-
Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (Starbucks Copycat Recipe) – {options for keto, paleo, dairy-free, vegan}
The Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew is made with their signature cold brew coffee, vanilla syrup, a sweetened pumpkin cream cold foam on top that actually contains real pumpkin and it is finished with a sprinkle of pumpkin spice topping but it also has a lot of sugar, some not so great ingredients and of course, dairy. This copycat recipe was recreated at home to ditch all the refined sweeteners and sugar and to use the quality ingredients I personally prefer. I am sharing options for dairy and non-dairy and lots of opportunity for you to customize to your preference, follow the instructions for paleo, keto, etc.
I am married to a Starbucks addict. Mark likes Starbucks. A lot. Me, not so much. Mark loves their straight up cold brew, extra ice, splash of whole milk. He’s simple but he knows what he likes. He also like knowing what he will get, Starbucks are everywhere and he knows what to expect. He will occasionally venture out and try something seasonal that isn’t too obscene and he hasn’t stopped raving about the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. Recently he basically FORCED me to try the Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, a persistent little dude – because I think deep down he knew that my fall-obsessed, pumpkin spice lovin’, recipe recreating soul would fall in love and recreate it at home – which he really benefits from!!
And I loved it and I couldn’t do much more than take a sip because it was grossly over-sweetened, even with me asking for only one pump of vanilla syrup in the coffee. But, I considered it market research and off I went trying to figure out how I could recreate it at home.
How to Make a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Coffee:
1) Make Your Own Cold Brew or Buy Your Favorite Cold Brew:
Making your own cold brew at home is surprisingly simple and very cost effective. We do this often and the best part is being able to control the strength of my cold brew, the quality of the beans (I always go for organic as coffee beans are one of the most highly pesticide-sprayed foods) and often if I am avoiding or limiting caffeine I will make my own decaf or half caff cold brew, something you can’t find anywhere else.
2) Milk Options for the Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam:
Closest to the Starbucks Original Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew – only if you tolerate dairy:
After some investigating and lots of testing, I learned that Starbucks uses skim milk to get their light frothy cream. In the pumpkin cream cold froth it actually contains a condensed skim milk. I wasn’t going there since those are always high in sugar. But I also read in the ingredients on their website it also contains cream and milk. Just for the heck of it, I also tried frothing half and half and it definitely didn’t foam up and get nearly as frothy. From what I understand the protein without the fat content found in skim or low fat milks creates large air bubbles which allows it stay light and foamy. Now in most other scenarios I would say GO WITH FAT, skim milk is kinda blech yucky face, in my opinion, the fat is where the goodness and taste is and skim milk is generally so crazy stripped of any potential nutrients, but look, if you are looking for a really close replica at home and you tolerate dairy, skim milk is the answer. Again this homemade version of the cold cream foam made without the carageeenan (a stabilizer) and all the sugar that you will find in the Starbucks version, means this DIY rendition is a bit lighter – but it’s really quite nice. If you want a thicker, richer cream try half and half or heavy cream, but just know that it definitely doesn’t get as frothy.
For Dairy-free/Paleo Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew – a very close second
The best results that I found, to recreate the frothy cream, without dairy, is to FIRST select your favorite non-dairy milk. I have tried store-bought macadamia, almond, cashew and coconut milk. They all frothed up a little bit on their own, but not nearly like the skim milk did. Homemade unstrained cashew milk froths up quite wonderfully. The store-bought barista blends that usually have gums and many have sugar these frothed better than the non-barista blends. Coconut milk was least frothy, I think it’s a bit too heavy.
SECOND, ok so here is what I did next my secret for the ultimate frothy, non-dairy milk: stay with me on this one, ADD EGG WHITE!! Hear me out, think of those old school frothy cocktails, a whiskey sour, gin fizz or a pisco sour, they are light, frothy and have that distinct mouth feel that I realized is kinda close-ish to the Starbucks Cold Cream Foams, this is the best way I have found to create a non-dairy copycat. I use approximately 1/2 of 1 egg white and add it to the 1/4 cup on non-dairy milk and VOILA – frothy, non-dairy cold cream foam. I recommend going with less pumpkin on the non-dairy versions, 1/2 teaspoon.
For Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew:
If you can’t do dairy and you can’t consume egg whites or you prefer not to, you can certainly froth up your favorite non-dairy milk, but as I said, it isn’t quite the same, you definitely don’t get those exact foam vibes but it’s still VERY delicious. Try homemade unstrained cashew milk to get the creaminess or for a richer version coconut milk is nice for taste and thickness, but again it’s not as frothy. I recommend going with less pumpkin on the non-dairy versions, 1/2 teaspoon.
3) Options for Sweeteners:
In the Starbucks Original Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew the Grande size has 2 pumps of vanilla syrup in the coffee alone (which you can easily ask for them to leave out), but there is also a fair amount of additional sugar in the vanilla syrup found in the flavoring that gives the pumpkin cream foam topping all of it’s taste, which as far as I understand is mixed in with the pumpkin flavor already, so you can’t leave it out. In a Grande, which is 16 oz the drink as it comes contains 32 grams of sugar.
For me, I really love the way just a little smidge of maple syrup tastes in the homemade pumpkin cream cold foam. 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon is honestly more than enough for my low-key sweet taste buds. At just over 1 gram of sugar for 1/4 teaspoon of maple syrup or 2.5 grams of sugar for 1/2 teaspoon, this keeps this drink low carb and keto-friendly, easily. You can certainly add more to your liking, maybe upwards or a teaspoon or two, but be aware as you start to add more maple syrup, it may affect the frothiness and it will obviously increase the amount of sugar.
If you are more a straight-up sugar kinda guy/gal than I would recommend making a simple syrup (I would recommend doing so with unrefined sugar or even coconut sugar) vs. adding granulated sugar as that too would affect the cold cream. You can also opt for a few drops of stevia or another non-caloric sweetener, if that’s your scene. I did make one version with this pumpkin spice sugar-free stevia syrup that I happened to have here since it was sent to me as a sample. It was delicious, though I generally do not recommend these type of highly refined products. I would personally rather opt for real food.
I personally prefer to leave the sweetener out of the coffee itself, but if you wanted it sweet, again a little maple syrup would be a nice option.
4) Additional Ingredients:
Pumpkin Puree – yes we add REAL pumpkin to this tasty pumpkin cream foam. It’s not a lot, but it brings just a lil pumpkin flavor. Just an FYI if your foam isn’t frothing to your liking, you may want to take your pumpkin puree down to 1/2 or 3/4 teaspoon
Pumpkin Pie Spice – this is where the real flavor comes from, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves – so much fall flavor.
Vanilla Extract – the original contains vanilla syrup both in the coffee and the foam. Rather than a syrup, I like to add straight up real vanilla extract to the foam. You can also add to the coffee, as well. Vanilla bean paste or fresh vanilla beans are also really nice.
Maple Syrup or other sweetener (see above) – this is often my go-to sweetener, a little goes a long way, it’s a whole food that hasn’t been refined and stripped of it’s nutrients, it blends nicely into the pumpkin cream cold foam.
Real Salt – just a pinch is all you need, quality unrefined salt always makes sweet flavors pop. I like using Redmond’s Real Salt to get in some extra trace minerals.
5) What You Need to Make Your Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Foam (any of these will work):
Milk Frother: You can buy a stand alone milk frother, like the Aeroccino and most offer the option for heat froth or cold. I use this one from Nespresso and I love it, you can make cold or hot foam and also just heat milk without frothing (though it seems this model has been discontinued so this is WAYYY expensive.)
Handheld Milk Frother Wand: I see these everywhere now, they are affordable and surprisingly very, very effective. Do a quick search on Amazon, there are loads of options. I tested this recipe with a high quality Nespresso milk frother and a FREE handheld wand I was sent as a promo and the results with both were about the same!
Steam Wand on an Espresso Machine: this would work but would heat the cream.
High Speed Blender: To froth milk in a blender, pour in the ingredients then let the machine rip for 15-30 seconds, or until the milk is foamy.
Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture: add to a jar and shake, shake, shake. Won’t be the same, but hey, it’s something.
Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (Starbucks Copycat Recipe) - {options for keto, paleo, dairy-free, vegan}
gluten-free, grain-free, keto/low carb, options for: paleo, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-freePrint Pin RateServings: 1 servingIngredients
- Cold Brew Coffee
- 12 ounces cold brew coffee
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- maple syrup or other sweetener, to taste (optional)
- Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam, see options below
- Pumpkin pie spice blend for topping
Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam (dairy version)
- ¼ cup cold organic grass-fed skim milk
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin puree
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon maple syrup, or to taste (or other sweetener)
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch real salt or sea salt
Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam (non-dairy version)
- ¼ cup cold non-dairy milk, of your choice (homemade cashew milk is great, store bought barista blends froth up nicely)
- ½ egg white from pasture-raised or free-range egg, just an approximation
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin puree
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon maple syrup, or to taste (or other sweetener)
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch real salt or sea salt
Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam (vegan version)
- ¼ cup cold non-dairy milk
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin puree
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon maple syrup, or to taste (or other sweetener)
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch real salt or sea salt
Instructions
- Make your cold brew ahead of time if you are making yourself. Strain and chill.
- Add all of the Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam ingredients to a jar or measuring cup if using a hand held brother or the pitcher of a milk frother (if mixing by hand add to a jar with a tightly fitting lid).
- Froth until it is fluffy, light and foamy.
- Add ice to a large glass, add the cold brew coffee (if adding vanilla or sweetener, mix well to combine). Pour or spoon the Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam over top. Sprinkle a little pumpkin spice blend on top.
- Enjoy.
-
Nutrition Tips for More Energy. Avoid the Afternoon Crash. {Video}
Watch this short video to learn how to create the kind of meals that won’t leave you starving within an hour or crashing mid-day! I am giving you the nutrition tips for more energy that I give to all my nutrition clients to help them to ditch the burn out and avoid the afternoon crash.
Each meal is an opportunity to create health and powerful lasting energy or to promote fatigue, constant hunger, inflammation, or worse – disease! I am sharing with you simple tips and my favorite easy-to-remember analogy that you can use at every meal, for building meals that will promote more energy and help you to avoid the dreaded afternoon crash!
We’ve all been there. The 10am hanger, despite eating breakfast or that 2pm crash where you simply just CAN’T EVEN! Rather than coffee to get you through or snacking every two hours, check out the nutrition tips for more energy that I give to all my nutrition clients for building the kind of meals that will creating consistent, all-day-long energy!
Remember at every meal, if you are running strictly on carbohydrates, this is why you are needing to “fuel the fire” every couple of hours. Even those healthful, nutrient-dense carbs, on their own it gives us quick fueling energy, but without a more sustainable energy source, like protein and fat, this means we are constantly tending to the fire.
Examples of:
Healthful Proteins:
-
The 14-Day Caffeine-Free Challenge // Reset Your Caffeine Tolerance
This 14-Day Caffeine-Free Challenge serves as an opportunity to break the caffeine addiction for good or as a temporary break to give your neurotransmitters a hard reboot. Consider it a reset to your caffeine tolerance.
The 14-Day Caffeine-Free Challenge // Reset Your Caffeine Tolerance
To simplify it, as your body becomes accustomed to consuming caffeine, you need to consume more and more of it to experience the same energy boost. Acting in a similar manner to anti-depressants, high doses of caffeine on a regular basis acts as central nervous system stimulant and can flood the brain with neurotransmitters, creating neurotransmitter resistance or long term receptor damage 18. Olekalns, N. (1996). Rational addiction to caffeine. Journal of Political Economy, 104(5), 1100.
Reasons to Take a Break From Caffeine and Reset Your Caffeine Tolerance:
- Caffeine no longer affects you the way that it once did
- You crave caffeine and NEED it to start your day or to get through the day
- Your daily caffeine consumption amounts are insane
- You are experiencing high levels of stress, anxiety, anxiousness or adrenal fatigue
- Your sleep health has been suffering
- It’s leading to health problems
- Doctors orders
How-to Beat the Coffee Addiction
The good news: to kick the caffeine habit, you really only need to get through about 7-12 days without drinking any caffeine. During that time, your brain will naturally decrease the number of adenosine receptors on each cell, responding to the sudden lack of caffeine ingestion. If you can make it that long without a cup of joe or a spot of tea, the levels of adenosine receptors in your brain reset to their baseline levels, and your dependence will be broken. 2https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-is-how-your-brain-becomes-addicted-to-caffeine-26861037/
You can certainly go cold turkey on cutting out caffeine for this 14-day challenge, but if you are a hardcore caffeine consumer, you may want to consider preparing by cutting back gradually and replacing your traditional caffeinated coffee with either half decaf or more gentler forms of caffeine, found in quality teas like green or black tea. I personally really LOVE a Matcha White Hot Chocolate as a gentler alternative to caffeinated coffee, such a treat.
How-to Take a Break from Caffeine and Reset Your Caffeine Tolerance:
References
1. ↑ 8. Olekalns, N. (1996). Rational addiction to caffeine. Journal of Political Economy, 104(5), 1100. 2. ↑ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-is-how-your-brain-becomes-addicted-to-caffeine-26861037/ -
How-to Take a Break from Coffee (and Why You May Want to Consider It)
Are you feeling that afternoon slump and reaching for coffee or other caffeine to power through? Is your sleep inconsistent and often interrupted? Are you finding yourself needing more and more coffee to get through? Follow along to learn How-to Take a Break from Coffee and Why You May Want to Consider It.
How-to Take a Break from Coffee (and Why You May Want to Consider It)
I am not one of those die-hard, ride or die coffee drinkers who’s been at it every morning for many, many years. There was a very long time, during the middle of my healing journey that I wasn’t able to handle any coffee at all. Even a single cup would cause extreme jitters and serious feelings of anxiousness.
After I healed my gut, went through an extensive liver detox and rectified my adrenal fatigue, among many other things, I did a little experimenting and low and behold, me and coffee were friends once again. We would connect occasionally when I was craving it. Generally it was Boosted, as I found this lessened any jitters straight up black coffee might cause. Overtime I created my own Healthier French Vanilla Coffee Creamer for those folks in my life that wouldn’t give up the sketchy store-bought stuff. I learned to make my own cold brew at home and I even fell in love with a Mint Mojito Iced Coffee number and found myself adding it to keto granola. But, some time last year my occasional cup of coffee, only when it sounded good, turned into an every single morning thing. It became part of my morning routine and the ritual of it became as much a part of the craving (or more) as the caffeine itself.
Then my one 8 ounce cup of coffee in the morning turned into 12 ounces. Suddenly my life included the occasional afternoon coffee. Sometimes even an evening cup. This evolved into me craving coffee when I felt that afternoon slump hit and I would actually at times find myself smelling it, even when it wasn’t around because my brain was lusting after it so deeply to give me that boost. I was finding myself traveling and making plans for how I would get that perfect cup of coffee on the road.
It was fine. Because in my mind, coffee has so many wonderful health benefits and if a light caffeine reliance was the worst thing I had going for me, I would say I am doing pretty good in life. After all, at this point I have chosen to basically all processed foods and for the most part all grains, dairy, legumes, sugar, etc etc all to manage my health and autoimmune symptoms. Just let me have my dang coffee.
The Benefits of Coffee
Coffee has many brain-protective compounds and an abundance of antioxidants, polyphenols and bioactive compounds. Coffee contains vitamin C, magnesium, polyphenols, catechins, flavonoids, and chlorogenic acids. and it’s generally regarded quite favorably by recent research. 1https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26784461
References
-
Chocolate Coffee Keto Granola {grain-free, gluten-free, paleo}
This wholesome, crunchy, nutty Chocolate Coffee Keto Granola is low carb, made from nutrient-rich nuts and seeds, it’s loaded with flavor. Great for topping your favorite yogurt, as a topping to your smoothie, in a bowl with a little coconut milk – or a small handful on-the-go for a quick bite.
Cravings are a strange phenomenon. Many times cravings are driven by a nutritional deficiency of some sort, for example, often when people are craving super dark chocolate it can indicate a magnesium deficiency. For some, craving a soda can indicate a calcium deficiency, craving sweets (beyond blood sugar disregulation) can be a sign of deficiencies in chromium, carbon, phosphorus, sulphur and beyond. And the cravings to deficiency list goes on and on. But, if you can really listen to your body and the many cues it send, often times these cravings also come from a highly emotional place. Food memories can certainly impart their own cultivation of cravings, foods that remind us of our childhood, things that bring back a flood of times gone by.
Weirdly one of those cravings for me, that happens a few times a year – I get a highly emotional craving for a bowl of cereal. The comfort of a crunchy bowl of cereal, drowned in milk, eaten on the couch. It reminds me of being a kid. Of mornings before school. That time before the day got busy and hectic, to look forward to what lied ahead, to go over the flashcards for that day’s tests.
I didn’t grow up eating sugary cereals. My mom had it all pretty dialed in. The extent of our cereal selection was generally things like Kix, Corn Flakes, Honey Nut Cheerios, there weren’t marshmallows and colorful characters. In fact my mom was so mindful that we never drank milk and while milk was allowed on cereal, since I spent a great deal of my childhood not well, my mom went through a period of not allowing us any milk on our cereal an rather apple juice was the liquid of choice (surprisingly quite delicious on Honey Nut Cheerios I might add).
-
How-to Make Cold Brew Coffee {+ Video}
Learn How-to Make Cold Brew Coffee with this surprisingly simple process. It takes just three simple steps to the best cold brew coffee you’ll ever have. No super special equipment needed, it’s much more affordable than your local coffee shops and you can customize the strength of your cold brew to your liking.
It has happened slowly over the last year or so, as my body and my health has continued to shift and improve, but I have developed a pretty solid morning habit that involves a quality cup of organic coffee shortly after I rise. I have come to find that this morning routine serves many purposes for me, personally, but most importantly, I find it’s a really beautiful morning ritual, something that I greatly enjoy and always allow myself the space to honor and totally embrace, no matter where in the world I am.
Often I am asked “is coffee good for you?” As you can probably imagine, my answer to this question is quite similar to how I respond to many other food and health related questions and that is – “it depends”.
-
Boosted Coffee
By now we’ve all seen the trendy boosted coffees. Coffees with butter and other oils. I believe Bulletproof Coffee was the first to really put it on the radar of the public eye. This trend has truly blown up in recent years, Bulletproof and Dave Asprey have built an entire diet, lifestyle and brand surrounding their coffee. We have also all heard the varying reports, one day we read research that says coffee is good for us, the next day we read it’s bad! I truly hate the demonizing of whole foods, so rarely is it so cut and dry. Well, of course this is said with exceptions, hydrogenated oils and shit tons of sugar – those (and a few obvious others) deserve demonizing. But well-meaning coffee, let’s just all agree that the answer to “Is coffee good for me?” – should simply be “it depends!” I can say that when I choose to drink coffee, which isn’t necessarily daily, I opt for this boosted version, to maximize my morning brew’s full potential.
-
How-to Make French Vanilla Coffee Creamer (Dairy and Non-Dairy)
Since I have begun seeing clients as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I am so grateful for my longstanding experiences with and my love for food. I am constantly asked the question “If I shouldn’t eat this, then what can I have, instead?”. I love having answers to this question.
I firmly believe that changing diet and lifestyle has to come from a place of both education and confidence. If I meet with a new client and tell them to stop drinking several Cokes daily, but don’t explain why, I can’t really expect them to want to make this change. Why would they? They are both chemically and emotionally attached and possibly even addicted. If I can take the time to explain the effects that the high levels of sugar are doing to their insulin resistance, if I can talk through the reasons why high fructose corn syrup is terrifying and explain the affects this one drink can have on their blood sugar, digestion, mineral absorption and so on, I have a much better chance of getting them on board for the long haul.
-
Pumpkin Spice Latte {Dairy-free}
It will forever irritate me how many “pumpkin spice” flavored foods do not contain even the smallest amount of pumpkin. I don’t get it. If it’s just cinnamon and other spices, why not call it “spiced BLANK” instead. Most irritating is the fact that Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Lattes are always fixing to suck me in. From time to time, I find myself in a weakened state, tempted and really thinking about ordering one! Ultimately, I simply remind myself how much sugar (a Grande contains over 50 grams of sugar) it contains. Then I think about the fake coloring (Class IV Caramel Coloring), the creepy “natural” and artificial flavors and the hidden dairy in the syrup by way of sweetened condensed milk (so vegans, you are getting hit with dairy, even if you order it with non-dairy soy milk). The list of reasons not to order one just goes on and on. I myself haven’t had one of these drinks in well over 5 years, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t think about it from time to time.
So, what’s a fall-loving, pumpkin-craving girl to do about all this scary Starbuck stuff? Well, she has to make one for herself. (OK, I will stop talking about myself in the third person now! Sorry.) I opted to first make a tasty homemade Pumpkin Spice Almond Milk, using my tried and true method of making delicious nut milks at home. Though this delicious, seasonally-inspired treat is super amazing on it’s own, in smoothies or as a creamer, it’s even better served warm and added to a steamy latte, like this.
-
Iced Dirty Chai Almond Milk Latte {Gluten-free and Vegan}
Many of you already know that I generally try to avoid most ALL dairy in my diet, but what you may not know is that I made the switch a long time ago to nut-based milks, even before I stopped consuming dairy in other places. The difference in how I feel consuming a plant-based milk versus regular dairy milk – is incredible. I find myself less bloated, I feel lighter and I can tell that it requires much less on my digestive system to process than cow’s milk dairy.
Most of you know, I generally prefer to make my own almond milk whenever I can, but there are times when our schedule is just so crazy – when we are traveling, we have house guests or I am just bogged down with work. When life gets busy like that, it usually means stopping to make my own almond milk, just isn’t in the schedule.
-
Energizing Green Smoothie – Gluten-free and Vegan
I am not one for coffee much anymore, now-a-days I only have it when I am craving it, when we have an insanely early morning of travel or when I am somewhere with an exceptional brew – but generally that’s only about once or twice a month, at most. I used to drink it regularly, an every morning ritual type of thing. It was more of a habit than anything. Though, I really didn’t like feeling like a slave to my habit, getting a headache if I just wasn’t in the mood to drink it. These days, I prefer to start my days with a mug of warm lemon water, usually followed by a hot tea with my breakfast, after my morning yoga.
Last month during my yoga teacher training, by around the second week – the 3 hours of driving to and from Venice Beach during rush hours and the 12+ hour days of being gone, then getting home to cook dinner, study, and get my work done – started really taking their toll on me. It was wildly different than my usual days of working from home, staying in my PJs until 2pm, if I chose. I was trying to take hot tea with me on the drives in the morning, but I realized we didn’t have any good travel mugs and I find drinking scalding hot liquid from glass jars while driving in heavy traffic to be insanely stressful. Since I was also making a smoothie every day for breakfast and drinking that on my drives, I decided to combine everything into one. An energizing green smoothie to help get my day started right. A little boost of caffeine before our daily 3 hour morning yoga practice and our 6 hours of lectures, was just what I needed.
-
Dairy-free Peppermint Mocha or Hot Cocoa (Gluten-free with Vegan Option)
This time of year, I am all about the familiar comforting flavors of the holiday season. Gingerbread, cinnamon rolls, egg nog and of course, chocolate and peppermint, etc. The Starbucks Peppermint Mocha used to be one of my favs, but I just really don’t love all of those sugary syrups and other junk, plus since I prefer to avoid dairy, my only option there is soy milk, which I really don’t like drinking, either. That said, those flavors are the perfect way to get me in the holiday mood. We have been known to go out of our way to get peppermint mochas, just to sip on while we pick out our tree or check out the holiday lights. It’s holiday perfection in a cup!
Though I am not a regular coffee drinker these days, I do enjoy a cup of joe – now and again. It’s a nice treat once in a while, but I love not being a slave to the caffeine like so many regular coffee drinkers. I only drink it when it sounds good, not because I have to. I find I enjoy coffee and coffee drinks so much more since I tend to indulge only about once a month or so.
This holiday season, I was determined to recreate the classic Peppermint Mocha, so that I could enjoy it without the junk. Dairy-free, refined sugar-free, made with high-quality ingredients! I am super happy with my homemade version, I like it better than any that could come in a cardboard cup with snowflakes on it. It’s thick and creamy, rich in chocolatey goodness and it has just the right amount of peppermint flavor. Read the rest of this entry »
-
Chocolate Peanut Butter Road Trip Energy Bars – Gluten-free, Vegan + Refined Sugar-Free
Some of you may recall seeing this recipe before, I shared it in the spring of last year during one of our busiest travel seasons. After sharing my tips for traveling with a restricted diet last week on the Free People Blog BLDG 25, I thought it would be great to share one of my favorite recipes for traveling with the readers over there. These Road Trip Energy Bars are one of my go-to treats to make and bring along on every trip. They travel well and they are super simple to make. Read the rest of this entry »
-
Grain-Free Orange, Almond & Dark Chocolate Biscotti – Gluten-free + Vegan
I wrote this recipe up back when we were still in Buffalo staying at my parents house but I never had the time to make them while we were there. Both of my parents and Mark are coffee-aholics. Man do they love their coffee. Me, I could take it or leave it these days. I probably drink 2-3 cups a month, at most. Most times it is part of a super early wake up call for an event or on a long road trip. I love the way coffee tastes, but I don’t always like how it makes me feel. I don’t like the caffeine jitters or the burny, acid bitterness of some cups of joe.
Mostly I like the smell of coffee and the culture surrounding it. Yeh, I know that’s weird. I love coffee cups and mugs, local coffee shops, french presses, pour over coffee, fancy organic fair trade beans, and yes, I even love cookies meant for dunking in coffee. That is exactly what I think of when I think of biscotti. That crispy, crunchiness is just begging to be dunked into coffee.
All the nights at my parents house when the three of them would fill up their mugs, add their splash of cream, grab a sweet of some kind and then come out to the living room to watch the evening news. I felt kinda left out. Sometimes I would have a cup (then have a terrible time getting to sleep that night), sometimes I would have some tea and other times I opted for another glass of wine! I should have made these cookies when I was staying there, they could have added dunking these yummy cookies to their evening ritual and I would have dunked mine into Mark’s hot cup of java.
I was inspired to combine orange and dark chocolate in these biscotti because my mom LOVES that flavor combo. So do I. Just the smell alone is so delicious. Looks like I’ll just have to make these for my parents when then come visit in June! (Which by the way, I cannot wait for) I originally wanted to make these with cocoa nibs, but was unable to find any at the stores locally, so I just went with dark chocolate chunks, I cannot wait to get my hands on some cocoa nibs and make these again!
Do you drink coffee? What is your favorite thing about coffee?
[print_this]Grain-Free Orange, Almond & Dark Chocolate Biscotti – Gluten-free + Vegan
Makes 12-15 cookies- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (tightly packed)
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (or tapioca starch)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds or other nut
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks, mini chocolate chips or cocoa nibs
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
In your food processor combine the almond flour, arrowroot powder, salt and baking soda. Process until all of the ingredients are well combined. Then pulse in maple (or honey), orange juice and orange zest until the dough forms a ball. Fold in chopped almonds and chocolate chunks by hand.
Dampen hands and form the dough into a log approx 10″ long and 2″ wide on the parchment paperlined baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool for 1 hour. Turn the oven to 250º F.
Once fully cooled cut the log into 1/2-inch slices on the diagonal with a very sharp knife.
Spread slices out on a baking sheet cut side down and bake at 250° for 10 minutes then turn over and bake another 10 minutes on the other side. Turn off the oven and let them sit inside the oven on the baking sheet until cool.
Once cooled they should be nice and crispy. Serve with coffee, tea, ice cold almond milk, etc. Also, you’ll want to consider sharing these with friends or you will likely eat the entire batch yourself. In one sitting.
[/print_this]
-
Mexican Mocha No-Bake Cookie Balls (grain-free, gluten-free, vegan + sugar-free)
In stepping into a coffee shop next door to the yoga studio I go to here in Long Beach the other day, to grab a juice, I saw something called a Mexican Mocha on the menu. I was intrigued but didn’t order it since I knew it would be loaded with sugar and other stuff I try to avoid, but I was definitely curious, so I asked. It is basically a mocha, which we all know is a sinfully delicious drink where coffee meets hot cocoa, but this one comes with some additional spices, which can vary based on coffee shop and some even add in almond extract/flavor. In looking around online, most Mexican Mochas include cinnamon and some also chipotle or cayenne for a little extra kick.
I have had a Mexican style hot cocoa with those spices, but never with the addition of java. Sounded pretty delicious. Although, I drink very little coffee these days, I was still excited to try the flavor combination and I was inspired to have a little fun with it.So, I created these simple to make no-bake cookie balls. They are grain-free, vegan and sugar-free. If you are sensitive to caffeine, no worries, you could leave out the espresso and then you would just have Mexican Hot Cocoa Cookie Balls. Oh and either way, if you really wanted to go crazy with the chocolate, you could even dip them in some melted chocolate or add some mini chocolate chips.I think what I like most about these cookie balls, unlike the other no-bake cookie balls I have made in the past, is that normally I use uncooked oats and although they make for a really nice texture, I find oats in that state to be quite hard to digest. So I experimented in making these without any grain and I just added in the chia seeds to give these a little crunch and to also add some of that healthy Omega-3 Oil to this treat.These are a nice little sweet treat, with just a little hint of a coffee and spice kick, which are an extra added bonuses.
[print_this]Mexican Mocha No-Bake Cookie Balls (grain-free, gluten-free, vegan + sugar-free)
makes about 18-20 cookie balls1 /2 cup raw organic cashews
5-6 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup blanched almond flour (I like Honeyville)
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon chia seeds
dash or two of ground chipotle powder (optional)
1/2 – 1 teaspoon instant Espresso powder (optional)
1 tablespoon vanilla extractAdd the cashews and dates to your food processor and pulse a handful of times until it becomes a chunky crumble.(see below photo)
Add in the almond flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, spices, espresso powder, chia seeds and vanilla. Process until it is a fine crumble, almost sand-like.
It may seem to try to roll, but you will be surprised. Put a bit of the mixture into your hands, roll it around, it should come together into a ball. If it seems a bit too dry and crumbly add a bit more water or if you want it a bit sweeter, maybe a little maple syrup. Don’t add too much though, you don’t want it to get to soggy.
Roll the mixture onto ball and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Refridgerate for 30 minutes or so to firm them up. [/print_this]
