Ok… the research is in! Oh MAN the pleathora of “copycat” recipes that are all copies of each others, and are all wrong (frozen concentrate, milk, powdered sugar). I sat behind the counter at our neighborhood shop way too often and distinctly remember four ingredients:
Fresh Orange Juice
Clear Liquid
Powder
Crushed Ice
I found this article from a woman who actually worked there in the 80’s… who noted that the “clear liquid” was simply Simple Syrup! And that the powder was a mix of dry milk powder, egg white powder, and vanilla powder. Her recipe is as follows:
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup simple syrup
1 tsp. dry milk powder
1 tsp. egg white powder
1/2 tsp. of vanilla**
crushed ice
Now I think her take on the powder was an approximation as I remember seeing an old Orange Julius marketing blurb stating the ‘secret’ powder had 7 whole food ingredients. I then found this post who’s author (and one commenter) claims to have bought the “secret powder” from their local shop. He listed the ingredients per their own container as:
So with one of the “Flavor Enhancers” being vanilla powder, we have 5 of those 7 ingredients.
Now I have not made one yet as I have to order the powdered eggs online. **And the only vanilla powder I have come across so far is really expensive, so I will follow the above recipe verbatim on the first shot (using extract). If it ain’t perfect… thoughts of orange zest, malted milk powder, and even cornstarch are dancing around in my head.
If you already have the powdered milk & eggwhites in your pantry, why not give it a shot?
They tasted better in the 1980s. I’ve ordered 2 Strawberry Juliuses in the last 5 years, at a Orange Julius-Dairy Queen hybrid stall at the food court, and they’re meh now, or someone lost the recipe.
I bought some oranges today with you and Orange Julious in mind. I plan to try the AB one I posted earlier. I doubt I’ll think it is same. It is too simple. I’m going to make a guess that the dried eggs and also dried milk is key. The only thing I don’t have to make the one with the powdered vanilla is the dried egg whites. I would not mind having that ingredient in my pantry anyway, so I’ll look for some when I go to town on Tuesday.
Have you come across any recipes that call for cream of tartar? i bought some at some point and can’t remember why. I have a vague feeling that it was for something like this.
I just made the Alton Brown version. The texture seemed right but I think I used too much orange zest and I think it has just a tad too much vanilla. It tastes sort of like a melted 50/50 bar. It has been a long time since I had an Orange Julius so it is hard to say how close it is.
Because I’m a big girl now I decided to add some sparkling wine to some of it. That was kind of good but might have been better with a little gin. A twist on a gin fizz. Now all I need is a hot dog on a stick!
Wonder if they would have used a powdered non-dairy creamer instead. I personally think those are gross, but when it’s blended with all the other ingredients, it probably doesn’t cake up as much and just provides creaminess.
I’ve used either Cremora or Coffee-Mate when making them because eons ago I was told that was the secret ingredient. It worked for me and was the only ingredient I used besides orange juice and ice. I wish I remembered the amount of each, but unfortunately I don’t.
That makes sense. OJ from concentrate or a jug makes my acid reflux jump. Not squeezed OJ. Fresh is the secret ingredient of Orange Julius. This might be why the one re-creation I attempted was not as good as the real deal.
Yup… as Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream contains only milk, cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla (all the ingredients less the OJ) it turned out pretty well. After four experiments I came up with two recipes:
1.) Juice two Navel oranges, add three ice cubes and a large scoop of Haagen Dazs Vanilla.
2.) Juice 1 medium lemon and 1 large Navel orange, add 3-4 ice cubes, 1/2 tsp vanilla, long squirt of agave nectar (maybe 2-3 tsp).
Now number 2 ain’t exactly an Orange Julius, but it is “light up your face with a smile” good… plus it is lower calorie and dairy free.
Oh yeah… tequila would def light it up, as would cutting back on the agave and replacing it with an orange liqueur.
Oddly enough… while I love mostly lime in my margaritas, it did not do anywhere near as well with the OJ as the lemon did. It was darker, and a bit more bitter, where the lemon just brought freshness and zing.
