Make Your Own Starbuck's Frappuccino

Everyone likes Starbucks chilled frappuccino right? You know the little glass bottles sold at just about every convenience store and supermarket here in the United States. I have only two small problems with these flavored coffee drinks. First, they are expensive, sometimes up to $1.89 if sold individually. Second, they contain 33 carbohydrates per serving. Heck, at my current goal rate that's more than my whole carbohydrate intake for the whole day. Not exactly what you would call low carbohydrate friendly. My mother-in-law loves these things, and my wife who is not a hot coffee drinker likes them as well, so it was up to me to find a way to make a more LCHF friendly version of Starbucks frappuccino so that my wife could enjoy this treat.

My nephew and his beautiful family came to visit us about a week ago and we were taking about how my wife and I have gone on a low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) eating plan. Calan pulled out a Starbucks frappuccino and commented on the carbohydrate count of 33 grams. He playfully told his wife “you cannot have any, it has two many carbs.” We all laughed and I told him how I was making my own frappuccino at home and it only has 2.8 carbohydrates per 9.5 ounce serving. So I decided, that it was time to share my recipe for my version of 'Starbucks Mocha frappuccino' for those of you who are diabetic or just wanting to go low carb.

Low Carb Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino (Yield 44 ounces)

The following recipe is for a mocha flavored frappuccino style chilled coffee. This of course means that it has a 'zero calorie' flavored chocolate syrup made from sucralose. Torani makes quite a variety of sugar-free flavored syrups (36 in total last time I checked) that can be used in the recipe making a variety of different flavors. The one thing that some may not like about the Torani syrups is that they do contain quite a bit of preservatives (see ingredient section), however they are hugely popular. If you do not like the idea of the syrups, then simply omit them. A variation that I sometimes make is substituting the chocolate syrup for 1 to 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Just keep in mind that vanilla extract is concentrated and a little goes a long way.

8 cups fresh brewed coffee

½ cup heavy whipping cream

¼ cup Torani chocolate sugar free syrup

1/3 cup Splenda

Add coffee to your drip coffee maker according to your personal tastes. Then add 8 cups of water to your coffee maker. Add the chocolate syrup and Splenda to your carafe or coffee pot and hit to start button. After the coffee has brewed, add the heavy cream to the carafe or coffee pot and stir throughly. Fill bottles of your choice and place in the refrigerator.

Chef's Note: If you are going to use plastic bottles, it would probably be best to wait until the coffee has cooled to room temperature to keep the plastic from melting. As we wash and reuse the glass Starbucks jars that my mother-in-law purchases, I fill them while the coffee is still hot. Once they cool, I place the lids on and place the bottles in the refrigerator. I drink the small bit of leftover frappuccino while it is still hot, a small treat for the cook.

Total Recipe Calories – 443, protein 2.44 grams, fat 44 grams, carbohydrates 11.2 grams

Per (9.5oz) Serving Calories – 111, protein 0.61 grams, fat 11 grams, carbohydrates 2.8 grams

Starbucks (9.5 ounces)

Calories – 180, protein 6 grams, fat 3 grams, carbohydrates 33 grams

What's great about the nutritional content of this recipe is that it actually contains 39% less calories and 92% less carbohydrates than Starbucks. It does however contain 73% more saturated fat from heavy cream, but we are on a LCHF diet so it's right where we need it.

The Ingredients

Not many surprises here. Our homemade frappuccino definitely has no real objectionable ingredients until you add the Torani sugar-free syrup. The ingredients in Starbucks frappuccino's are not to terribly problematic, with the exception of the sugar which is where it gets it's 33 grams of carbohydrates from, but I have listed them here anyway.

Homemade Mocha Frappuccino – Water, coffee, heavy cream, sucrolose, dextrose, and Torani sugar-free syrup (water natural flavors, caramel color, sodium benzonate and potassium sorbate, citric acid, xantham gum, sucralose, acesulfame potassium).

Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino – Water, Coffee, reduced fat milk, skim milk, sugar, maltodextrin, cream, natural and artificial flavor, pectin, and ascorbic acid.

As you can see, all the additives in the homemade frappuccino come from the Torani sugar-free flavored syrup. If you make your own chilled frappuccino without using any of the various flavored Torani syrups, then you can cut back on the artificial preservatives.

Cost Analysis

I usually do not take the time to show a cost analysis for every LCHF recipe I make as the primary focus on such recipes is to lower the amount of carbohydrates in the recipe, not price. However, making your own frappuccino's at home really knocks both of these goals right out of the park. Not only does this recipe have 84% less carbohydrates than store bought, it costs 75% less to make your own frappuccino at home.

Homemade Frappuccino 4-pack assorted flavors $1.40, ($0.35 each)

Starbucks Frappuccino 4-pack assorted flavors at Walmart $5.44 ($1.36 each)

Folgers coffee purchased on sale is $0.21 per ounce, I use 0.5 ounces to make 8 cups of coffee making the cost for coffee $0.11 ($0.21 x 0.5 = $0.11). Heavy Cream costs $0.13 per ounce, and we are using 4 ounces making the total of heavy cream $0.52, ($0.13 x 4 = $0.52). A one-third cup of Splenda weighs 0.2 ounces, Splenda costs $0.37 per ounce so the cost for the Splenda $0.07 ($0.37 x 0.2 = 0.074). Torani Sugar-Free chocolate syrup $0.35 per ounce so the cost of the chocolate syrup is $0.70 ($0.35 x 2 = $0.70). Therefore making the total cost of your 4-pack of homemade frappuccino $1.40 or $0.35 per bottle. That's an amazing 75% savings in cost. Let me rephrase that, you can make 12 bottles of your own frappuccino at home for the cost of 4 bottles of the Starbucks brand frappuccino.

Conclusion

So there you have it, a LCHF, diabetic, and food budget friendly version of the popular Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino. This recipe will not only save you money, but will allow you to enjoy an LCHF treat that will not destroy your dietary goals. So make some bottles up ahead and throw them in your cooler and take them to work or to the gym for when you need a little coffee fix in the afternoon or after a workout for a treat that tastes like a cheat, but it's not. As always, we ask that if you have found this article informative and helpful that you share it with your friends. Don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook or add us to your circle on Google+ so that you can receive our latest article.