Santa Claus Frappuccino {Starbucks Copycat}

Ingredients

• ¾ cup whole milk
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 3 Tbsp vanilla syrup (store-bought or recipe below)
• ½ tsp xanthan gum
• 1 cup ice
• ½ cup strawberry puree (store-bought or recipe below)
• Whipped cream, for topping
• Holiday sprinkles, for topping

Vanilla Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (see notes for substituting with vanilla paste or extract)

Strawberry Puree

• 1 cup hulled strawberries (about 8 large strawberries)
• ½ Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 ½ Tbsp water

Instructions

• Add milk, cream, vanilla syrup, xanthan gum, and ice to a blender and process until smooth and frothy.
• Add about half of the strawberry puree to the bottom of a large cup. Pour about half of the Vanilla Frappuccino mixture over the puree. Add the rest of the puree. And fill up the rest of the cup with remaining Frappuccino mixture.
• Top with whipped cream and sprinkles.

Vanilla Syrup

• Put water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has thickened a bit.
• Pour syrup into a heat-proof jar or container. Scrape out some of the seeds from the sliced open vanilla pod with a sharp knife and add them and the vanilla bean into the syrup. 
• Place syrup in fridge and let steep for at least 6 hours* Syrup will thicken more as it cools. If you want a more intense vanilla flavor, you can leave the bean in after 6 hours.
• When vanilla syrup is stored in an airtight container in the fridge, it should stay good for about a month. One batch of syrup should make about 6 Frappuccinos.

Strawberry Puree

• Put all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Pour puree into a bowl or glass. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Notes

Vanilla Syrup:

• If you don’t have a vanilla bean for the syrup, you can easily substitute vanilla paste. You’ll likely need about 2 teaspoons, but look on the container to see what the brand recommends using in place of a vanilla bean.
• I don’t think the vanilla flavor is quite as good when using vanilla extract in the syrup, but you can use that if it’s what you have on hand. I recommend stirring in about a Tablespoon of the extract into the saucepan right when you remove it from the heat.

*If you are in a rush and don’t want to wait 6 hours for vanilla syrup to infuse, let it cool and shake jar vigorously to infuse vanilla flavor faster. Taste before using.