I’ve never been much of coffee person. I love the smell, and like the taste, but coffee isn’t something I crave, think about or consume with any regularity. I guess there was a brief stint in high school where my friends and I ate disgusting fast food every day for lunch and drank lots of Tim Horton’s iced cappuccinos. But I think I liked those not so much because of the coffee, but because of the sugar and fat. Yuck! (For non-Canadian readers, Tim Horton’s is basically like Dunkin Donuts. Classy.)
Anyway, I recently got it into my head that it would be fun to create a frozen coffee beverage. I keep hearing about how good the new Starbucks vegan frappuccinos taste, and Lisa posted an awesome-looking recreation a couple of weeks ago, so I figured it would be fun to make my own healthier version at home.
Before we go on… yes, I know coffee isn’t raw, and it’s supposedly acidifying and therefore not great for you. And do I care? Not particularly. I have so few bad habits these days that a cup of coffee once a week or so isn’t going to do much damage.
This recipe is actually almost raw, with the obvious exception of the coffee. It includes Sun Warrior protein, because I like drinking this after my morning gym sessions on the weekend. I find the Sun Warrior also helps thicken up this frosty treat. If you want to skip the protein, go ahead — just add more banana, cashews and/or chia instead.
Raw-ish Frappuccino
1/2 cup almond milk (preferably raw, or use Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze if you’re lazy like I sometimes am)
3/4 cup strongly brewed coffee, chilled (preferably organic and fair trade!)
1/4 cup cashews
1 tbsp chia seeds
1.5 scoops vanilla Sun Warrior protein
1 frozen banana
1 tbsp maca powder
1 cup ice
Instructions
Blend the almond milk, coffee, cashews and chia seeds in a high speed blender until silky smooth. Add protein, frozen banana, maca and ice, and blend until ice is completely pulverized.
A fun variation on this is a Chocolate Raw-ish Frappuccino: simply add 1 tbsp raw cacao powder and/or use chocolate Sun Warrior instead. Add some agave or stevia if you find the cacao makes it too bitter for your taste.
Hope you enjoy! For someone who is an infrequent coffee drinker, I’ve always found it strange that the caffeine in coffee never gives me a buzz. Am I the only one who seems immune to the caffeine?
Thanks!
