You are feeling the afternoon low, it is really hot and you have got a lot of things to get off your to-do list. You need an afternoon pick-me-up. A huge cup of coffee. But as tasty as coffee is, we don’t want a warming cup of coffee e when its burning hot outside. Iced coffee is the solution. Forget about the old boring one and start making yours fancy. Extra fancy and tasty.
A little coffee story
To be honest, I am the biggest coffee lover you are ever gonna meet. It is not that I am addicted to the caffeine and really need it (although sometimes this is the case) I am just obsessed with the taste. And the smell. That’s one of the reasons I love Italy. You can get a high quality, tasty coffee at every single corner. And did you know that there is a law in Italy that says that the coffee can not cost more than 1€ when you drink it at the bar. So you can go to the fanciest and most expensive coffee shop in Italy and only pay 1€ for the espresso. This country is just amazing.
I know that I am rather an exception. Not many people love a strong, short black espresso. It does have a bitter taste, which makes it easy to dislike it. And with all the big coffee chains like Starbucks and their extra fancy coffee creations it’s easy to fall in love with these pimped up drinks. So I decided to create a healthier version of those. And it turned out amazing. Although I barely drink coffee with milk or anything else in it, I really adore this one! It’s tasty, healthy, quick and super good.
Is coffee healthy?
Like most things, it can be. Or to say it differently, it is in it’s purest form. Coffee actually is high in antioxidants and it helps to speed up your digestion. Too much is not good for you because it raises your heart rate. This is totally fine if you are a very active person and have a low heart rate naturally, but if you have a rather high one, you should not overdo it and pay attention to this. Also, probably the most popular aspect of coffee, it wakens you up and gives you energy. Great in the morning, bad in the evening. Of course, there is decaf coffee but this still contains caffein. Only a fraction of the normal one but still. So even decaf coffee in the evening may cause sleep problems.
Unfortunately, coffee oftentimes is made unhealthy. Since the taste of coffee is a little bitter and not everyone’s favourite, oftentimes milk and sugar is added. Which is totally alright when you just add a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of milk to make an espresso macchiato. Everything is good in moderation. But as soon as you drink 2 cappuccinos a day with one package of sugar each, this quickly adds up to a bunch of calories and lots of sugar. Black coffee without anything has basically 0 (or a max of 5 cals per cup). A cappuccino, on the other hand, has about 165 calories. Without sugar. With sugar it can easily have 200 hundred. When you are eating a healthy diet but still drinking many of milk- heavy coffees, this can be frustrating because you may not see any results.
What’s in this coffee?
I was trying to keep it simple when I created that recipe. Because no one has energy for hours in the kitchen when we want coffee. The sweetness and caramel taste comes from the dates, a little bit of vegan butter and the coconut milk. The combination is amazing. You can use full fat coconut milk, but low fat works as well. I would not recommend using another milk because then it looses the richness and doesn’t taste as amazing anymore. We blend it up first. Then we can either pour it in, if you want a fancy effect or blend it together. Then it is smooth I need to say. One important note: soak the dates before, because the will be way softer that way. If you have a high speed blender, this is not necessary. We also add a pinch of sea salt, this really helps to bring out the flavour.
Once we have our date „caramel“ base, we blend it up with an espresso shot, and milk. If you want to can froth the milk and reserve some of the foam for the end. If that’s too complicated for you, leave it out. Blend some ice in as well. Then serve it over some ice and done. This is a dream drink.
Perfect summer drink
It is healthier than regular lattes because we have additional fibre and protein and not only sugar. It also is a fancier version for every once in a while when you feel like switching it up! I hope you like it and if you do, feel free to leave a comment!
Iced Caramel Latte
A perfect summer drink for the hot days. Easy, tasty, healthy. Not your average boring coffee.
What you will need
- 2-3 dates (about 50g) if your dates are hard, soak them in hot water for 30 min- 1h
- 100 ml low fat coconut milk (you can use full fat aswell)
- 1 tsp vegan butter
- a splash of water like 3 tbsp
- a pinch of sea salt
- 2 shots espresso
- 200 ml oat milk (you can use any milk or plant based milk alternative)
- 1 handful ice cubes
How to
-
Set aside 1/3 of the milk and foam it up. (Cold foam it if you have a gadget to do so)
Blend the dates, the coconut milk, water, pinch of sea salt and the vegan butter together until you have reached a creamy and liquid consistency. (you can make more of this caramel sauce and store it in the fridge and use whenever you want).
Add the shots of espresso, the oat milk and half of the ice cubes. Blend again until well combined.
-
Add the remaining ice cubes in the glasses and pour over the coffe mixture. Top with the extra foamed milk and enjoy!
I wish you all a beautiful summer and happy cooking!
Enjoy,
Katie