Bittersweet coffee, mixed with smooth chocolate, and blended with milk and ice to frozen perfection... That's right, you can make your favorite Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino at home!
Great news for all Starbucks Frappuccino lovers! Following my simple step-by-step instructions (or video), you can now make your favorite drink at home. Save some money and a trip to Starbucks, and make this scrumptious Mocha Frappuccino yourself. Are you in?
I thought so. 🙂 Before we start blending, let's discuss the ingredients.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE MOCHA FRAPPUCCINO
COFFEE
It's simple. We use instant coffee at Starbucks for frappuccinos. You may buy Starbucks Via Instant Coffee, or use your favorite kind. Frankly, I don't notice a difference in taste between most common instant coffee brands, so I usually buy the cheapest, like this Nescafe Clasico.
MILK
The best milk for making a frappuccino is whole milk. Because the recipe requires a lot of ice, skip the reduced fat or nonfat milk, so your Mocha Frappuccino will be smooth and creamy. You may even want to try using Half & Half, if you are not scared of the extra calories.
If you prefer a dairy-free option, then Vanilla Soy Milk will work well. I have used Sweetened Almond Milk in the past, too.
CHOCOLATE SAUCE
My favorite ingredient! After trying so many brands, Ghirardelli Chocolate Sauce is my favorite kind. That said, you may use HERSHEY'S or Torani Chocolate Sauce, if they’re easier for you to find, or you happen to have them on hand. Psst... I am planning to try Nutella next time. It should taste great, too!
XANTHAN GUM
You probably didn't expect to see this ingredient here. However, it is a very important one. Xanthan gum is what makes frappuccinos smooth and binds the ice and milk together. Without it, your frappuccino would look like this:
Just so you know, every Starbucks frappuccino has this ingredient. We use "Frappuccino Base" and it's made out of water, sugar, and xanthan gum. The good news is that it is a harmless food additive. If you’d like to find out more about xanthan gum, please check out this article: What Is Xanthan Gum? Is It Healthy?
Xanthan gum can be found at Walmart (baking aisle) and many other big supermarkets. Of course, you can find it on Amazon. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Xanthan Gum.
The price may seem a bit high, but when you compare the price and the amount used (¼ tsp. per drink) to the price of a Starbucks Frappuccino, you’ll realize that’s not the case. It’ll cost you about two Mocha Frappuccinos to buy xanthan gum, but you’ll be able to make over 100 of them with only one package.
Once you have all of these ingredients ready, it's time to do some blending. 🙂 The ingredients below will make two 16 oz. (grande) Mocha Frappuccinos.
MOCHA FRAPPUCCINO INGREDIENTS:
- 3 tbsp. of instant coffee
- ½ tsp. of xanthan gum
- 3 tbsp. of water
- 2 cups of ice
- 1 cup of milk
- 6 tbsp. of chocolate sauce
- whipped cream, to garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Prepare the coffee roast, by mixing the instant coffee with 2 tbsp. of water.
2. Prepare the frappuccino base by mixing the xanthan gum with 1 tbsp. of water. (It’s okay to have lumps. They’ll disappear once blended.)
3. Place the coffee roast, xanthan gum mixture, ice, milk, and chocolate sauce into a blender. Blend on low speed for a few seconds, then on a max speed for about 10 seconds, or until the frappuccino is smooth.
4. Pour into cups and top with whipped cream. You can even drizzle some chocolate sauce on top of the whipped cream, although at Starbucks, we don't do that. Enjoy!
More Tasty Starbucks Recipes:
- Green Tea Frappuccino
- Caramel Frappuccino
- Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Starbucks Iced Caramel Macchiato
Why do I share Starbucks recipes? Read my Starbucks Journey. 🙂
Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp instant coffee
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 cups ice
- 1 cup milk
- 6 tbsp chocolate sauce
- whipped cream to garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the coffee roast, by mixing the instant coffee with 2 tbsp. of water.
- Prepare the frappuccino base by mixing the xanthan gum with 1 tbsp. of water. (It’s okay to have lumps. They’ll disappear once blended.)
- Place the coffee roast, xanthan gum mixture, ice, milk, and chocolate sauce into a blender. Blend on low speed for a few seconds, then on a max speed for about 10 seconds, or until the frappuccino is smooth.
- Pour into cups and top with whipped cream. You can even drizzle some chocolate sauce on top of the whipped cream, although at Starbucks, we don’t do that. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Irina says
Delish and good consistency! Thank you for the recipe. I made it with Nescafe Taster’s Choice instant coffee and Hershey’s Chocolate syrup in Blendtec blender.
Tania Sheff says
Awesome! Thanks, Irina!
Michael J Farley says
Nice recipe, but my wife and I thought that there was too much coffee. 3 Tablespoons of Starbuck's Instant Coffee, the medium roast that you recommend, was too much. We will try 2 Tablespoons next time. Also the Starbuck's VIA Instant coffee sells between $6.99 to $9.99 for 8 packages, and it takes over 5 packages to get 3 Tablespoons. So about $5 worth.
Tania Sheff says
Wow! Yes, this does sound very expensive, Michael! You can definitely adjust the amount of coffee in the frappuccino. Thanks for stopping by!
Anon says
Just made this and it’s delicious!… but the consistency is more like a milkshake than a frappe… approximately how much xanthan gum should be used for a more icey/frozen beverage texture?
Tania Sheff says
Hi Anon! You can try using half of the xanthan gum or omit it altogether. Thanks for stopping by!