Every weekday, my mom sets an alarm for 4:30 am. She rises before the sun, pulls on running shoes, and pounds the pavement in the dark and quiet calm of the morning before showering, slipping into a dress and heels, and leaving at 6:30 am to beat the morning rush hour traffic for her one-hour commute to work.
But just before she locks the front door, she always sets aside enough time to make a chai latte. She drank her first from Starbucks over eight years ago and immediately fell for its warm, sweetly spiced taste. With her impatience for lines, especially at coffee shops, she eventually learned how to make her own at home.
Mom switches between the Tazo Chai Concentrate, the same carton Starbucks uses to whip up theirs, and Oregon Chai’s powder, when she’s craving a slightly smoother taste. Regardless, she always stocks at least four of each in her pantry, plus a few more at work. Mom needs her morning caffeine!
However, I finally realized this past week that, despite Mom’s obsession, I had never actually tried a chai latte! (I’ve sipped on regular chai tea before, but only once or twice…) I decided to change that this past weekend, yet the weather refused to cooperate and stayed in the 90’s. It’s hard to drink hot tea when it still feels like summer!
So I quickly switched gears and improvised instead with this…
A Skinny Chai Frappuccino! Sweet and creamy with an irresistible cinnamony taste, this blended beverage is a refreshing combination of a frosty summer drink with cozy fall flavors. With only 4 healthy ingredients, this clean-eating frappuccino is the perfect way to start the day!
After browsing the Starbucks menu, I realized that they don’t actually offer a skinny chai frappuccino. Yes, they offer lower-calorie options of their regular coffee frapps with nonfat milk, sugar free syrup, and a lighter base—but not with their chai crème one! They don’t even sell a skinny chai latte either… Both of those need to appear on the menu!
So to create our homemade skinny chai frappuccino, we’ll start with regular chai tea bags instead of a concentrate with lots of added sugar. Steep 2 bags for at least 30 minutes, if not longer! Yes, that’s much longer than the recommended time, but between the milk and ice, the spiced chai flavor becomes too faint and watered down otherwise.
After it’s strong enough, make sure you chill the tea! It needs to be cold so it doesn’t melt the ice. This takes a little while, so remember to plan ahead!
Once you have the tea, the rest of the recipe is a piece of cake. Choose your milk—I recommend nonfat or light soy (for a vegan frapp)—and your sweetener (my favorite is Truvia). Then just blend and drink!
Just like with last week’s pumpkin pie smoothie, this Skinny Chai Frappuccino disappeared much too quickly! I nearly gave myself a brain freeze gulping it down in our sunny backyard… As a huge cinnamon fiend, I just couldn’t get enough!
When the weather finally cools down, I’ll have to try Mom’s chai latte… But until then, I’m definitely making a few more of these frapps while I wait!
If you like cinnamon, this is the perfect drink for you! It’s a refreshing combination of summer and fall, with a nice caffeine boost. The recipe is easily doubled to serve more.
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender, and pulse until smooth.
Notes: To prepare the extra-strong chai tea, I steeped 2 chai tea bags in ¾ cup hot water for 30 minutes, then chilled it in the fridge. That sounds like a long time, but the ice and milk will dilute the chai taste otherwise.
Other milks (2%, 1%, whole, almond, rice, etc.) or sweeteners (Stevia, Splenda, granulated sugar, etc.) may be substituted, but the Nutrition Information may change.
Oh my goodness, Amy. This frappuccino is perfect. I too must have caffeine in the mornings and when you drink fattening coffee/tea drinks everyday, your pants get a bit tighter. I may have to switch hears and start having your skinny chai frappaccino instead!
Thanks Jen! It’s so true about regular coffee shop drinks… There are only so many hours in the day, and I’d rather spend more of them baking than exercising to burn off all those extra calories! 😉
This looks great Amy! Your mom is rockin it. But I’m seriously wondering where your tiny plastic NesCafe cup prop is. 🙂
Thanks Karen! 🙂 Umm… I’m afraid it disappeared in the craziness called moving… SO disappointing!!
I often get people asking for a shinny chai, they should really work on that!! ;)b
Ohmygosh YES!! The only way I’ve figured out how to order a “skinny” chai latte is to ask for regular tea bags instead of the concentrate. The barista at the local Starbucks was happy to oblige. Probably made his life a whole lot easier than explaining that wasn’t on the menu! 😉
Your mom and my husband. WHO can get up that early???? And I love all your Starbucks copy cats!
I don’t know!!! And you and I are both morning people already… They just take it to a whole new (insane) level!
Instead of waiting that long you could probably add more tea bags to make it stronger, leave it for 5-10 minutes and pour the tea into an ice cube tray. Freeze it. That way you can just wake up and blend with milk instead of waiting so long (and the taste wouldn’t be watered down by loads of plain ice)!
Great idea Noor!
Sounds wonderful. I will “cold brew” it.
If you would like to make the chai tea in larger batches and make a smooth brew, you can cold brew it. I’ve used “cold brew” process for green tea and oolong tea and it is wonderful. It just needs to sit in the frig for 8-12 hrs. I usually prepare in the evening and it is ready the next morning. I make a pitcher at a time. 8 cups of filtered or purified water + 6-8 tea bags. Make sure tea it immersed, stir, cover and refrigerate.
Thanks for sharing your tips Dee! I’m excited to hear what you think of the frappuccino!
Amy;
Hi this skinny chair frappuccino looks so good and I am going to copy this recipe and make it in my magic bullet blender soon.I enjoy drinking the Starbuck’s chair latte but for a large hot chair latte the cafe wants almost $5.00 for a large cup.it will be cheaper for me to make your copycat recipe.
Kim
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Kim! It’s crazy how expensive Starbucks drinks can be, isn’t it?? I can’t wait to hear what you think of this! 🙂
Can I make the tea the night before and put it in fridge, maybe 24 hours and then make frappuccino.
Absolutely!! That’s a great idea, Kim! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this chai frappuccino!