Vanilla Bean Creme Frappuccino

My husband loves coffee and likes to occasionally stop at a popular coffeehouse for a large, steamy, freshly-brewed cup.  On the other hand, I'm not much of a coffee drinker so I order a small, icy, vanilla cream beverage.  It's a very simple treat, but they're not cheap so I decided to come up with my own version that I can make at home for a fraction of the cost.  For the best results, be sure to use premium quality ice cream, vanilla bean paste, and vanilla bean powder.  

Let me show you how it's done. 

Start with ice, whole milk, and your favorite premium quality vanilla ice cream.  We like to use premium vanilla ice cream such as Haagen Dazs.

We'll also need a little sugar, the best pure vanilla bean paste, and pure vanilla powder.

Place everything in a small blender that can handle chopping ice cubes.  I really love this model - have had it for years, it's not expensive, and it works great!  

Pour the liquified mixture into a glass and top with copious amounts of real whipped cream.  To keep things on the light side, use canned whipped cream, but if you want to be extra indulgent...

...make your own.  

In a small mixing bowl, combine heavy whipping cream, confectioners sugar, and pure vanilla bean paste (it tastes so good and adds those lovely specks of vanilla seeds).

Use a hand mixer to whip everything together.  If yours has a whisk attachment, that works very well, but the standard beater attachments will work too.

When you start seeing tracks in your cream, it's almost done.  Just a few seconds longer.

Now for the fun part - putting the whipped cream into a large disposable piping bag fitted with an open star tip.  Today I used this tip to pipe my whipped cream, but this is another one of my favorites.  

Recommendation:  When purchasing disposable piping bags, I suggest you get large bags (like these) instead of 8 to 12-inch bags, which are more common.  The small bags are hard to fill, they don't hold very much, and they're nearly impossible to refill once they've been used.  The bags I recommend are much easier to use, fill/refill, and you can always cut them down if you find yourself in a situation that requires the use of a smaller bag.  Just saying.

Fill the disposable pastry bag with the whipped cream and pipe a mountain of swirly goodness on top of your frappuccino.

Add a green straw if you have one and go for it!  Mmmm.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• personal beverage blender https://amzn.to/3soFRXB

• small food processor https://amzn.to/3HDO3cQ

• pure vanilla bean paste https://amzn.to/3HhfWXZ

• pure vanilla powder https://amzn.to/3HDNQ9y

• my favorite ice cream scoop https://amzn.to/3Gz0OEg

• wilton 1M https://amzn.to/3HCHWWb

• ateco 826 https://amzn.to/3HDO7t6

• large piping bags https://amzn.to/3rI618R

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Vanilla Bean Creme Frappuccino

makes 1 serving

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 1 large scoop vanilla ice cream (premium quality)

• 4 ice cubes

• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla powder

• whipped cream for topping

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in a personal blender and pulse to break up the ice cubes, then blend until mixture is smooth.

2. Pour into serving glass and top with whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts on the Stalk

We love Brussels sprouts in this house and it's so nice to see them gaining in popularity.  Gone are the days of boiled, soggy, overcooked sprouts.  Roasting is the key to making flavorful sprouts.  This time of year you can often find whole stalks available.  I grab them every time I see them.  I mean, just look at how fun they are!  The sprouts pop right off the stalk, but I thought it might be fun to roast them on the stalk this time.  Here's how I did it.

I placed the stalk of sprouts on a sheet pan that I use for roasting vegetables.  

I spritzed the entire stalk with olive oil spray and sprinkled all sides with kosher salt and pepper. Then I popped the pan into the center of a 400F oven. 

And here they are after 30 minutes.

I cut the individual sprouts off the stalk with a sharp knife (a small trimming knife that has a thin, sharp blade like this one is perfect for the job).

It's hard not to eat them as fast as they're cut off the stalk.

What did I do with the leftover stalk?  I chopped it up in the food processor and will feed it to my neighbor's chickens.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• olive oil sprayer https://amzn.to/3B5jpGY

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/34HN38V

• nonstick foil https://amzn.to/3gxNmG6

• my favorite little trimming knife https://amzn.to/3otorYz

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts on the Stalk

makes 4 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 18-inch stalk of brussels sprouts

• olive oil spray

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Spray brussels sprout stalk all over with olive oil spray, then sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over entire stalk.

3. Place on half sheet pan and roast on center rack for 30 minutes.

4. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes before cutting sprouts off stalk.

Notes

• Stalks that have sprouts that aren't touching one another work best.

• Sprouts that are packed close together are best removed from the stalk and cooked separately.

• For easy cleanup, line sheet pan with nonstick foil.