What Type of Cream Does Dunkin Donuts Use?

I don’t normally get my coffee from Dunkin Donuts, but this past week I decided to give it a shot found out that their coffee is pretty dang good! The thing that stood out to me the most about Dunkin's coffee was the unique the taste of the creamer they used. Which led me to wonder, what kind of cream does Dunkin Donuts use in their coffee?

Dunkin Donuts uses a light cream that is about 18% milk fat, which makes it slightly higher in fat than half and half cream and leads to a richer, thicker and creamier flavor in the coffee. Some stores use Hood, Borden, and Dairypure brand light cream while others make it themselves with a combination of whole milk, skim milk, and heavy cream.

In this article, I’ll not only share with you what kind of cream Dunkin Donuts uses and why it makes their coffee taste so good, but I’ll also share with you what brands to buy and how you can even make it yourself! Let’s get started!

If you're interested in how to order coffee correctly at Dunkin and what phrases like “Extra Extra” and “Equal” mean, check out my guide to ordering at Dunkin here.

And, if you're polygamous with your coffee consumption and visit coffee shops other than Dunkin, I wrote another article on the type of creamers stores like Starbucks, Dutch Bros, and Tim Hortons use.

What Kind of Cream Does Dunkin Donuts Use?

The reason that Dunkin Donuts cream tastes different than the cream at other coffee shops and even the cream that you use at home is because they don’t use half and half cream, they use light cream.

While half and half cream, the kind you find in those little plastic packages at restaurants and cafes, is made of 50% whole milk and 50% heavy cream, light cream is made of 33% milk and 66% heavy cream.

Half and half usually ends up being about 12% fat, while light cream, because it’s thicker and more concentrated, is around 20%

Once cream reaches a 35-38% fat content it becomes whipping cream or heavy cream. And so because light cream is only 18% fat, it’s a diluted or “lighter” version of heavy cream.

The reason that many people think the light cream used at Dunkin tastes better than other creams is that light cream is higher in fat, and as anyone who has eaten bacon before knows: fat tastes good.

Where To Get Dunkin Donuts Cream

Depending on the location, Dunkin Donuts either buys cartons of light cream from suppliers or buys whole milk, skim milk, and heavy cream and mixes them together to make their own light cream in-house.

If you want to make your coffee at home similar to Dunkin’s you can just buy the light cream they use from their suppliers.

A few light cream brands that Dunkin Donuts uses that you yourself may be able to find at your local grocery store are:

• Hood light cream
• Borden light cream
• Dairypure light cream

To make your coffee exactly like Dunkin does, add 1 ounce or 2 tablespoons of the light cream to your black coffee and 2 tablespoons of sugar if you’d like to add some sweetness.

Depending on where you live, you may not be able to find light cream at the grocery store. Most places however will have heavy cream, which you can dilute to make light cream.

To make light cream with heavy cream just combine 2 parts heavy cream with 1 part milk and mix. Store the mixture in the fridge and try to use it all up in the next week because after that it will start to spoil.

Just a heads up that 2 tablespoons of light cream will be about 18% of your daily recommended saturated fat intake, so if you’re drinking multiple coffees a day you could be exceeding the daily recommended value depending on what else you’re eating throughout the day.

If you're trying to make your coffee taste like Dunkin's, I recommend not only using their cream but also their actual coffee. If you have a Keurig at home I recommend checking out this Dunkin Donuts K-cup variety pack below. 

If you're a Dunkin fan that uses a regular coffee maker you can find grinded beans of their Midnight Dark Roast below.

Final Thoughts

The reason that Dunkin Donuts cream tastes so different and for some people better than other coffee shops is because they use light cream instead of half and half, which has a higher fat content and makes the coffee taste richer, creamier, and thicker.

You can add light cream to your own coffee by either buying it at the store or making it yourself by diluting heavy cream.

Hopefully this article could be helpful for you! If you’d like to learn more about Dunkin Donuts, coffee creams and flavorings, and pretty much anything else coffee, be sure to check out the rest of my website!

This article was written by Josh, the founder, and owner of AngryEspresso.com. You can learn more about Josh on our About The Team page.