Thick, creamy vanilla chai breakfast shakes…
Have you ever tried chai tea?
My college roommate got me hooked on chai sophomore year, and the spicy beverage helped me through many a winter’s bike ride to class. I invested in a stainless-steel travel mug, which I’d fill with hot tea and stuff into the side pocket of my backpack. Today’s recipe is a milkshake version of that comforting chai.
(P.S. To anyone who currently attends SMU: buy a cheap bike. In the years I was there, two of my bicycles were stolen—locks and all!)
A thick, creamy, and secretly healthy milkshake with sweet chai spices.
Perfect for a post-workout drink or a late-night snack…
Or even for breakfast!
Vanilla Chai Breakfast Shakes
Vanilla Chai Breakfast Shakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk of choice, or less for a thicker shake
- 1 very ripe frozen banana (Banana-Free Version Here)
- 1/2 tsp each cinnamon and powdered ginger
- Tiny dash each: pepper, cardamom, ground cloves, and nutmeg (You can omit any or all if desired. Or omit all the spices and simply brew your milk with a chai tea bag, then chill before blending)
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- optional sweetener if desired
Instructions
Crazy-simple directions: Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Serve cold, or gently heat if a hot drink is desired instead. (Side note: I bet if you make a bigger serving and tweak the recipe a bit, it could make a good ice cream. I might have to work on that!)
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I just made a variant of your shake here and it is AMAZING! Being on a protein shake diet can get dull fast – I so appreciate your creativity with the adding of chai spices. I never would have thought about doing that! Thank you Katie, as usual, for making healthy eating decadent.
Katie –
Does the banana have to be frozen? I’ve always wondered if there is a difference in smoothie/shake if you use a fresh banana vs. frozen. Thanks!
I like my smoothies cold, but if you dont care that it’s not super-cold it doesn’t have to be frozen!
Just made your shake after my long run. Amazing!!!!
OMG! just made this shake, it was sooo good! I’m not a big fan of chai tea plain but I love the combo of spices in general, like chai lattes with espresso <3
I would recommend taking some of your gluten-free chocolate cookies since gluten-free is such a big thing right now, but anything would be good!
I also just discovered that you live in Dallas… I live in Dallas! So random lol
Awesome! And I definitely listened to your gf suggestion :).
I hope you got a chance to hit up the bake sale… it was so much fun! (That probably goes without saying, though. When is anything involving chocolate NOT fun? ;))
Take the secret peanut butter cookies; I’m still addicted to them, especially with White Chocolate Wonderful or cashew butter 🙂
This looks SO GOOD. (drool)
This isn’t really related to this post, but I have two questions. Kinda random. But anyway.
1. What kind of cocoa powder do you use in your chocolate recipes? I know it probably doesn’t matter, but I was wondering if there’s a specific kind.
2. Did you have pets as a kid, or just later in life?
Thanksss 🙂
Oh and by the way, for the bake sale, I’d say go with raw cookie dough balls or fudge babies… nom nom nom haha 🙂
I used to use Hershey’s, because it was cheapest… But recently I’ve been learning more and more about slave labor and the fact that Hershey’s isn’t a fair-trade company. So I’ve been trying to use Dagoba all the time now… It’s much more expensive, but I rationalize that Hershey’s can be cheaper because it’s using slave labor. I’d rather pay the extra cost and not be a part of that :(.
Oh, and I’ve always had pets :).
When I lived in Japan, my dog stayed at my grandma’s house in the US… but we still had fish. They were evil, and mine ate my sister’s!
This looks AMAZING! I love anything with chia and banana, so I know I’ll love this! <3
I made this for breakfast this morning and threw in some raw oatmeal as I was eating it. It was delicious! Thanks for another great and easy recipe!
You should make something with sprinkles. Everyone loves fun-looking baked goods! 🙂
For the bake sale – anything that easily stays together between two fingers and can be eaten in just a few bites – sans napkin, sans gooey get-fingers-dirty factor. You have lots to choose from!