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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This looks so good and I can’t wait to try it. I love your recipes since I have such a sweet tooth. The brownie batter pancakes are one of my favorites for breakfast ever 🙂
Oh Katie…….Loved this shake. Turned out great even though I couldn’t find the vanilla extract and substituted fresh ginger for the powdered. Super creamy and tastes like it should be bad for you. I will have to make some vegan whipped cream, sprinkle with my homemake choc crunch topping (just choc powder, coconut oil and agave heated poured on cookie sheet put in freezer broken up into little pieces) and a sprinkle of cinnamon-just to make me feel special.
Cheers,
Rae
Just made this for breakfast! It’s a long weekend so a shake for breakfast sounds pretty perfect to me! I know you like it when people try substitutions on your recipes and report back for others, so this is what I did: I don’t like using frozen bananas (perhaps I just haven’t mastered the art of unpeeling them), so I just used a regular banana and added some vanilla frozen yogurt. I also used vanilla soy milk so I didn’t add the vanilla extract or any added sweetener. It’s delicious! (As for the frozen yogurt: obviously this wouldn’t work for vegans, but like you said, a vegan could use dairy free ice cream of some sort!)
How come you didn’t use the herb fennel?
Katie! I just made this it was GREAT! Thank you!
So great i happened to have a frozen banana!! HA! Ive cut back on chai lattes as i am trying to loose weight and have GERD. (Tea is sometimes hard for me although i LOVE it) any way.
Im drinking one right now. YUM. very satisfying. thank you. I share your site with everyone. keep up the good work laura
Have you ever tried one of your desserts that is in a liquid form & turn it in an ice cream consistency in a Vitamix 6300? In other words have you ever tried 1 of your recipes like the one on this page(milk shakes, smoothies, & etc.) in a Vitamix & put it on Frozen Desserts function because I’d love to know the results since I know that the Vitamix can prepare a soft serve consistency & I thought that your recipes(I’m only talking of recipes that are capable of making an ice cream flavor) would of went great with it. I hope you will try it out or at least do demos & tell us your results I’ll bet the consistency will be smoother & tastier since the Vitamix grind down everything.
just made this! one of the best things ive ever had. me and my mom went crazy over it!
thank you chocolatecoveredkatie!!!
Can I replace pure vanilla extract with vanilla pod? If yes, how?
OMG, Katie. This. Is. So. Awesome.
how long will this keep in the fridge??
Sounds good! A company here in the UK makes chocolate chai. Bet that would really float your boat
I always add 1/2 cup white beans to my chai shake… you don’t even know it’s there!
This was delicious! It had the flavor of the chai lattes enjoy from Starbucks, but without the caffeine! The only problem was that my thirteen-month-old son kept hogging it! Need to make a bigger serving next time 🙂
I made this with home made almond milk and home made chai spice mix, sweetened with two dates and froze it into popsicles. So yummy! Next time, I’ll reduce the chai to 1/2 tsp and only use 1 date.
It’s delicous! Thank you for this yummy recipe!