Almond Butter Chai Yerba Mate Latte [naturally-sweetened & dairy-free]

This cozy, lightly-spiced chai beverage is made by brewing yerba mate tea leaves and then blending the tea with almond butter, dates, and chai spices. It's a naturally sweetened, frothy latte with just the right amount of caffeine. Yerba mate is also packed with B-vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

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Wintertime is the ultimate warm & cozy drink season and there’s no cozier drink than this lightly-spiced chai latte made with creamy almond butter. This chai latte is made using unsmoked yerba mate tea leaves, which I prefer over coffee or black tea. As a particularly caffeine-sensitive person, I find that yerba mate leaves me feeling energized but less jittery and with a feeling of sharpened focus.

Yerba mate contains the same amount of caffeine as a cup of green tea, but it also contains five times as many antioxidants, plus B-vitamins and minerals such as niacin, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. Just make sure to choose unsmoked yerba mate, as the smoked kind contains high levels of carcinogenic substances known as PAH's (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons).

The brand that I use is called ECOTEAS (affiliate link), and I get the whole plant version which includes the leaves and the stems of the plant. It’s less expensive and only slightly less potent than the more processed version- and you know we love a good whole plant food!

This recipe takes just a few minutes to make and only requires steeping the tea and then a quick and easy blend, the result is an indulgent-tasting yet healthy version of a coffee shop style chai tea latte.

I used dates as my sweetener, since they are the healthiest and least-processed option, but you could also use a natural liquid sweetener like maple syrup for an even sweeter dessert-beverage.

Garnish with cinnamon sticks or star anise for some extra spice and festive decoration then get cozy and enjoy!

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Almond Butter Chai Mate Latte

Calming Cherry Hibiscus Moon Milk

A soft pink & frothy night-time beverage with homemade pumpkin seed milk, tart cherry juice, hibiscus tea, and lavender syrup. Each ingredient aids in sleep and relaxation.

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Hibiscus tea is incredibly healthy and I’ve known for a while that I need to be having it more often, but for a long time I couldn’t get into the strong, tangy flavor on it’s own. By blending it with a creamy, rich, pumpkin seed milk and adding a touch of lavender syrup to sweeten it up, it has become my new favorite nightly drink.

Autumn can be a very busy time of year, so it’s extra important to take care of ourselves through eating nourishing plant foods as well as making sure to get a good night’s sleep. This cozy, frothy drink is full of nutritious, antioxidant-rich ingredients which each have unique properties that support sleep quality through reducing stress and promoting relaxation.

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Pumpkin Seed Milk

Pumpkin seeds have relatively high amounts of the amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan is the amino acid the body uses to make the neurotransmitter serotonin. Pumpkin seeds also contain high amounts of zinc, which can help the brain convert tryptophan into serotonin. Adequate serotonin levels are related to the ability to stay asleep and not wake throughout the night. 

Hibiscus Tea

Hibiscus tea, made from the dried petals of hibiscus flowers, is one of the most healthful drinks around due to its high antioxidant & manganese content. It also has a very strong effect on lowering blood pressure. One six-week study found that three cups of hibiscus tea daily lowered systolic blood pressure significantly, without unpleasant side effects (Journal of Nutrition, February 2010).

Tart Cherry Juice

Tart cherries contain a lot of melatonin which aids in sleep. In a study published in Natural Medicine Journal participants drank 30 ml of tart cherry juice 30 minutes after waking and 30 minutes before their evening meal, thereby boosting their exogenous melatonin intake by 85 mcg a day. The results showed significant increase in time in total sleep time and sleep efficiency with cherry juice supplementation.

Lavender Syrup

Much of the research on the relaxing effects of lavender has been done on the inhalation of lavender oils, and not on ingesting lavender in the form of tea, syrup, or other tinctures, but I’d expect ingesting lavender would still have similar effects and the floral flavor and scent is a perfect complement to the hibiscus flowers.

The recipe for the lavender syrup can be found here, or feel free to use maple syrup or other unrefined liquid sweetener of choice.

Optional Relaxing Add-ins

• Ashwagandha root powder

• Amla powder

• Fresh ginger (grated and steeped along with the hibiscus), or powdered ginger

• Green tea, for a day-time version

• Turmeric, expect a color change

• Reishi mushroom powder

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Hibiscus tea and tart cherry juice are both acidic, which means when combined with milk it will curdle immediately. Knowing this, I was hesitant to try making a milky hibiscus tea drink. Then I found this recipe and realized that if I blended it, it will go from curdled to deliciously frothy and smooth.

I experimented with this recipe and blending it definitely took care of the curdling issue, however you should still expect some separation to occur. The pink fluffy latte-like foam will sit on top of the hibiscus tea if it sits out for a while, so this drink is best made right before consuming it, or stirred/shaken well if it sits for a while. If enjoying the drink slowly, it can helpful to keep a tea spoon near by to stir in the frothy layer if the separation becomes a little much.

I hope you enjoy this relaxing night-time beverage!

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Calming Lavender Hibiscus Cherry Moon Milk

Iced Lavender Earl Grey London Fog Latte

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If you love summery floral flavors and creamy lightly-sweetened beverages, you're going to want to try this recipe! This Earl Grey latte, also called a "London Fog" is made with black Earl Grey tea, lavender syrup made from unrefined coconut sugar, and creamy almond milk. It can be served over ice for a refreshing summer drink, or served hot for a more cozy floral experience. 

Now that we're living in a small city again, we've gotten back into the costly habit of going out for coffee and tea on the weekends. I unintentionally stopped drinking coffee a while ago- oddly, I lost my taste for both coffee and alcohol at the same time about four years ago and haven't had either since, but my love for tea endures all.

Our local coffee shop makes the best sweetened tea lattes; matcha, chai, and one that I hadn't tried until very recently- a London fog latte, which is a vanilla sweetened milky earl grey tea. As soon as I tried one it became an instant new favorite morning drink. The floral flavors of the bergamot Earl Grey tea make it the perfect summer beverage. 

While I love the version my coffee shop makes, it's definitely borderline too sweet to have regularly, not to mention quite expensive for something I could learn to make at home, so that's exactly what I did!

My favorite part of making any milky tea recipe is watching as the milk and tea blend and swirl together in a glass. Does anyone else find this as mesmerizing as I do? The swirls only last for a split second before it all turns a uniform rosy beige color, so if you blink you might miss it. 

There are only two main steps to this recipe, with an optional third step-

1. Make the Earl Grey tea concentrate

2. Make the lavender syrup

3. Make your own almond milk, or you can just use any store-bought plant based milk you prefer

If you are looking for quality glass milk jars to store homemade milks and teas, check out these liter sized glass jars on Amazon (affiliate link).

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How to make Earl Grey tea concentrate 

To make the Earl Grey tea concentrate, bring 2 cups of water to boil in a kettle. Pour the boiling water over two Earl Grey tea bags and steep for 10-12 minutes. This will make for a strong tea concentrate that isn't too bitter. Once it has steeped, remove the tea bags and allow to cool, then pour it into a liter-sized jar and cool it in the fridge. 

*Note: This recipe is for an Iced London Fog Latte. If you just want a single cup of hot tea, you can make a mug of Earl Grey tea and steep it to desired strength, keeping in mind that the almond milk and lavender syrup will dilute it a bit. Then add almond milk and lavender syrup to taste. 

Here are the Earl Grey teas bags that I use (Amazon affiliate link).

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How to make lavender syrup

Ingredients: 1 cup coconut sugar, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp dried culinary lavender flowers, 1 tsp vanilla extract 

Instructions:

1. Pour the water and coconut sugar in a small pot or saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir and cook until the sugar is completely dissolved into the syrup, about 3 minutes.

2. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the lavender. Steep for 7 minutes, not too much longer than that or it will start to get bitter.

3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove the lavender buds, then stir in the vanilla extract. Store in a sealed container in the fridge, it will keep fresh for about 2 to 3 weeks. Use 1 tsp-1 tbsp of syrup to add sweet lavender flavor into coffee and tea, or use it in your oatmeal or anywhere else you'd enjoy the flavor of lavender.

I buy my dried lavender flowers on Amazon, here are the lavender flowers I use (affiliate link).

This lavender syrup recipe is inspired by Kathy Hester.

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How to make your own creamy almond milk (optional)

Store bought almond milk just doesn't compare to the creamy goodness that is homemade almond milk. All you need is 1 cup of raw almonds, a blender, and a nut milk bag or fine mesh sieve.

If you don't want to make the almond milk yourself, this latte will still be delicious, but it won't be quite as rich and decadent as it would with the homemade milk. 

Soak your raw almonds overnight, then drain out the soaking water and give them a good rinse. Place them in a blender with 4 cups of water and blend for a few minutes until very smooth. Pour this mixture through a sieve or nut milk bag, straining out the almond pulp. Save the almond pulp to use in other recipes throughout the week. It functions similarly to almond flour in some recipes. 

Pour the strained almond milk into a glass jar using a funnel if needed and store in the fridge for up to a week. 

NOTe: The flowers on the left are not lavender, just lavender-colored flowers I found growing in my garden. The dried flowers on the right are actually dried lavender flowers.

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To Assemble

In the 1-liter jar that your 2 cups of Earl Grey concentrate is in, pour in 2 cups of homemade almond milk (check out those groovy swirls!) Taste and add more almond milk if desired. Add in your lavender syrup to taste, I used 3 tablespoons for this one liter serving size, but start with a little and taste until you have your own preferred level of lavender flavor and sweetness. Put a cap on the jar and shake to distribute the syrup, or you can give it a good stir. 

Serve in individual glasses over ice and enjoy!

Notice: This blog post contains affiliate links, which simply means that I earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for your continued support! 

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Iced Lavender London Fog Latte

Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

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This chocolate cherry smoothie is the perfect indulgent, yet secretly-healthy summer beverage. Chocolate and cherries are one of my favorite food pairings, but these days when it's too hot to turn on the oven it's time to consider other ways to make that combination happen, so this week I've been making this delicious smoothie quite often.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we got six pounds of cherries in our CSA box, which we quickly devoured raw and any leftovers went into baked goods. Well, last week we took it to a whole new level when we got a whole 18-pound case of cherries from the farmers market- which I realize sounds insane given that my household has just two people and one small rabbit (who doesn't eat fruit), but once I pitted all of them and put them in the freezer they fit in two gallon sized freezer bags, which is actually a pretty manageable amount to store and use up within a reasonable time frame.

Because of this, you may have noticed that I've been making a lot of cherry recipes lately- probably too many, but I promise there are some cherry-free recipes coming soon!

For now, I've been fully enjoying cooking with them, photographing them, and eating handfuls every time I pass by the fridge. 

I haven't posted many smoothie recipes on my blog- actually, I just checked and this is the first one! That's because there's only a very brief time of the year when I can enjoy a smoothie without feeling like I'm turning into a human ice cube, and now that it's above 80 degrees most days here in the PNW, I am fully enjoying icy cold smoothies- and not even needing to take a hot shower after to warm up!

While I can't fathom enjoying a smoothie any other time of the year than in the summer, if you're reading this and you're the kind of person who can drink a cold smoothie in the dead of winter, you go right ahead! There's no need to wait for cherry season to come around to make this smoothie since most grocery stores will have frozen cherries available all year. 

For added nutrition, you can blend a handful of spinach or kale into the smoothie and the sweetness of the cherries will completely mask any flavors from the greens. 

I hope you enjoy the recipe!

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Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

Pumpkin Hot Cocoa [Sugar-Free, Low-Fat, Vegan]

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There's nothing better on a cold day than a thick and creamy cup of hot chocolate. As a kid, I specifically remember having two different types. There was the powdered one that came in a pouch with tiny dehydrated mini marshmallows that always came out watery and lumpy no matter how much you stirred, and then there was the traditional kind of hot chocolate that was so heavy and thick that I could hardly ever finish a whole cup. I set out to replicate the more traditional thicker one, but in a way that makes it healthy enough to drink every day.

For me, this means no sugar and no heavy coconut cream. To make this beverage sweet without sugar, I used soft dates which add the perfect amount of sweet caramel flavor in an unrefined whole food package.

The magical thickening ingredient in this recipe is canned pumpkin puree. Not only does pumpkin make this beverage extra creamy, but it also has loads of fiber and nutrients. This makes for a wonderfully creamy and smooth texture without having to use as many heavy, high-fat ingredients. 

To make this hot chocolate extra rich I sometimes add just a teaspoon of nut butter. It isn't really necessary at all, though I do find it helps to cover up the earthy flavor of the ashwagandha root powder which I've been adding in lately, but you totally can skip that ingredient if you don't have it/don't want it. 

I've never been one to buy into the hype around "superfoods" or ayurvedic herbs and supplements, but I decided to try ashwagandha when I heard about its ability to balance hormones. There's just not enough research to say for sure that it actually does anything, but as someone who has been on and off hormonal contraceptives many times throughout my early 20s, I decided to give it a try and see for myself if I notice any differences. I'll report back if I do! 

This hot chocolate becomes so frothy from the blending process that it almost reminds me of a latte, but with much less effort than actually frothing and steaming the milk. It's as easy as throwing everything in a blender and pressing a button. I usually heat it up in a mug in the microwave to save dishes, but if you prefer to use the stovetop to heat it up that's definitely another good option. 

For an extra-decadent dessert version, I like to top it off with some vegan whipped cream (the kind I use is made from rice milk) and an extra pinch of cinnamon. Even without the whip, it's still such a delicious cozy drink on its own. It's a deliciously healthy and nutrient-rich way to warm up and relax on a cold wintery day. 

Recipe video & written recipe below!

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Pumpkin Hot Chocolate

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