Finally – an excuse to have ice cream for breakfast! Salted Caramel Affogatos are coffee ice cream floats where cold and creamy ice cream meets hot and bitter coffee, complementing each other perfectly when you need a caffeine boost.

There’s a certain part of Pittsburgh that I love and often find myself shopping there, referred to as The Strip District.
I used to only go once every few months when I moved away to cow country, but now that I’m living in the city, I’m there 1-2 times a month because it’s only 5 minutes away.
It’s always funny explaining The Strip to non-Pittsburghers because almost every single person thinks it’s a bunch of strip clubs. I promise you it’s not!
Rather it’s named for being a narrow strip of land confined by natural boundaries.
The part that I visit is where a lot of the local businesses are set up in a row, almost like an outdoor strip mall. Here you can find ethnic-based grocery stores, produce stands, meat and fish markets, local artisan shops, restaurants, bakeries, and of course my favorite – coffee shops.
Although I’ve been to all of the coffee shops, I keep going back to the same one.
As I was waiting in line for my usual small latte this past weekend (their coffee is so good they don’t even offer flavorings!), I noticed they were offering a new seasonal drink – affogatos.
Ah affogatos! I haven’t had one in a long time. An affogato, which translates into drowned as in drowned in coffee, is an Italian based drink where you pour espresso over ice cream, much like an ice cream float but with coffee.
I didn’t order it, but as I was walking past another coffee shop, they too had affogatos on the menu. More affogatos! This is how you know summer has (unofficially) arrived.
The first time I had an affogato was when I was studying abroad in Ireland. My campus had a coffee shop that also sold ice cream and apparently you could order the two items together in one drink.
This is quite genius if you think about it; instead of using sugar and regular milk or cream in your coffee, you use it in frozen form aka ice cream.
With affogatos on my mind, I took my favorite latte flavor and made Salted Caramel Affogatos with vanilla ice cream.
You can also use chocolate ice cream for mocha based or even coffee ice cream for double the buzz.
Affogatos are meant to be served as dessert, but I look at it as probably the only excuse in the world where I can have ice cream for breakfast and still be totally legit.
After all, I can’t go through a morning without coffee.

As much as I love hot coffee, it gets to be too much in the summer with the sun beating down with temperatures in the 80s or even 90s.
I know you can make iced coffee, but I hate ice in my drinks. Yes, all drinks, ranging from water to pop to even lemonade.
As long as the drink itself is cold, I don’t add ice.
I can handle frappuccinos from a certain national coffee chain as it all gets blended together; I just hate drinks served over ice.
I do, however, love drinks served over ice cream.

Traditionally, affogatos are served with espresso, but I used strong brewed coffee because 1. Not everyone owns an espresso machine and 2. my espresso machine is out of order, perhaps forever.

Salted Caramel Affogatos (aka Coffee Floats)
Salted Caramel Affogatos are coffee ice cream floats where cold and creamy ice cream meets hot and bitter coffee, complementing each other perfectly when you need a caffeine boost.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Put the caramel sauce in the bottom of a glass or coffee mug. Add the ice cream.
- Pour hot coffee over top. Drizzle with caramel and serve immediately.
More Drink Recipes

Mexican Spiced Mocha

Caramel Hot Chocolate
Carolyn says
If I could have one for breakfast, I would. These sound divine!
Marye says
Coffee and ice cream sounds like heaven. These will be made at my house…. soon!
Carla says
They sure are a match made in heaven! :)
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
This looks fabulous!
Carla says
Thanks!
Lori @ RecipeGirl says
This sounds incredibly delicious! I am adding it to my list to try soon!
Carla says
Yes you must try it! They are perfect for summer :)
Lori @ Foxes Love Lemons says
A strip of coffee shops serving affogato? That’s pretty much my personal version of heaven, I tell ya. I guess I never really considered how it’s almost exactly like adding milk and sugar to your coffee, just in frozen form. Or so I’ll be telling myself when I make one tomorrow morning.
Carla says
Yes there’s probably at least 5 different coffee shops in the same area! Six technically because the one company is set up in two different areas.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
I love a classic affogato so this salted caramel version is clearly something I need to try. Divine!
Carla says
The salted caramel really puts it over the top. Thanks, Thalia!
cheryl illinois says
Don’t know if I would like this as I do NO like sugar in my coffee. But it sounds so irresistible I might have to try it. We have been going to “THE STRIP” since there were only about 5 or 6 businesses there and none of the trendy stuff. Love it! The Strip now has a spice house . I buy all of my spices at a Spice House in Geneva Illinois.If you are going there once or twice a month you can keep spices fresh by buying small amounts at a time.
Carla says
Oh are you talking about Penzey’s? They are the reason I started going to The Strip in the first place! I remember reading about it and had to go check it out then I just fell in love with the whole area.
Stephie says
These look divine! Gorgeous!
Carla says
Thanks, Stephie!
Julianne @ Beyond Frosting says
I am strictly an iced coffee gal, so these are perfect for me!
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen says
I could go for this any time of day. I gotta have my coffee and this is perfect for summer!
sue|theviewfromgreatisland says
this has to be the ultimate summer dessert
Chicory App says
Carla, this looks amazing! It’s like a cross between Caramel machiato and Affogato, absolutely drooling right now!