Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Winter mint mocha


It's been cold, cold, cold here in central Texas, you guys. Legitimately cold! Not just Southerner-Who-Doesn't-Know-What-Winter-Is-Like cold! Below freezing = legitimately cold, yes? Yeah. I'm originally from the midwest. Lake-effect snow, y'all. I know what winter is like.

And it's cold. Just so you know.

I've been starting pretty much every morning with a creamy, delicious mint mocha full of lots of healthy, warming fats to get me through the cold and dark. I am so in love with this drink that I'm inspired to share the recipe. Because originally this was supposed to be a recipe blog, haha. Whoops.

First you have to make the mocha-mint concentrate. Relax, it's super easy and it'll keep in your fridge for a couple of weeks, probably. Mine never lasts that long. I should look into doubling the recipe, maybe.

This recipe is loosely based on Danielle Walker's recipe for French Vanilla Coffee Creamer in her FABULOUS Against All Grain cookbook. Which you should buy immediately if you haven't already. This has become the cookbook for which I reach most often when I'm looking not only for dinner inspiration but for paleo basics like almond milk and mayonnaise. Every single thing I've made from her cookbook has been fantastic and easy and even my non-paleo family has loved it. So yeah. Buy that! You will not regret it.

Mocha-Mint Concentrate

3/4 cup almond milk
3/4 cup full-fat coconut milk
2 Tbs. raw, local honey
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1 tsp. organic peppermint flavoring

Combine all ingredients except mint flavoring in a saucepan and whisk over low heat just until honey has melted and cacao powder is incorporated. Remove from heat and whisk in mint flavoring. Let cool, then decant into a bottle or jar and store in the refrigerator. It will tend to separate so shake well before each use.

* A note about ingredients -- this is how I make mine. If your honey isn't raw/local or you'd rather use maple syrup, no problem. Likewise if you just have plain old cocoa powder instead of raw cacao, that's totally cool. You don't have to keep the heat quite so low while whisking if you're not using raw ingredients so feel free to bump it up to medium to speed things along.

Winter Mint Mocha

12 oz. brewed coffee
1 Tbs. mocha-mint concentrate
1 Tbs. coconut oil or MCT oil
1 Tbs. grassfed butter or ghee

Combine all ingredients in a blender and whiz until combined (cover the blender lid with a cloth if the coffee is very hot, to avoid burns), then pour into a large mug and enjoy! This will be super creamy and it makes its own foam. And not for nothing but one big mug of this keeps me full until lunchtime, plus it really does help me deal with the cold. Must be all that yummy fat!

* A note about ingredients -- this is a loose variation on Dave Asprey's legendary Bulletproof Coffee. Like Dave says, if you're not already getting a lot of healthy fat in your diet, you will want to start with smaller amounts -- say 1 tsp. each of butter and coconut oil per cup -- and work your way up, otherwise it can cause stomach upset.

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