Strawberry Shortcake Frappuccino

A frappuccino from Starbucks is one of my guilty pleasures, however, the rising cost of such pleasures has me learning how to make them at home for a fraction of the cost. This Strawberry Shortcake Frappuccino is prepared with homemade strawberry shortcake crumbs, milk, ice, vanilla extract, strawberry syrup, and whipped cream. It’s even more delicious than it looks!

In less than 5 minutes, this at-home copycat version of Starbuck’s Strawberry Frappuccino with a Strawberry Shortcake glow up could be all yours! Think about it – no line up, no drive thru, and no putting on pants to go out! That’s all the reason I need!

In our family, we all love a quick visit to Starbucks whenever we run into town for groceries or an appointment. It’s something we all look forward to – even John.e! Until just recently, he did not care much for drinks from Starbucks. He only ever had a cookie, but that changed at Christmastime when he was hooked on the Peppermint Mocha. When Christmas was over and the drink was taken off the menu, we encouraged him to try a Mocha Frappuccino with a few pumps of peppermint syrup. It won him over!

Unlike the original Starbucks Strawberry Creme Frap, my version adds strawberry shortcake crumbs to make it even more delicious. Let’s talk about strawberry shortcake crumbs for a minute!

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CRUMBS

Remember those pink and white ice cream bars with the strawberry-flavoured crumb coating? I do! In fact, they were my favourite ice cream bar when I was growing up. Now that I’m older, I don’t care much for ice cream, because it doesn’t seem to agree with me. I’m not lactose intolerant, but ice cream makes me feel bloated and blah, so I stay away from it as much as possible.

Now, in the instance that the ice cream in question is strawberry, I can’t pass it up. Because of the fact that I’m not a fan of ice cream, it is safe to assume that I am not an ice cream connoisseur. So, go easy on me when I tell you that my favourite ice cream is cheap ice cream, and the more artificial the strawberry flavour, the more I love it! I won’t name the brands that I like, but they package their ice cream in boxes. That’s all I’m going to say!

The number of Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars I ate when I was a kid are too high to count. I can’t tell you what the brand was, but the closest I can find are these by Good Humor. (I had to re-type ‘humor’ about five times before I could get my brain to let go of the O that should be in there – humour – it’s the Canadian in me!) Something tells me that in the 80s, the go-to brand was Nestle. Anyway, I digress!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

You might have guessed by now that you need a batch of Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs. Go ahead, and click on the link. It will open and new page so you won’t lose this one. Here is a list of the ingredients you will need to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

To Make the Crumbs:

• Vanilla Pudding – Just a plain box of powdered mix is all you need. There’s no need to mix it according to the instructions on the package.
• Strawberry Jello – Again, this is just the powder. You will use the powder as it is – no need to mix it and let it set.
• Flour – Regular all-purpose flour is good.
• Butter – I used salted butter to offset some of the sweetness. Unsalted butter is certainly okay too.
• Golden Oreos – Get the vanilla-flavoured Oreos. You’ll use one full package of Golden Oreos.

For the Remainder of the Recipe:

• Ice Cubes
• Milk – I like to use whole milk, but this recipe will work great with other milk varities such as oat, almond, etc.
• Vanilla Extract
• Strawberry Syrup – I have an easy recipe for strawberry syrup if you don’t already have some on hand.
• Whipped Cream

HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CRUMBS

It is so easy to make these crumbs, but it does take a little bit of patience. Whatever you do, don’t rush through it, otherwise, you run the risk of two things happening. First, you want the strawberry part of the crumbs to be vividly bright pink. If you mix the ingredients in the wrong order, this will not happen. Trust me; I once ended up with a batch of crumbs that were just a mix of beige and the palest pastel pink you can imagine. Secondly, the butter can separate when baking, so please, follow each step carefully. Here’s what you do:

Preheat the oven of 350 degrees F. Add the strawberry jello powder to a bowl along with the butter. The butter must be soft! I cannot be melted, but it must be super soft. Even though my butter sits are room temperature, for this recipe, I measure out the butter into a small bowl and microwave it on low speed for five seconds. Again, super soft, but not melted is the key.

Beat the butter into the jello until well combined. It will become very bright pink and look like sand. Now, add in the vanilla powder and beat it into the pink mixture. Be sure to use the same amount of vanilla pudding powder as the strawberry jello powder! Finally, beat in the flour until mixed through and no white spots are left. Spread this mixture out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to your fridge and let the mixture cool for at least 15 minutes.

FINISHING UP THE CRUMB MIXTURE

Once the pink jello and vanilla pudding mixture has sat in your fridge for at least 15 minutes, it is time to move on to the next part of the recipe. Using a food processor, dump in the Golden Oreos and pulse until the cookies are crumbly. You don’t want to overwork the Oreos. Don’t aim for sand, but more like little pebbles. Transfer the crumbled cookies to a bowl and set aside.

Retrieve the jello mixture from the fridge. By this point, it should have hardened. Carefully break it up into manageable pieces. Transfer the pieces to your food processor and pulse until crumbly. Again, don’t completely break down the pieces. Just like what you did with the Oreos, aim for pebble-sized pieces. Transfer the crumbs to the bowl with the Oreos.

Use a spatula or spoon to toss and mix the pink strawberry crumbles into the beige Oreo crumbs until well combined. There you have it, Dear Reader! You have just created a batch of Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs!! Go ahead; taste it! Doesn’t it taste just like those ice cream bars!?

HOW TO MAKE A STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE FRAPPUCCINO

Before you begin this recipe, make sure that you have prepared the strawberry shortcake crumbs first. They must be fully cooled before you start to assemble. Once the crumbs have been taken care of, it’s time to prepare the recipe as follows.

Measure the ice cubes, milk, vanilla extract, and 6 tablespoons of the strawberry shortcake crumbs into a blender and puree until smooth. Swirl the inside of a drinking glass with 2 tablespoons of the strawberry syrup. Pour the pureed frappucino into the glass.

Top with whipped cream, the remaining tablespoon of strawberry syrup, and the remaining two tablespoons of the strawberry shortcake crumbs. Serve immediately.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down to follow me and never miss another recipe!