My friends go to Starbucks a lot. I’ve gotten into the habit of scouring the menu while they order; looking at the different drinks, prices and the calorie count. GUYS! The calories! I only first noticed them a couple of weeks ago, and I can’t take my eyes off of them anymore. The majority of the drinks could substitute for a meal, especially the famed frappucino. It often has upwards of 400 calories. I know that there’s a lot of stigma around calories. People tend to quickly correlate thinking about calories or “counting calories” to a restrictive diet, or an eating disorder. But calories do mean something. It’s important to know what you are eating, and how the item you are eating affects you. I don’t count calories, although I did keep track of them for a while mainly to get a better sense of the food I eat. Now that I know basic nutritional information, like how many calories per gram of protein, fat and carbohydrate, I can use that to quickly make the healthiest choice.

I want to make it clear that I’m not judging or making assumptions about anyone’s way of eating, I’m just trying to raise awareness about what we put into our bodies on a daily basis. What you eat is a personal choice, so do what works for you!

Anyways! I was talking about the frappuccino. I love sweet stuff, and this has been the biggest challenge of dropping dairy from my diet. I spend a lot of my time finding vegan recipes that completely satisfy my cravings, and my nutritional goals as well. I’m actually shocked that there’s so much yummy food out there that is as good for you as it tastes. So when I was standing in Starbucks looking at the frappuccinos, I decided that there had to be an alternative healthier version out there.

I went to one of my favorite food blogs, http://minimalistbaker.com/. I immediately found a plethora of amazing vegan frappuccino recipes that I couldn’t wait to try. I decided to just read a bunch of her different recipes, like the Toasted Coconut Mocha Frappucino: http://minimalistbaker.com/toasted-coconut-mocha-frappuccino/ and then make my own version, inspired by the recipes, but using stuff I found in my kitchen.

In my blender:

1 cup of coffee

5 “coconut non-dairy beverage” ice cubes (I’m sure any non-dairy milk would work)

1 tsp cocoa powder

¼ cup vegan chocolate chips

Toppings:

Whatever you like! I used some coconut flakes, chocolate syrup and some chopped up chocolate chips. I’m going to try some peanut butter or chopped nuts next time.

SUCCESS! It was the perfect afternoon treat on a summer day. I loved the chopped but not ground chocolate chips that gave it the “crunchy” effect that the real frappuccinos from Starbucks have. This was so easy to make, it took maybe 5 minutes, and proved to be very rewarding! Not to mention that by substituting ingredients found in real frappucinos like cream it is substantially healthier. Oo! And A LOT cheaper. I can’t wait to experiment with different variations of it soon. Thanks to Dana from the Minimalist Baker for the recipe!