Copycat Wendy’s Vanilla Frosty Recipe
Today we are making a Copycat Wendy’s Vanilla Frosty Recipe! This recipe is inspired by Wendy’s, a fast-food restaurant, which sells a drink known as the Vanilla Frosty. Their website describes it as Wendy’s Signature dessert – cool, creamy and refreshing. Thick enough to use a spoon, smooth enough to use a straw. Frosty fans can agree that it’s like a thicker-than-milkshake drink, which is popular for dipping french fries into! It’s so popular that food bloggers have put up recipes recreating this recipe at home. So today, we’re doing just that for a healthier (and dairy-free) version!
Traditionally, the ingredients in this frosty include: Water, Sugar, Powdered Milk, Sunflower Creamer [Sunflower Oil, Maltodextrin, MILK Protein, Emulsifier (E471), Antioxidant (E306)], Whey (MILK), Stabiliser (E415), Stabiliser (E412), Flavouring (Flavouring, Dextrose), Carrageenan [Stabiliser (E407), Dextrin].
That’s quite a lot of oils, milk products and artificial ingredients! The good news is that making a copycat frosty at home with just some oat milk, vanilla and optional sweetener is a great way to enjoy a similar drink with a lot fewer ingredients. There’s no secret ingredient here, nothing special that you have to go out and find at the grocery store.
Why You’ll Love This Copycat Wendy’s Vanilla Frosty Recipe
Healthier Ingredients, Less Sugar: This recipe is traditionally filled with sugary and artificial ingredients (cue the not so simple ingredients list from above). Usually, to get that sweet yet frosty-like, creamy texture, vanilla ice cream, heavy whipping cream or condensed milk are used in store-bought ice cream or milkshake-style treats. But not in this recipe! Making this one at home requires minimal steps and only two easy ingredients (oat milk and vanilla) for the base!
If you want to make it sweeter, depending on how sweet your oat milk was to begin with, then add some sweetener while blending.
Even with the sweetener, just these three ingredients are more wholesome than what is originally in the frosties. So no need to force your whole family to stay in the back while you wait in the fast food drive-thru line on a hot summer day to pick up your frosty treat (it’s oddly specific, I know. am I talking about my siblings doing this? Maybe…)
Making it at home is more budget-friendly and accessible. You can buy these ingredients in bulk and make it anytime from home, plus skip the waiting and pick-up time!
Substitutions
Oat Milk: I used Suzie’s brand of oat milk, which just consists of oat milk and water on the ingredient label. I find that this oat milk is thinner in consistency but also sweeter. It contains just the basic ingredients and no natural flavors or fillers, as compared to other brands such as Silk. This is my go-to oat milk brand for this recipe!
You can also make oat milk at home, with just one blender and use it in here. Or substitute it with another plant-based milk of choice such as almond milk or coconut milk.
Note that freezing the oat milk in ice cube trays is like the secret key ingredient here. Don’t skip that step! Although the freeze time is 6-8 hours, it is well worth it to wait until the ice cubes are fully formed.
Vanilla: For best results, use pure vanilla extract, that doesn’t contain artificial dyes or colors, like caramel color. It is usually thicker in consistency and also smells much more like vanilla versus a cheaper brand that has an artificial smell. You can also scrape a pure vanilla bean, or use some vanilla powder (which would lend the best vanilla flavor). Although these last two options aren’t as accessible, and vanilla extract will also work just fine.
As a last resort, you can use a brand of vanilla that does contain caramel color or other artificial ingredients, but it won’t taste as good.
Agave Nectar: Use agave nectar if needed, to increase the sweetness of the drink when blending. You can also use pure maple syrup (which will leave a maple flavor in the drink) or any other sweetener of choice.
Copycat Wendys Frosty Recipe Notes
- Gay Lea brand makes a vegan, coconut-cream-based cool whip that I use in this recipe. It can be found in many popular grocery store chains. You can omit the whip if desired.
- Chocolate lovers can give this drink more of a cocoa flavor by using chocolate almond milk or chocolate oat milk instead of plain milk. Then, add vegan chocolate chips on top of the whipped cream when serving!
More Cool Treats You’ll Love
Pineapple Ginger Juice (No Juicer)
If you make this Copycat Wendy’s Vanilla Frosty Recipe, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!
Wendy’s Vanilla Frosty Recipe
Equipment
- High-speed blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 1½ cups oat milk frozen into ice cubes
- ⅓ cup oat milk chilled liquid
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- pure agave nectar as desired
- vegan whipped cream optional topping
Instructions
- Freeze the oat milk into ice cubes for 6-8 hours or overnight before using.
- Once ready, pop out the ice cubes from the tray. Add these, along with the cold oat milk and vanilla, into a blender.
- Blend until it reaches a frosty consistency. Taste test it, and add more vanilla or some agave nectar for sweetness, as desired. You may need to add more or less depending on how sweet the oat milk was.
- Pour the frosty mixture into a tall glass, top with vegan whipped cream and add a straw.
- Enjoy!
