Caffeinated Maple Milkshake

Last summer, I made Chocolate Covered Katie’s “Healthy Starbucks Frappuccino” recipe. I’ll admit – I’ve never actually had a Starbucks Frappuccino, but when I made her recipe with cocoa powder, it tasted exactly like an Iced Capp from Tim Hortons.

Now I know that you might not want to think about icy drinks in the winter, but the weather has been slightly more bearable over these past few days (or…was, at least!). More importantly, I’m a believer in the power of positive thinking – maybe if we start to make icy summer drinks, the summer weather will follow! If not, we will just be very cold when sipping our frozen fun!

In any case, this recipe adapts Chocolate Covered Katie’s original recipe to give it a little maple-banana twist. It’s super easy to make and it’s a tasty treat – regardless of the weather outside!

Caffeinated Maple Milkshake (adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie’s recipe)

Serves 1

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (plus more for mixing after you remove from freezer)

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

1-2 tsp instant coffee granules

Pinch salt

2 stevia packets (or sweetener equivalent to about 4 tsp)

2 tsp pure maple syrup

½ tsp cinnamon

1 frozen banana, cut into chunks/coins

Combine all ingredients except for banana in a small bowl and mix well. Transfer mixture to an ice cube tray (for ease of blending) and put the tray in the freezer for at least a few hours. Once the mixture is frozen, remove the tray from the freezer and add the frozen mixture into a blender or small food processor. Add the frozen banana and blend. Add a bit of extra milk (or even yogurt) to make the mixture more slush-like. Pour into a glass and enjoy.

Cheers!

Andie & Erica

Sweet Potato Pudding

As a little kid, I was never a huge fan of chocolate pudding. That hasn’t changed, and I can’t even recall the last time I had one of those little plastic pudding cups. I guess I’ve always just seen pudding as unfortunately…gloopy, for lack of a better word.

Based on my pudding aversion, I wasn’t initially intrigued when I came across a vegan chocolate pudding recipe on the Fo Reals Life blog. The pictures aren’t the most enticing for me either (it’s hard to make pudding look cute), but when I saw the ingredients, I knew I had to give it a try.

See, this pudding recipe is different, because the star of the show is our lovable, starchy friend: the sweet potato.

You may be thinking, but I don’t want to eat sweet potato pudding – that sounds weird. If you’ve read this blog before, however, you may recall that we like to make sneakily healthy desserts with wacky ingredients – like chickpea cookie dough dip, egg white oatmeal, and banana ice cream. As I’ve said before, you might as well be adventurous and try a crazy recipe, because you never know when it will become your new favourite!

I made the original recipe from the Fo Reals Life blog, but I think it might be a bit too “potato-y” for some people’s tastes. With that challenge at hand, I’ve made a few other variations for you to try – see which one you like best!

Sweet Potato Chocolate Pudding: 3 Ways!

Version 1: Original Sweet Potato Pudding

(recipe from Fo Reals Life, with small adaptations)

1 cup of sweet potato, cooked and mashed (skin can be on or off – I left it on)

½ cup unsweetened almond milk

¼ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Sweetener, to taste (I used pure stevia powder; you can also try pitted dates or maple syrup, but be mindful that these will change the consistency of the pudding)

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or a food processor until smooth; add additional milk for consistency as necessary. Chill in the fridge until cold.

Version 2: Sweet Potato & Greek Yogurt Pudding

1 cup of sweet potato, cooked and mashed (skin can be on or off – I left it on)

½-3/4 cup of plain, 0% Greek yogurt

½ cup unsweetened almond milk

¼ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp vanilla extract

Sweetener, to taste (I used pure stevia powder; you can also try pitted dates or maple syrup, but be mindful that these will change the consistency of the pudding.)

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or a food processor until smooth; add additional milk for consistency as necessary. Chill in the fridge until cold. You may want to add additional sweetener to taste, as the Greek yogurt will yield a tangy taste.

Version 3: Sweet Potato & Banana Pudding

1 cup of sweet potato, cooked and mashed (skin can be on or off – I left it on)

1 medium banana, coined

½ cup unsweetened almond milk

¼ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Sweetener, to taste (I used pure stevia powder; you can also try pitted dates or maple syrup, but be mindful that these will change the consistency of the pudding)

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or a food processor until smooth; add additional milk for consistency as necessary. Chill in the fridge until cold.

The final verdict? I think the banana version was my favourite, because it added a nice extra sweetness to the pudding and took away some of the “potato-y” texture as well. I think that I especially like this recipe because it is a lot thicker like the chickpea cookie dough dip recipe, and not at all like the storebought pudding cups I’m not so fond of!

Are you brave enough to try potato pudding? You might just love it! 😀

Until next time,

Andie & Erica