Copycat Starbucks Frappuccino Recipe

So Starbucks has been offering all sorts of great Frappuccino promotions this summer.  Now I  have never been a Frappuccino gal myself but darn if Starbucks didn’t get me hooked on these yummy drinks.

I get a little nervous looking at these kinds of drinks because some of them can have upwards of 500 calories.  (You need to run about 5 miles to burn off 500 calories…. no thank you) and they also have tons of sugar.

So I decided to play around and see if I can create my own drinks at home.  It does take a little extra effort but if it takes you 15 minutes to get to the Starbucks drive through- well you can have one of these already made and be sitting by the pool in that same amount of time.

These puppies will set you back about $3.75-5.00 a pop at Starbucks too so you can save yourself a small fortune by making them right at home and you will know precisely what goes into your drink.

I prefer the Coffee Frapps myself because they are not overly sweet.  I also like the Caramel Frapps as a very occasional treat so here is how I make them at home.

I don’t care for really sweet coffee drinks so you may want to adjust this according to your taste.

Personally I prefer simple syrup to plain white sugar in this drink.  To make the simple syrup: Add one cup of sugar to one cup of water in a saucepan over medium high heat. Stir until all the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and let simmer about 10 minutes. Add to jar and let cool.

I just keep a jar on hand of simple sugar for when I make the Passion Tea Lemonade anyway so that is easy peasy to grab out of the fridge.

The key here is to get a good coffee.  I have a Keurig so I just put espresso into the little filters they make and brew it in a second.  (make sure to leave time for the espresso to cool!) If you don’t have one of these, you can just brew a super strong batch of coffee and then put the coffee into ice cube trays and freeze.  Pull them out and place into a baggie and keep in the freezer for individual use.  If that sounds like too much bother, another option would be to use the little Starbucks Via packets.

If you feel fancy, here are some extras to add:

Xantham gum: this can be food at natural food stores and is an additive in the regular Starbucks Frappucino base.  This will help your Frapp from separating.  Personally I don’t find it worth the bother.

Sprinkle a tiny bit of sea salt on top of the caramel frapp for a salted caramel Frappuccino.  (My favorite is Himalayan Pink Sea Salt which is a few bucks at Target.)

Let me know how your homemade Frappucinos turn out!