I’ve never fallen into a daily Starbucks habit which is great for my pocketbook. This is mostly because my coffee needs are simple: iced coffee, every day, all year long. This is easy to accomplish with the homebrew system that I’ve had for years and a bag of beans. But, I do have an affinity for an occasional Frappuccino. So, I set out to create a copycat Frappuccino recipe so that I can steer clear of the long lines at Starbucks while still enjoying an extra frosty treat from time to time.
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A Super Secret Ingredient
This recipe is easy, especially because one inexpensive, shelf-stable secret ingredient: a can of evaporated milk. Evaporated milk is perfect in this recipe. It adds a rich, creamy mouthfeel plus just a bit of sweetness to the final frozen drink. Because it’s evaporated, just a little bit goes a long way without watering down the coffee flavor. I also love that I can keep several cans on my shelf at all times. When I have a hankering, I don’t have to worry about having fresh dairy in the fridge. Pro-tip: I buy evaporated milk in bulk at Costco to save money; it will last on my shelves for years.
Tools of the Trade
To make a Frappuccino at home, you also need a good blender to get the right consistency. But you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on a Vitamix. Just find a blender that has a relatively powerful motor. I got a steal on a Ninja blender at Costco for just $49!
- Shop: Ninja Blender
Finally, you’ll need a way to make ice cubes from brewed coffee. I specifically bought a set of easy-release ice cube trays with a removable lid to make it easy to stack several trays of frozen coffee at once. You can freeze leftover brewed coffee–or take a shortcut and buy a jug of cold brew at the grocery store to freeze into coffee cubes.
You’ll love this copycat version of a Frappuccino. And once you have a few tools and ingredients, you’ll be able to make yourself an afternoon pick-me-up whenever you want without even leaving home!
Watch Me Make a Copycat Frappucino
Copycat Frappuccino Recipe
Equipment
- Blender Use a blender with a powerful motor
- Ice Cube Trays
Ingredients
- 12 oz frozen coffee about 12 standard ice cubes
- 3 oz brewed coffee cold or room temp
- 3 oz evaporated milk
- 3 tbsp brown sugar more or less depending on how sweet you like your Frappucino; see note
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp almond extract optional
- 1 tbsp chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Add the frozen coffee cubes, brewed coffee, evaporated milk, brown sugar, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) to the blender pitcher. Place on the blender base and blend on high until the mixture is smooth about 45 seconds.
- If using chocolate chips, add the chocolate chips and blend for another 10-15 seconds.
- Pour into glasses. This recipe makes enough for 2 servings.
Notes
- You can add more or less sugar based on how sweet you like your coffee drinks.
- You can add your favorite sweetener here. I like the brown sugar because it adds a little extra depth of caramel flavor, but regular sugar, agave, or maple syrup (yes!) would also be great here. Another option would be flavored syrups to add different flavor variants (hazelnut syrup would be amazing!)
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for Frappuccino recipe, what are substitutes for evaporated milk?
(my daughter is very meticulous about ingredients and cannot find evaporated milk without carragenan which she’s seen research it causes cancer so no items with carragenan allowed. She tends to use the sweetened condensed milk instead for other recipes if it can’t be left out…. she is not a sweet tooth or caffeine addicted. but I am! Help!)
I’m not sure about substitutes except that evaporated milk is just milk that has been reduced, so maybe you could reduce regular milk and have it on hand?
1/2 and 1/2
Evaporated milk is just slightly denser. So a fresh substitute would be the 1/2 & 1/2 3 oz will not make a huge difference in the total recipe.
This makes a lot of sense. Thank you!