Sugarfree Homemade Slushees (or Slurpees - different areas call them different things and I've lived all over the country so I use both!)

 

I'm a slurpee-slushee-Icee kind of girl... but I almost never, ever buy them because they are full of sugar.  I've think I've only had 2 or 3 in the past 10 years.  Instead, I typically make due with crushed ice and water-flavor drops or sugarfree flavored syrups, which is fine. But when I want the real deal, or as close to the real deal as I've come here at home, and still be sugar-free this is the one I use.

This weekend I've been on a homemade slushee kick at night and craving them.  This is actually a really good way to use up some of those 'odd' flavor oils and extracts that come in a variety package  that you had to buy because you needed 'one' of the flavors and the rest just sit in the cupboard, or you randomly bought because they looked good, or were a good sale.  (This is why I have cherry flavor - it came in a variety pack that I needed the peppermint oil in, and the grape flavors were on clearance and I thought they sounded good but I've never, ever used them for anything other slushees.)

I WISH I could do a home version of the Icee.  Blue Raspberry is my favorite but Icee's are made with a special machine to get their texture, if you blend this one on high until it's frothy it's kinda close, but basically made, these are more of a slurpee/slushee.

👉These are typically made with Club Soda but I don't have any right now.  What I DO have is a few cans leftover from Christmas entertaining of sugar-free Sprite.  This was a great way to use those up (we don't drink them, but were for entertaining guests).  You can use Sprite or 7-up if you don't have club soda.

Play around with flavors; I have grape and black cherry Kool-Aid powder packets on hand so that is what I make.  You could do Lime or Orange or whatever flavors you wish.  Just make sure your flavor extracts 'match' or compliment your Kool-Aid flavor. 

Last hint:  I like to add a little bit of citric acid to mine sometimes as I love sour things more than sweet and a sweet/sour slushee is yummy when you like things like sour gummies, etc.

This makes one large or 2 small slushees

SUGAR FREE SLUSHEE

1 cup or mini-can club soda or sugar free sprite or 7-Up
1/4 c granulated sweetener (I like to use erthritol and monk fruit blends)
1/4 t (scant) dry Kool-Aid powder mix (grape and cherry shown in my photos)
1/4 t (scant) extract or oil flavorings - taste test to see what your level of flavor is preferred
1 1/2 c (or so) crushed ice
A good blender

Put the soda, sweetener and flavorings into a blender and blend or pulse smooth. Add the ice and continue to pulse or blend a little bit until all the bigger chunks of ice are uniform and tiny.  Pour into a large cup (about 12 oz) or make 2 smaller.  Taste test to know next time if you like to add more or less of the powder, extract or sweetener.  Also, if you like sour candies/drinks try adding about 1/2 t of citric acid granules to kick it up a notch.

  

My grape sugarfree slushee... ready to enjoy last night while I watched episodes of Friends on my computer

 

Blending the mixture to crush the ice uniformly....  you can taste test at this point and add a little more powder, extract or even sweetener if you think it needs more of something.  I like the amounts as they are written above but everyone has different tastes!

 

 

 

I don't measure the ice, I just fill the cup with crushed ice from the refrigerator and toss it in.  This is about 1 1/2 cups as it's a 12 oz. to-go coffee cup.

 

These oils keep forever and never go bad... but you still want to use them up, right?  Ha.  This is my grape flavoring.

 

The dry Kool-Aid packets... here is grape and black cherry.

 

I like the flavor of mixing more than one natural sweeter so I keep a container in my pantry where I dump in new bags of sweetener(s).  Use what you like.

 

I bought these for some of the house guests we had here at Christmas last month.  We don't drink them so they were leftover, but because I don't have club soda in the pantry right now, these work well.

You can use extracts if you have them (the bigger bottles that you find in the baking aisle at your local grocery store, or you can use flavored oils, which are more intense so you can use a little less.  I like strong flavors so I use the oils since I have them on hand anyway, but I also have emulsions and extracts I use too depending on what flavor I want that day.