Vegan maca caramel frap is super luscious with only dates and banana used as sweetener. Cold brew coffee, healthy fats, and vanilla, so good!
Our place has been a construction zone for the last week or two! Having people at your place making loud noises all day every day for a period of time isn’t exactly my favourite thing, but I’m grateful that it all came together. And we got our new patio! Cookouts coming our way ASAP. We’re getting a section of our roof re-shingled today, but other than that, I think we’re in the clear for a bit.
This holiday weekend is generally the jump-off point for summer around here. We haven’t planned anything too out of the ordinary for the upcoming months. Some camping, lots of gardening, beach trips, drive-in movie nights, lots of get-togethers, maybe a few road trips thrown in there too. Basically all the things we can do with our dog in tow!
I spent last summer living and breathing my cookbook, so it’ll be nice to just do things because I feel like it. It’s a bit nerdy, but I’m very excited about it all. Here’s a couple links for very casual reading and my take on a Starbucks frap, made a little more high vibe. Lots more smoothie inspiration here. Hope you love it! Enjoy the (long!) weekend, too.
I love the photography on Sweetish! It feels cozy and familiar, but it’s still heart-stopping pretty.
I received a smattering of these natural cleaning products a couple weeks ago, and they’re just lovely. The bergamot-scented hand soap is such a great dose of aromatherapy. Bright and sort of comforting because of the earl grey vibe.
This farmer helped start the organic strawberry farming industry in California, and I love his determination. Big change always starts with simple ideas like wanting a crop to taste good, or making changes so that workers can live better. Inspiring!
I love that Ruby Tandoh (she was amazing on The Great British Bake Off) and this essay on how unhealthy one’s conceptions of “clean eating” can really be is great. It frightens me when I read about certain food restrictions packaged in the language of morality from an internet/media personality. It’s irresponsible. The subtle undertones of “wellness” can be confusing and frustrating if you’re a thinking and feeling person trying to take hold of your health.
Screen breaks are very necessary. Ugly-up your iPhone by turning on greyscale to expedite this process ;)
The Positive Lexicography Project + emotions/relations that are familiar, but hard to explain in your own language. (My favourite one so far: Orenda (Huron, n.): the power of the human will to change the world in the face of powerful forces)
I did a couple interviews recently! One over on Fresheather and one on Helen Pockett.
Vegan Maca Caramel Frap Blended Coffee
Ingredients
- ¼ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours in cold water (or 10 minutes in boiling water)
- 2 soft Medjool dates, pitted
- ½ banana, sliced and frozen
- handful of ice cubes
- ½ teaspoon maca powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch fine sea salt
- ¼ cup cold brewed coffee
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk
Equipment
Notes
- I would aim for a richer plant milk, like a coconut based one or even a mixture (like nutpods or similar).
- Also, since you’re incorporating raw cashews into this one, I think a high speed blender may be best. I’ve done this with cashews soaked for 4 hours, and cashews soaked for 10 minutes in boiling water, both with the same results.
- I recommend really soft Medjool dates here because they truly do enhance that “caramel”-like flavour. If yours are on the dry side, just soak them in hot water for 5 minutes before blending.
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in an upright blender. Blend the mixture on high until smooth and frothy. Enjoy immediately.
Delicious! Just made this & added unflavored protein powder. Thank you Laura. Xoxo.
[…] Maca Caramel FrapThis one has a bit of a butterscotch vibe that tastes so indulgent, but it’s loaded with […]
This is SO good! Just what I needed for an afternoon pick me up! Love it!
I made this the other day and it tasted like a Starbucks Frap. I was surprised how much it actually lived up to the description. Thanks for another great recipe!
This is one of the best smoothies I ever had, perfect and simply irrisistable, yum! Thank you!
I am neither vegan nor a coffee-drinker, but wanted to try every smoothie on the list. This one far exceeded my expectations in every respect. It was sweet enough, creamy enough, and just tasted amazing!
Added some plain yogurt to give it some tartness. Absolutely delicious!
Instead of using an additional plant based milk I would just soak more cashews and use cashew milk as the base…
Laura I’m beyond flattered to be included in your list of links let alone the kind words you said about my photography. Thank you! All the heart eye emojis and hearts and dancing ladies. You’ve made my week.
and:
1. Congrats on your new patio, yay for it being done just in time for summer!
2. This smoothie / pick me up drink looks amaze, I wish it would just magically appear in front of me.
3. Can’t wait to dig more into these links. You’re inspiring me to do the same (share links!) xo
This smoothie looks so delicious and I love that you sweetened it with bananas and dates! :-)
Wow what a beautiful smoothie – I have limited kitchen space and I don’t have a high powered blender, but could I make this with cashew nut butter? If it’s just 100% cashews I mean?
This smoothie looks delicious and I love the straw!
Thanks Angela! I think that could totally work! Maybe start with 2 tablespoons and work up if it needs to be richer? Let me know what it’s like if you try it!
xo L
Congrats on the patio! I devoured that clean eating article. It’s so hard to talk about healthy food sometimes, but it’s so important. Listening to your body and eating a variety of foods seems to be the best philosophy, but that’s a little harder to distill into a slogan than a gluten-free, sugar-free diet.
I love the sound of construction…said no one ever. XD Outdoor cookouts are definitely something you should be looking forward too! I would also LOVE to try incorporating more maca into my diet too–it’s delicious!
Reading that diagram about Elon Musk was insane! It’s crazy to think about how one person can come from such humble beginnings and do so much – make such a big impact on our culture.
that essay by ruby tandoh is really, really well done. i truly agree with everything she said and it really hit home for me. i also loved that little article about thinking about health and comfort in a different way – it cheered me up so much :) thanks for doing these posts Laura, they’re the best!
Uhh sounds so incredibly good! Just lying in bed reading, super tired after an epic walk through like 5 different suburbs (exploring moving options), so a sweet-ish coffee drink is exactly what I need right now <3
Gonna continue to read that one about the "unhealthyness" (is that a word?) of clean eating now, cause there's really nothing that frustrates me more right now than people trying to tell me what's good/bad or safe/dangerous for me to eat. We truly live in an eating disordered society :/
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
LOVED that essay on clean eating. And Ruby, she’s a gem. The smoothie sounds SO delicious, babe. I don’t have any maca on hand but I’m going to swap in some lucuma. ;) XO
Came back to let you know that I’ve made this three times (it’s an excellent post-dinner treat) (with decaf cold brew OF COURSE) and Thom – a self-proclaimed coffee h8r – couldn’t even tell there was coffee in it!!!!!!!!!!! Part of me wanted to tell him but I’m secretly enjoying the art of turning him into a coffee lover.
Like always this looks amazing;)
I’m not a smoothie person, but this one seems really delicious! Anyway, that infographic about Elon Musk is just amazing :D He’s a genius!