Buzz Buzz! Frozen Coffee Granita

Oh baby it’s cold outside.

Well maybe not in Southern California, but I know for a lot of you it is.  Even when I lived back East nothing stopped me from craving ice cream and frozen treats.  I say go ahead and treat yourself, with a sweet that won’t show up on your hips and tastes great!

How could something so simple taste so good.  This looks kind of fancy, non?

During  holiday season we all get plenty of extra calories with the abundance of parties and celebrations.  At home it is best not to have temptation available.  In gap times, when we are not indulging at parties, we should still be allowed to treat ourselves…..with out adding extra padding and guilt.

I have a hard time turning off my sweet tooth.  It needs to be pacified multiple times a day.  Since maintaining a firm, healthy body is so important to me I need to opt out of daily consumption of yummy baked goods and ice cream.  There are many ways to avoid and resist grabbing those treats.

A granita is basically a fancy word for a slushy.  All you need is ice, a splash of your favorite milk, your favorite natural sweetener and instant coffee.  Oh, and a blender.  Is something so simple worthy of a post?  You betcha, this treat is that good.  The hardest part about it is the clean up.   Put a cup in the dishwasher, we can all handle that.

Oh, and by the way, you will be happy with the caffeine buzz that’ll take you to your workout or help get you through the rest of the day with the kids!

Frozen Coffee Granita

makes one 12 oz drink

1 heaping Tbs. Instant Coffee

I like Whole Foods brand instant coffee and Mount Hagen Organic Instant Coffee, this comes in regular or decaf if you are opting out of the caffeine buzz.

Milk Choice: A splash of your favorite milk.  I like Unsweetened Vanilla Soy milk.   You can do dairy based milk, Almond Milk, Rice Milk, Light Coconut Milk.  What ever you choose should work well.  This splash will give a hint of milky flavor and a nice mouth feel.

Sweetener Choice: I love my Stevia powder or English Toffee Sweetleaf stevia drops, these add no calories and rate 0% on the glycemic index.  You can also use a bit of honey, agave, maple syrup or raw sugar.

Cold Water, roughly 6 oz (You might want less,  you need to gauge how well everything is blending.  You don’t want ice chunks.)

Ice, roughly 6 oz

METHOD:

1. Add Coffee, Splash of Milk, Sweetener Ice and Water to blender.
2. Blend until all is combined and slushy.
3. Done.  Treat is made.  Add any toppings (see below.) Drink up and enjoy!!

Blender Choice:

I have had great luck with the single serve Rocket Blender by Bella Cucina.  My frozen drinks have a great texture and there is no guess work as to how much ice and water to add.  I just fill the cup to the fill line.  Half ice and half water. Done.

Fresh Additions:

Top your Frozen Coffee Granita with the following:

• non dairy soy whip
• dust with cinnamon or cocoa
• chopped toasted nuts
• roasted cacao nibs
• pomegranate arils
• raspberries