Copycat Starbucks Hazelnut Frappuccino Recipe
From the pink drink, flat white, caramel frappuccino, classic vanilla iced coffee, ferrero rocher frappuccino, double chocolate chip frappuccino and other flavors, the coffee chain we all know and love has some pretty delicious coffee drinks available at every corner. And today, we’re recreating one of them – a Copycat Starbucks Hazelnut Frappuccino Recipe! This Starbucks drink is based off the Hazelnut Malt Frappuccino from the Starbucks secret menu, which is a caffeine-free drink that tastes like Nutella! The homemade version of the Nutella frappuccino is vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and refined sugar-free. It’s much healthier and budget-friendly to make at home and you don’t need to go out and actually buy Nutella for it either!
So these different secret menu drinks can’t be found on the regular menu. The secret Starbucks menu recipe for this drink gives the steps to order this in-store or on the Starbucks app. It uses a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino base, an extra scoop of vanilla bean powder, a few pumps of hazelnut syrup and a pinch of nutmeg powder, for the taste of warm spices. Instead of buying specialty ingredients like vanilla bean powder or hazelnut syrup, we make our own Nutella flavor and creamy base using frozen oat milk ice cubes, cacao powder, hazelnut butter, maple syrup and more. Keep scrolling to get to the full recipe card and instructions below!
Why You’ll Love This Copycat Starbucks Hazelnut Frappuccino Recipe
Nutella Flavor without Nutella: Although this frappuccino boasts the flavor of the popular chocolate-hazelnut Nutella spread, there’s actually no Nutella in this recipe! Hazelnut butter with cacao powder and sweetener provides the base for what would make a creamy Nutella spread. Then we mix all of this into the frappuccino, providing it with that nostalgic Nutella taste. Plus, Nutella isn’t vegan because of the milk ingredient added, but this recipe sure is!
Substitutions: Sweetener
Maple Syrup: The homemade version of this drink uses a lot less sugar than in the Starbucks version. Pure maple syrup (not pancake syrup) provides the sweetener for this recipe. You can also use another sweetener of choice. Xylitol, brown sugar, agave nectar or any liquid or dry sweetener will work. For example, monk fruit sugar can work as a keto sweetener for those who prefer something low carb. Note that using brown sugar will not be a refined sugar-free option.
Substitutions: Milk
Oat Milk: Substitute with any other neutral non-dairy milk of choice. Almond milk, cashew milk, full-fat canned coconut milk, soy milk or other plant-based milks may work. Oat milk has a sweet and nutty flavor, which is enjoyable in this drink. To keep it refined sugar-free, use milk with no added sugar.
Substitutions: Other
Vanilla Extract: For best results, pure vanilla extract, without added artificial colors and dyes (like caramel color). You can use artificial vanilla flavor as well. However, it may come off as more bitter and not as smooth or sweet as the pure version.
Hazelnut Butter: All the hazelnut flavors are coming from this one ingredient. You can find pure hazelnut butter online, make your own by buying raw hazelnuts or find it at the Bulk Barn, which is a Canadian bulk food store.
Cacao Powder: This is the raw, unprocessed counterpart to cocoa powder. Cocoa powder is easier to find, as this is the type of powder commonly used in baking brownies and other chocolate desserts. You can easily substitute cacao for cocoa, or find cacao in health food stores. It’s considered a raw ingredient because it hasn’t been subjected to the same heat as cocoa powder has. To all chocolate lovers – you’ll be happy to know that because of this low heat processing step, cacao is said to have more antioxidant properties! (Yes, chocolate should be eaten every day … in my humble opinion).
Copycat Starbucks Hazelnut Frappuccino Recipe Notes
- Gay Lea brand makes delicious coconut cream based whip. This is usually next to the regular aerosol cans of whipped cream in the grocery store. For a non-coconut-base, ReddiWhip makes an almond based whip instead. There may be other brands providing soy-based whip instead of a nut-based one as well, depending on where you live.
- This drink doesn’t normally contain espresso, but you can add chilled espresso shots as desired. This will change the texture of the drink, so to keep it creamy it would be better to freeze the espresso into ice cubes before blending.
More Starbucks Frappuccinos You’ll Love
If you make this Copycat Starbucks Hazelnut Frappuccino Recipe, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!
Copycat Starbucks Hazelnut Frappuccino Recipe
Equipment
- High Speed Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat milk ice cubes
- ½ cup oat milk chilled
- 3 tbsp cacao powder
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp hazelnut butter
- ⅛ tsp pink salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- pinch ground nutmeg
- vegan whipped cream optional topping
- raw crushed hazelnuts optional topping
- vegan mini semisweet chocolate chips optional topping
Instructions
- Blend together all frappuccino ingredients, except the toppings, until a frappuccino consistency forms.
- Taste test the mixture and add more cacao for a chocolate flavor, hazelnut butter for a hazelnut flavor, maple syrup for sweetness and oat milk for a liquid-y texture. If adding any extra ingredients, then give it one more blend.
- Pour the mixture into a tall glass.
- Top with vegan whipped cream, crushed hazelnuts and mini chocolate chips. Enjoy!
