NATURAL FLAVOR, FRUIT AND VEGETABLE COLORS (APPLE, PURPLE CARROT, HIBISCUS)]

What is Vegan-Friendly at Starbucks for the 2025 Holiday Season?

…or can be modified.

First, let me give you a cheat sheet for ordering at Starbucks.

You have 4 non-dairy milks you can choose from:

Oat
Soy
Almond
Coconut

And 3 cup sizes:

Tall
Grande
Venti

Now, on to the holiday drinks…

Iced Gingerbread Chai Latte

This one is a returner that if you recall was not vegan-friendly due to honey being in one of its main ingredients, the Chai Tea Concentrate.

But if you notice, the name has changed as well. This drink had been called an Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte since 2023. So if you were a little more lenient with honey, plant-based or just dairy-free, you knew you could order this with no modifications.

That is no longer the case.

The default for the Iced Gingerbread Chai Latte now contains two forms of dairy: milk & cold foam.

HOW TO ORDER PLANT-BASED:

Order an Iced Gingerbread Chai Latte with your choice of non-dairy milk (almond, coconut, oatmilk, soy). SUB the gingerbread cold foam with the non-dairy gingerbread cream cold foam.

Vegan Options at Starbucks Holiday 2023 — Starbucks’ Gingerbread Latte with Soy Milk and NO whip. 11/2023

If you are honey-free vegan and do love the idea of a gingerbread drink, I cannot recommend the Starbucks’ Gingerbread Latte enough. I order mine with soy milk and make sure to say NO whip (aka: whipped cream).

It’s yummy!

But be aware… this is a coffee/espresso drink and not a tea drink like the chai latte.

Peppermint Mocha, Iced or Hot

The Peppermint Mocha is NOT vegan as-is. In its original form, it has whipped cream and dark chocolate curls. Both of these contain dairy. But the good news is, you can make it dairy-free!

HOW TO ORDER VEGAN: Order an iced or hot Peppermint Mocha with your choice of non-dairy milk (oat, soy, almond or coconut), NO whip and NO chocolate curls.

The ingredients list will look like this… Non-Dairy Milk of your choice +

MOCHA SAUCE [WATER, SUGAR, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, NATURAL FLAVOR], BREWED ESPRESSO, PEPPERMINT SYRUP [SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, SODIUM BENZOATE, CITRIC ACID]

Sugar Cookie Latte, iced or hot

Y’all… here’s another one. Please note the name. This drink has been called, Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte, since it made its debut in 2021. Almond milk is no longer the default milk hence the removal of that specific ingredient.

The default ingredients are:

MILK, BREWED ESPRESSO, SUGAR COOKIE FLAVORED SYRUP [SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, PRESERVATIVE: POTASSIUM SORBATE, SALT, CITRIC ACID], RED & GREEN SPRINKLES TOPPING [SUGAR, CORN STARCH, NATURAL FLAVOR, VEGETABLE JUICE FOR COLOR (PURPLE SWEET POTATO, SPIRULINA), CARNUBA WAX, RIBOFLAVIN FOR COLOR, TURMERIC AND BETA CAROTENE FOR COLOR]

You can absolutely still order it dairy-free though!

HOW TO ORDER VEGAN: Order an iced or hot Sugar Cookie Latte. SUB dairy milk with a non-dairy milk of your choice (oat, almond, soy, coconut)

You may also see a drink called, Iced Sugar Cookie Breve. This drink just sub’s milk with half & half. Still not vegan.

Other Holiday Drink Options

The following drinks are other options that we feel have that holiday spice and could be another option if the ones they brought back do not tickle your fancy.

But first did you know that Starbucks offers non-dairy cold foam? You can play with the flavors of any of these drinks or of any others you can create in your own mind. How fun is that?

Here are the non-dairy cold foams available:

Nondairy Brown Sugar Cream Cold Foam
Nondairy Chocolate Cream Cold Foam
Nondairy Gingerbread Cream Cold Foam
Nondairy Matcha Cream Cold Foam
Nondairy Peppermint Chocolate Cream Cold Foam
Nondairy Salted Caramel Cream Cold Foam
Nondairy Strawberry Cream Cold Foam
Nondairy Sugar Cookie Cream Cold Foam
Nondairy Vanilla Cream Cold Foam

:: coffee drinks ::

Cinnamon Dolce Latte, Iced or Hot

Not sure why this one is not highlighted on their holiday menu… It’s cinnamon! In its original form, the Cinnamon Dolce Latte is NOT vegan as-is. It contains whipped cream and a cinnamon dolce topping. Both contain dairy.

HOW TO ORDER VEGAN: Order a latte with cinnamon dolce syrup and your choice of non-dairy milk.

Iced Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte

This has been a recent go-to for me. It’s quite delightful. It is NOT vegan as-is though which is unfortunate because the name would lead you to believe it more than likely is dairy-free.

HOW TO ORDER VEGAN: Order an Iced Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte. Ask to SUB the vanilla sweet cream cold foam with the NONDAIRY vanilla sweet cream cold foam.

Why this isn’t the default is beyond me.

Starbucks Blonde Vanilla Latte, Iced or Hot

This is a favorite of mine! I love Starbucks’ Blonde Roast. It’s so smooth. And then you pair it with vanilla. It’s like you’re on a cloud. 😉

In its original form, Starbuck Blonde Vanilla Latte is NOT vegan-as is.

HOW TO ORDER VEGAN: Order a Blonde Vanilla Latte with your choice of non-dairy milk.

:: caffeine-free drinks ::

Hot Chocolate

Who doesn’t love warm hot chocolate on a cold snowy day?

Now, I have never ordered a hot chocolate from Starbucks but I want to mention for those who like what they like, Starbucks does not use hot chocolate powder. Your drink is a mix of milk and their mocha sauce. I have discovered that to some this matters.

It is NOT vegan as-is though. It automatically comes with dairy milk and whipped cream. Both contain dairy.

HOW TO ORDER VEGAN: Order a Hot Chocolate with your choice of non-dairy milk and NO whip.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

A hot chocolate with a hint of peppermint. Yum! This one also needs modifications. In its original form, it contains dairy milk, whipped cream and dark chocolate curls. All 3 contain dairy.

HOW TO ORDER VEGAN: Order a Peppermint Hot Chocolate with your choice of non-dairy milk and NO whip or dark chocolate curls.

Vegan Food Options

Vegan Options at Starbucks Food — Starbucks’ Oatmeal with Blueberries. 2023

Since Starbucks has not brought us any new vegan-friendly food options this holiday season, we can choose from what we are already familiar with:

Plain or Everything Bagel (be aware there is also an everything & cheddar bagel that is not vegan). Look for packaged Organic Avocado Spread to spread on. Justin’s Hazelnut Butter or Classic Almond Butter may also be an option–check with your location for availability.
Rolled & Steel Cut Oatmeal with Blueberries (not labeled vegan but no animal-derived ingredients) … comes with whole grain oatmeal, nut medley, blueberries and agave nectar syrup. It is optional to add in a splash of non-dairy milk.
Spicy Falafel Pocket.

In Conclusion…

Would have been cool to have a new vegan-friendly drink but we can take our wins. If you haven’t been to Starbucks in a while, please remember that we do not pay extra for non-dairy milk anymore. For the drinks that changed their ingredient lists, they can still be modified and this year, we even have all of these non-dairy cream cold foams to play with.

Get creative.

Visit our Starbucks Vegan Guide for a complete list of drinks and food you can order. Share with us in the comments what your favorite drink is this time of year.

Happy Holidays!

Starbucks 2025 Vegan Holiday Guide (Food and Drinks)