Today, while I was at the mall with my youngest son, I was wandering the rows of Barnes and Noble.  He was elsewhere, in a gaming store  that he loves as much as I love the bookstore.  We had agreed to meet in the coffee shop that is attached to the bookstore when he was done.  When he was finished, he sent me a text message that he was on his way.  He asked if I would go ahead and order his drink for him.  I texted him the question.  “What would you like?”  He responded that he wanted “A mocha frappe or carnality.”  Since carnality means “pertaining to or characterized by the flesh or the body, its passions and appetites; sensual: carnal pleasures,” I opted to get him Mocha.  I am, after all, fairly conservative in my approach  to parenting.  When he finally arrived, I asked him about the text he sent me.  He blushed and said it was supposed to say “or caramel.”  The auto-correct on his smart phone apparently didn’t recognize the word caramel, but knew about carnality.  Obviously, it wasn’t programmed by a food blogger.  I wonder who programmed that phone.

As we shared our drinks and conversation, my internal tightwad kept thinking about the $9.00 + that I had just parted with  in order to have two blended drinks.  Granted these drinks were very tasty, and  you can’t put a price on time spent and good conversation with one of your children, but we cannot afford to partake of these drinks very often.   I’m not just talking about the cost, either.  These drinks are also laden with fat and calories.

Since the weather is getting warmer, I decided that now might be a good time to dust off the blender and try my hand at whipping up some tasty frozen coffee drinks.  I searched the internet and tried out a couple different recipes.  I finally decided that we liked Paula Deen’s recipe for Iced Mocha Frappe.  Since we have diabetics in our household, I decided to try to come up with a tasty version that had little to no sugar and was lower in fat.  The following recipe was a great success.   No one complained about the missing sugar or calories, and they even asked if I would make it again, soon.   In addition to being lower in calories, this recipe only cost about 65 cents per serving which is a tremendous savings when compared to the $5.00 you would spend at a coffee shop.

What will you need to make this recipe?

From the Pantry:

• Coffee
• Sugar free cocoa packets
• Sugar substitute
• Vanilla

From the Refrigerator:

• Milk
• Whipped Cream (optional)
• Chocolate Syrup (optional)

This recipe is also something that you can partially prepare ahead of time.  You could keep a bag, or two, of the frozen cocoa-coffee ice cubes in your freezer, so you can whip this up without having to wait for the ice cubes to freeze.

Here is my  recipe makeover that’s lower in calories than the original,  and it will save you a trip to your local coffee shop.  That will save you some money.

Give our recipe for Mocha Frappe a try and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Thanks for visiting Patty Cake’s Pantry.

Nutrition Information is for an 11 ounce (just under 1 1/2 cup) serving of the Mocha Frappe prepared according to the recipe without additional whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

Disclaimer:  Nutritional information is calculated using online tools such as those available at cronometer.com or verywellfit.com.  We make every attempt to ensure that this information is calculated correctly, but this information should be considered estimates.   Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe.  In addition, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition-fact sources, databases and the algorithms used.   You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.  Under no circumstances will PattyCakesPantry.com be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information.