Salted caramel seems to be having a moment right now. I turn around in a supermarket and BAM: salted caramel. I go to a café and BAM: salted caramel. It's in supermarkets, cafés, restaurants- and now it's on my blog. I have salted caramel on the brain.
Unfortunately salted caramel isn't really that great for you. Especially in its finest form: incorporated into a brownie. However this came close second for me. It is sweet and rich, with a slight tang of salt. This bit of salty-ness is the first thing that hits you, and then you get the sweet caramelly flavour of the dates and banana. Don't worry though, it doesn't taste like a banana shake thanks to the almond butter in there- it just adds to the richness.
I made this for breakfast, and was actually surprised at just how long this powerful little shake kept me full- and that's saying something. Because I am a second breakfast/ mid-morning snack kind of girl. So, enjoy this recipe and tag me (healthy_not_hungry) in any pictures you take of your salted caramel shakes over on IG...
Ingredients
- 3 pitted dates
- 1 medium banana, sliced up into coins and frozen
- 200ml Alpro coconut milk (this is just what I used; feel free to use soya, almond etc.)
- 1tbsp almond butter
- 2tbsp ice cold water
- 1/2tsp vanilla
- Pinch of sea salt, to taste
Seen as I like to make my recipes adjustable: If you want more caramel than salt throw another date in, and if you don't have almond butter, then cashew also works quite well.
Method
- OPTIONAL: Soak the dates in the water overnight. Leave them in a glass in the fridge to ensure the water is really cold. I didn't use this step because this was a spur of the moment thing, but it would have made the dates much easier to blend, and have further intensified the flavours.
- Blend all of the ingredients together. Begin by pulsing the mixture to break everything up, and then blend for longer periods to get everything nice and smooth.
- Pour into a glass, and enjoy your healthy salted caramel fix...
Labels: almond butter, Alpro, banana, caramel, dates, healthy smoothie, milkshake, salted, salted caramel, shake, sweet, vanilla
