From The Kitchen: Frappe Hour

It is no secret that my husband spoils me rotten. He really does :) One of the ways he spoils me is he makes me an amazing espresso drink every day. You just can’t beat that, not in my book anyway! I eagerly wait for my drink and it is one of my favorite flavors in the whole world. And even though I love Starbucks, I usually would rather have what he makes me (that’s how amazing they are!).

Because we got a new blender for Christmas that crushes ice like nobody’s business, we have been trying to figure out how to make frappuccinos for the summer. It’s nice to change it up a bit every now and then. After a bit of trial and error we have each come away with our favorite frappes and I am going to share them with you.

As soon as 3:00 rolls around in our house it’s happy hour frappe hour. It’s the perfect little snack between lunch and dinner. Because these drinks can add up in calories really quickly (check out Starbucks nutrition info here), I set out to create a drink that wasn’t so bad so I wouldn’t feel guilty having one every day :) Priorities people, priorities. And while my drink isn’t as rich as a Starbucks Frappe, I’m really happy with it. In fact, I love it!

First, you have to make some classic syrup. For Starbucks Coffee Frappe they use their classic syrup as the sweetener (you can buy it here). But, of course, we had to make our own. Simply mix 1 cup of sugar with 3/4 cup of water and bring it to a boil until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool and you are ready to add it to your frappe. This should make enough for quite a few frappes so don’t use all of it at once! Okay, so here is the rest of the recipe:

1 tablespoon classic syrup

1 tablespoon Starbucks vanilla syrup (purchase here)

1/2 shot of espresso (a whole shot if you like it stronger)

1/4 cup of 2% milk

1/4 cup of water

1 cup of ice

Blend it all together and you are done. The total calories for this yummy drink? Only 110. Not too bad huh? Makes me feel a lot less guilty for having one every day :)

A few things to note. If you add more milk, it will be creamier. The milk adds on the calories quickly but milk is good for you, right? Also, we have an espresso maker and brew actual espresso. If you try this with a regular coffee maker it’s not as good. Believe me, we tried. There was a noticeable difference and I didn’t like it. You definitely gotta have the espresso. As soon as we pull the shots we mix them right away with the water that is added to the frappes. That way the shot doesn’t get bitter.

If you aren’t worried about calories, try Jason’s drink, an equivalent to a java chip:

2 tablespoons classic syrup

2 tablespoons chocolate syrup (like Hershey’s)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 shot (or whole shot) espresso

1/4 cup water

handful of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup of ice

Blend it all up and there you go, super yummy concoction! I haven’t figured out the calories on this one though :)

I also got super crazy with my blender and blended up the ice in my iced tea:

It was super yummy but the ice and the tea separated quickly. I guess you just have to drink it fast :)

Anyone going to try one of these for themselves? Feel free to experiment until you get it just right. It will be a treat, believe me. By the way… is it 3:00 yet?!