Over a month ago, a commenter on my Ninja Recipes page asked if I had any ideas for making non-foamy blended coffee with the Ninja blender.
Truth is, I am a coffee purist – I drink it black without anything added — and have never developed a taste for blended coffee drinks. After all, winters in Seattle are long, and hot coffee is usually more suitable for the season!
But, I was intrigued by this question and set off to see what I could come up with. Then, we through a monkey wrench in our lives by deciding to get our house ready to sell, so I was distracted from my project.
But, now that we are out of the crazy phase of house-selling prep, I am getting back to addressing questions about the trusty Ninja. I am also trying to figure out how to live in two places without duplicating everything we own. It’s a delicate balance that I hope we do not have to do for long, but, you just never know. The Ninja is in Bend, so, while I had a few minutes the other evening, I went back to my blended coffee project to figure it out for good.
The main complaint from the commenter was that when mixing the coffee drinks, the milk makes a lot of foam. Today, I present you with a formula for making just about any blended coffee drink you want, and not getting the “foam” problem. This is not a coffee milkshake, but just a simple blended coffee drink with simple ingredients you likely have on hand.
The low-foam route lies in how you go about it. If there are any blended coffee lovers out there, I would like to know if you think this method works for you!
Steps to Making a Blended Coffee Drink in Your Ninja Blender:
- Brew a small pot of extra strong coffee – I made 2 cups with double the normal amount of beans
- Let the coffee cool
- Pour coffee into an ice cube tray. I don’t have ice cube trays, so I used these little Ziploc containers that are round and only filled them 1/4 full (you probably have some of these!).
- Freeze the coffee until it hardens
- Remove the coffee cubes from the tray and store them in a zip-top bag
When you are ready to make your blended coffee, pull 4-5 ice cubes out of the freezer and let them sit for 5 minutes to soften up a little (this is important so you get a smooth blended consistency without ice chips). Just put them in the cup or mug you intend to use to thaw out just a bit.
Making the Coffee – For Two Servings
Ingredients:
- 4-5 frozen extra strong coffee ice cubes
- 1/2 cup water (slightly shy)
- 1 cup cold milk
- Your choice of flavorings – sugar, vanilla syrup, chocolate syrup at at rate of 1 tsp per drink (or, your preference on amount)
Method:
- Add the coffee ice cubes to your Ninja blender along with a shy 1/2 cup water
- Blend on one until you have a smooth, creamy consistency (I used power level “1” for about 20-30 seconds)
- Pour the blended coffee into cups or mugs, and stir in any sweetener or flavor you wish to use, such as sugar, or vanilla or chocolate syrup
- Add cold milk to the cups or mugs at a rate of up to 1/2 cup for each drink and stir
- Note: You could alternatively throw all the ingredients above into the blender and just mix it all up to your heart’s content – you just may have more foam than you desire
This method seemed to work for me – not too much foam at all, though I am admittedly not an iced coffee connoisseur to know how much is “too much” and how much is “just right.”
If you try this, I’d like to know how it works out for you!
View Comments (14)
Is the water necessary? I make coffee HOT not usually cold. I make it with 3/4 cup of milk heated over the stove with 4 tbs of white chocolate chips. I boil slightly more than a cup of water and pour it over espresso….. I don’t think that would be good cold so I mixed caramel and 2 packets of that brown pure sugar stuff and a cap full of vanilla. I came here to see how many ice cubes of the coffee to use and how much of the milk mixture. But you’re saying to add water… I’m hesitant but I’m going to follow your measurements.
Hi Michele,
This is how I made it because I didn’t want to blend the milk in the blender with the coffee ice cubes. Without some liquid it wouldn’t blend smoothly. But, this is just how I did it — there are certainly other ways to go about it! This was just my idea.
Good luck!
Any ideas on how to make a Mocha Frappe similar to the ones @ McDonalds. I just bought my Ninja and there is no recipe book! Thanks for any help yoou can give me
Hi Joan,
Hmm, I wasn’t really sure what a Mocha Frappe was, so I had to look it up! Here is a blog post from someone who actually recreated the Frappe, and it looks pretty convincing to me!
I hope that helps. The real difference between a Ninja and a normal blender is you won’t need as much liquid to blend, BUT, it does work better with more volume since the jar is so big. So, you may want to make two servings at a time to get better results…
I have a Ninja Pulse. I make my own type of frappuccino and this is how it works for me – this is the cold kind, not the hot blended drinks.
I take 1 cup of cold coffee – not necessarily refrigerated, just coffee left in the pot
1 tbsp chocolate syrup
1 tsp sugar-free caramel syrup
1-2 tbsp milk or soy milk
4 ice cubes (or about that amount of crushed ice)
I put the chocolate syrup in the cup. I add the caramel syrup and the milk. I blend it for a moment. Then I add the coffee and the ice cubes, I put the blade base on and tighten it and the pulse it a few times to grind up the ice and then I hold it down for a few seconds until it is thick. I stand it up, remove the blade, wash it off, and then put the drink top on, put in a long straw (grabbed from Starbucks when I was there and bought a real Frappuccino) and enjoy!
For hot drinks, I just add 1 tsp chocolate and some milk, take my little battery operated whiz thing (it is made just for foaming milk), and foam the mixture, then drizzle in the hot coffee. No Ninja needed. If I was going to use the Ninja, I would put the milk and the syrup in a single serve cup, put on the blade base, and then whiz it on the Ninja base. Then put it in the coffee cup, top with coffee and enjoy.
Thanks for the recipe, I purchased vanilla syrup ( sugar free)
For around $7.00, I’m going to try your recipe using yhe syrup
And no chocolate, I’m using the blonde version of Starbucks
Coffee for my keurig coffee pot, I’ll let u know how ur turns out;)
Whoa…. Don’t pay $7.00 for Vanilla Syrup when you can make your own:
Thanks for the link, Kate!
Wow, Kate, thank you SO much for the sweet shout-out! Our Vanilla Syrup is very popular … and very delicious.
Thank you for this post! I just got the ninja Pulse and love it! I was getting way too much weird foam in my coffee drinks, though, and now its perfect!
I add 1Tbs cocoa. I freeze some of my leftover coffee in an ice tray, and put some in the fridge. Then I use those a the next day for my coffee drink. I also add milk and truvia. I love your site!!
So glad to hear, Crystal! And thank you for your nice note!
I make a frozen coffee frappe with regular strength or strong coffee, milk powder and ice. It comes out thick and creamy. The quantities are not really important, because it’s good any way you blend it, but today I did 1 1/2 c coffee, 1/2 c dried milk and 6 ice cubes for two big portions. In a large blender jar, blend on regular speed, or for smaller amounts, fill a single serve jar 1/2 full ONLY, because when it blends, the volume increases as it aerates.
I will have guest very shortly and do not have the time to freeze the brewed coffee into delicate cubes of ice in order to achieve a less foamy Frappuccino. Is there another way that a Pulse Ninja could more effectively create a Frappuccino with significantly less foam while using hot coffee?
Want blended coffee recipe with no milk or additives