Guess what? I have something to tell you! It’s very important. Are you ready? Here goes.
Today is National Coffee Day!
No really. It is. And while we’re on the subject, what entity decides official days in our world? National Pancake Day, National Meatball Day, National Spam Day…who determines these? Is there a government committee? Or is it just Twitter? Let me know when you find out.
And in the meantime…here are three very simple homemade versions of Starbucks’ famous blended Frappuccinos! They’re surprisingly easy to whip up at home, which is essential for me considering the closest Starbucks is five trillion thousand million hundred miles from my house.
Feel sorry for me, please.
Thank you.
First, you need really strong—and I mean, strong—coffee that’s been chilled. I’m fresh out of the coffee concentrate I usually like to keep in my fridge, so I just brewed some extremely strong coffee (have I mentioned it needs to be strong?), poured it into a mason jar, and popped it in the fridge until it was really cold.
(But if you have time…use this recipe to make a large amount of cold brew concentrate! You’ll be glad you did.)
The coffee basically needs to be too strong for the average person to drink straight—and actually, too strong for the average person to drink with a little cream and sugar added! You have to account for the dilution that will happen when you blend it all with ice and milk; you still wanna taste that beautiful coffee flavor when the Frappuccinos are all ready!
So (at the risk of beating a dead horse)…strong, okay?
Start by pouring the concentrate into a blender.
Oh boy oh boy oh boy. I’m already getting excited.
Now for the milk! I used whole milk because I have issues of rebellion stemming from my childhood, but you can certainly use 2%, 1%, or even nonfat milk!
Just be sure to splash in some heavy cream if you do that.
Ha.
Don’t add milk to the point of it being super creamy; it still needs to be really strong and coffee-ish.
Now, for a little added touch of deliciousness, add some vanilla!
And for the sweetness…
Sweetened condensed milk. The nectar of the gods!
Now, you can always add straight sugar or a simple syrup. I just like using sweetened condensed milk because, well…issues from my childhood.
And it’s just so darn delicious.
Add about a fourth a cup…or a little more, depending on your taste.
Now you just need ice. This is only half the quantity I used; you pretty much need to top off the whole blender.
Then just blend the heck out of it until the ice is totally broken up and the Frappuccino is nice as smooth.
Well, as smooth as it can be with all that nice, crunchy ice.
This is perfect.
You can add more ice, more milk, or more coffee concentrate depending on what it needs and what consistency you want. I like it pretty icy and thick like this, so I’m just gonna go for it.
Now that right there is a Frappuccino. Eat it with a spoon, sip it with a straw…whatever makes your skirt fly up.
Now, to make a MOCHA Frappuccino, all you need to do is add a good amount of chocolate syrup. Just like I’ve been driving home the point ad nauseam that you really want to taste the coffee flavor…you also really want to taste the chocolate flavor.
Flavor, flavor, flavor!
Oh, and one more thing: flavor.
Blend it, taste it, add more, blend it taste it…until it’s perfect.
Into a glass…
And this definitely warrants whipped cream. Oh, and full disclosure: This is Reddi Wip.
I feel cleansed having told you that.
Oh, what a beautiful sight.
But wait! There’s more! How about a Mocha CHIP Frappuccino? Just add a good amount of chocolate chips…
And blend it until the chocolate is broken up into tiny bits.
(Do your kids ever get the Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccinos at Starbucks? Mine do, and before I hand them back into the back seat, I drink half of them first. Delicious!)
All of these Frappuccinos are treats…but this is definitely in the decadent category. The bits of chocolate are glorious.
Pour it in the glass, and get very excited. This is gonna be good.
I probably could have blended it a little bit more to break up the chocolate. But I think I can surge on in spite of this hiccup. With the help of family and friends…I’ll make it.
Whipped cream, chocolate chips (or you can drizzle on more chocolate syrup)…and you’re good to go! (Here, it has sat for a few minutes and you can see all the sedimentary layers of deliciousness. Sigh.)
Happy National Coffee Day, everyone! I hope you’re celebrating in grand style.
