I blame Juice smoothie bars for this current obsession. I was in Leeds with friends a few weeks back and happened to see that they sold a coffee smoothie. One of those, and I was hooked. However, at £3.45 a pop it wasn't the cheapest way of getting my iced caffeine fix. Plus the fact it costs me £4 to get into Leeds. So it's a pretty expensive little luxury. Queue frantic kitchen experimentation in order to make the perfect iced coffee cooler.
Now, I came up with different ways of making my coffee cooler, and then settled on two recipes. One is vegan, and one is not. The vegan one is actually my favourite. Although as I typed that I realised that this is grossly unfair to my other recipe- because that tastes pretty damn good too. The perks of the vegan one are that it also provides one of your 5 a day, uses all natural ingredients, and no refined sugar- such as is difficult to monitor when adding the frozen the yoghurt to the other version. The vegan cooler feels more breakfast appropriate, as it's more filling, and the non-vegan feels more like a healthy treat/dessert. So that's my verdict, but you can decide on your own. You can always prepare the fro-yo coffee cooler using a vegan alternative, however I know these can be expensive and difficult to get hold of, and so I wanted to offer an alternative...
Vegan Iced Coffee Cooler
Ingredients
- 2 level tsp instant coffee (I like my coffee pretty strong; reduce this for a weaker flavour)
- 50ml cold water
- 150ml plant based milk (almond or rice milk with coconut are my picks)
- 1 banana, sliced up and frozen
- 1/4-1/2tsp agave (if you aren't vegan, then use honey. I prefer this version, but with honey, if I add sweetener at all. I personally like my iced coffees unsweetened)
- OPTIONAL : Dash of cinnamon (a tiny dash; it just gives you even more of a buzz, but you don't need to be able to taste it)
Method
- Throw everything into the blender and pulse the blender until the mixture is nearly smooth, then keep it switched on until completely smooth.
- Pour into a glass and sip away...
Fro-Yo Iced Coffee Cooler
Ingredients
2tsp instant coffee (as before regarding strength)
50ml cold water
150ml plant based or cow's milk
2 large scoops of vanilla or natural frozen yoghurt (I recommend YooMoo, or Snog)
OPTIONAL : Dash of cinnamon (a tiny dash; it just gives you even more of a buzz, but you don't need to be able to taste it); 1tsp runny honey (I didn't find I needed it with the sweetness of the fro-yo, but if you aren't used to strong coffee, or have a sweet tooth, then add it in)
Method
- Make it the same way as the vegans my friend: blend and sip.
TIP! If you're a vegan who hates bananas (not that I've come across one yet), and you can afford it, then make the Fro-Yo version using a dairy free alternative. I personally think this would be delicious, and the texture super luxurious...
Labels: coffee, cold drink, drink, Drinks, healthy lifestyle, healthy recipe, healthy smoothie, Iced coffee, summer drink, vegan
