Java Chip Frappuccino (Starbucks Copycat Recipe)

The Java Chip Frappuccino is a puzzling drink. It’s so incredibly confusing! Java coffee is originally Arabica coffee grown in the Indonesian Island of Java, and it’s quite potent. Starbucks, though, uses the term for anything not even related to Java, because, let’s face it, it sounds cool. Today we’re making a copycat version of the Java Chip Frappuccino, and there are some challenges ahead, so let’s take a look at the recipe.

According to Starbucks, their chocolaty Frappuccino contains Ice, Milk, whipped cream and coffee. We can handle that. But then it also contains mocha sauce (which we’ll substitute with chocolate syrup) and the mythical Frappuccino Chips, and that’s a bit of a problem for us home baristas.

Frappuccino chips are made of over twenty ingredients, including some unappetizing sounding things like unbleached unenriched wheat flour, palm kernel and palm oils. At the end of the day, and after a thorough examination, I concluded Frappuccino chips can be substituted with the combination of chocolate chips and chocolate chip cookies. Yes, we’re drinking our cookies today.

According to Starbucks, this drink will bring us “endless java joy,” and although I’m not sure what that is, I guarantee our home-cooked version is nothing less than java-licious.

Our Java Chip Frappuccino will be better than the original because we’ll make ours with Java coffee. You can get it in any coffee specialty store, some supermarkets or online. You’ll love the stuff! Look for a medium or dark roast.

For the milk, you can use your favorite; I’ll make mine with whole milk. All those chocolate chips and cookies will thicken the drink, so the milk won’t affect your Frappuccino’s final texture much.

Here’s the thing with Starbucks mocha sauce. You can buy it for about five bucks, and it’s good for twelve drinks. But look closely, and you’ll notice it’s just sugar, cocoa, water and preservatives, so any chocolate sauce or syrup will work equally well. If you want to go original, by all means, do so. 

I promise this Frappuccino will be the most fun to recreate. So, get your ingredients ready and let’s give it a shot, let’s make our very own Java Chip Frappuccino.