Amazing Vegan Iced Latte Recipe.

Okay, I’m not vegan but if you read this week’s Fitness Challenge you’ll see that I’ve swapped out cows milk for Almond milk in my diet exclusively.
I suspect I’m a little lactose intolerant, but even if I’m not, Almond Milk has fewer calories and less fat than cow’s milk – so I’m sticking with it.

The issue I have with almond milk is that I have yet to find a good recipe for a hot latte (serious. If you have one, throw it my way!)
But with the weather hotting up, and my normal habit being to binge on frappuccinos, I decided to give Almond Milk one more try to woo me – in an iced coffee – and I’m so glad I did.
I have to say, this is actually a really good dairy-free starbucks dupe without having to use Soy milk.
No soy! Soy Free! Yey!
(I hate Soy milk).

I don’t have a very powerful blender, but if you do, you could totally use this exact recipe below to make a frappuccino, just by blending up the ingredients at the end.

You need:

*1 shot of espresso. I have a nespresso machine, so this is 1 large shot from a “Roma” pod (Intensity 10).
*Almond Milk (approx 100-150ml)- I use Almond Breeze or Alpro. Almond Breeze has fewer calories – and I always buy the “original” variety.
Cup of Ice – I used crushed ice, normal ice cubes will work, but not as well. You could just crush cubes up with a rolling pin.
Syrup (optional)

Method:

This is literally the simplest recipe ever, and now I’m here writing it, I can’t believe I’m claiming something so easy is a “recipe” at all. However, I’ve been drinking this each morning for over a week, and I’m loving it so much more than my regular morning coffee.

Step 1: Put the ice into the drinking cup. It should come between 1/2 and 3/4 of the way up the cup. Don’t worry – there will be plenty of coffee!
Step 2: Pour on the coffee. It should still be at least warm – this will melt a little bit of the ice & compact it a little.
Step 3: Pour in the Almond milk until about 2cm below the rim. 
(It obviously depends on your cup but I normally add around 150ml)
Step 4: (optional) Add in some syrup, stir, taste & adjust as necessary.
Step 5: Top up with Almond milk.
Step 6: (optional) Throw it into a blender to create the Frappuccino.

So, there you go. Vegan, low-fat, cooling, soothing, versatile and cheap.
Oh, and delicious. Don’t forget delicious.
I used Caramel syrup here but its also delicious with Hazelnut syrup, peppermint, orange zest (serious, try it), a little cocoa powder, cinnamon, vanilla. The possibilities are pretty unlimited.
Since I’m cutting out on sugar, I have made most of mine without syrup at all, because I quite like the taste of almond milk – so why not give that a try?

I guess you could also use coconut or hazelnut milk too, or even rice dream, I just prefer almond milk as the taste is creamy but not imposing.
If you prefer a nuttier taste, go for Hazelnut, and if you prefer a more tropical taste try coconut with some vanilla or cocoa.

Enjoy!