White Mocha Pumpkin “Frappuccino” Iced Blended Drink (naturally gluten free)

The secret to making a punchy flavored Frappucino like iced blended drink (my partner AJ refers to them as work friendly adult Slurpees) is to first make a “syrup” of hot coffee, white chocolate, brown sugar and spices before adding it to the milk and ice. The hot coffee (double strength brewed – be sure to add twice the amount of coffee that you would normally use as it get diluted in the blending) melts the white chocolate and brown sugar and blooms the spices, helping to bring out the flavor, which is key as cold always dulls flavors. I use less sugar than you would get in a Starbucks Frappuccino because I always felt they were too sweet for me, but feel free to add an extra tablespoon or more of sugar if you prefer it that way. I use two tablespoons of pumpkin puree in this drink, which, of course, means you will have practically a whole can left. Measure out tablespoons of the pumpkin puree and place each tablespoon in the cavity of an ice cube tray. Freeze overnight and then empty the pumpkin cubes into a ziplock bag. Now you have instant, measurable pumpkin cubes to make more ice blended drinks! In the future, don’t even bother to defrost, just toss in the blender.