Pure Indulgence, No Guilt with These Vegan Shakes

Shake It Up, Baby!

Who does not love the rich and creamy goodness of a milkshake? Especially with summer around the corner, I find my mind on this lush treat quite a bit.
Typically they are made with milk and ice-cream, though and in many cases with some sugary syrup. And we all know (too much) ice-cream and sugary stuff is not good for our health. Moreover, (too much) dairy is not good for the environment.

Plant-based milks require less land, often less water (just not the nut ones), and most importantly, cause less pollution and damage to ecosystems, than real milk does.

I recently came across this Fork Ranger infographic. It shows quite clearly just what a difference your choice of milk can make.
(Never heard of Fork Ranger yet? Read our interview with founders Frank and Mareike here. They know their facts and make their research easily digestible and visible at one glance. If you want to know more about the environmental impact of your food choices, why not check out our Fork Ranger products or their own website.)

Enter: The Vegan Shake

Though I personally cannot claim to be vegan, it does make complete sense to me to be aware of the impact our food choices have on the environment and try and keep it low where I can.

And I am always aware of the health impact of my choices. I am not saying a treat has to be healthy all the time – I think treating yourself is healthy in itself. But if you can replace full fat and sugary ice cream with banana and still get a delicious shake, it just means you can have a treat more often, doesn’t it?

It’s So Wonderfully Simple

Whipping up a lush vegan shake is really simple. Basically, it comes down to mixing together three things:

1. A milky base
2. Frozen banana
3. Something to add flavour

You can use either a standing or a stick blender for this.
And then you can always add toppings as you please.
Easy Peasy.

The Banana

That’s the easiest one. It provides your shake with that rich creaminess that makes it’s really good.

Consider this also is a great way to reduce food waste -as you can use up any bananas that may not look to great anymore- and feel even better about your shake! Buy the loose bananas everybody leaves at the supermarket or get that reduced bundle that won’t last another two days in store. Or use the ones that suddenly seem overripe on the fruit bowl, because the kids just decided not to eat any bananas this week.
Best is to chop them up and freeze them in a container whenever you find some of these very ripe ones. You can then just pull out as much as you need, whenever you need.

Should you find yourself craving a shake with no frozen banana around the house, you can use a fresh one. If you use frozen fruits for your flavour, it’ll make little difference. If you add nothing frozen, your shake will still be thick and creamy, but just not as cold and ice cream like as a traditional milkshake.

It does add a bit of banana flavour to your shake, so if you don’t want that to stand out, use a little less banana or a bit more of your flavour makers.

What Base and Flavour to Choose

That’s a bit more tricky, just because there are so many options. On the other hand, it’s really easy, just because there are so many options. You can’t really go wrong. You just need to make a choice.

You can base your choices on several arguments: what you happen to have at hand, for example. Or, which flavour your like. Which has the best nutritional value. Or the lowest environmental impact.

Some of these are easier to define than others. What you have and what you like, you know.
That fresh fruit might be a healthier flavour maker than biscuits, may be obvious too.
But the amounts of protein, sugar and fat between different milk substitutes varies and which one is best for you, depends on the rest of your diet, so I cannot tell you that.

I can tell you that we find that unsweetened oat milk foams up nicely (that’s why it is often in used in cappuccinos too) and combines wonderfully with coffee, chocolate and biscuit flavoured shakes. But it also works well with fruits. So, hooray it comes up first on the environmental impact list!

Some of us like the extra sweet and creamy flavour of coconut milk, especially in really summery shakes such as strawberry or mango flavoured ones. They do tend to come up a bit more smoothy-like than milkshake-like, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I think.

By all means: try what you like and experiment as much as you want.

The Actual Recipe

Well, that may be an overstatement.
Let’s call it: the recommended amounts.

For one tall glass:

• ½ – 1 banana (You can replace it with 1 or 2 scoops of your (vegan) ice cream of choice, if you don’t have any banana at hand, or if you just prefer to do so.)
• 100-150 ml plant-based milk of your choice (replaced part of that by cold coffee for coffee flavoured shakes)
• Either 1-2 handfuls of fruit of your choice (fresh or frozen) (and this may also be banana)
  Or 2-3 biscuits (Oreos or spiced biscuits are recommended vegan options)
  Or 2 tablespoons of cacao/ cocoa powder
  Or 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  Or … what you would like your shake to taste like!

Consider adding things like a spoonful of chia seeds, peanut butter, coconut (freshly ground or desiccated), finely chopped fruits and a dollop of (vegan) whipped cream, cocoa drops, or a dash of cinnamon, depending on the flavour of your shake.
For a breakfast shake, adding a handful or two of oats just might make it the full meal (yes, this is a good one to add the coffee to).

Be creative and let us know your favourites in the comments!

Tips to Enjoy Your Vegan Milkshake in Style

On a hot day, it can be nice to serve your shake in a cooled glass. Simply put it in the freezer for a bit.
If you use a I’m No Mug coffee cup, you can be sure it won’t break -even if something else comes up and you forget all about it- as some thinner glasses might. And adding the cork grip afterwards, you won’t freeze your fingers, or get them all wet when your warmth makes the frosty glass condensate. You can use the lid as a coaster to avoid your table getting wet once the frost starts melting too.

Few drinks call for a straw more than a milkshake does. Keep it environmentally sane with reusable ones. Thick and rich shakes and smoothies call for straight, wide straws such as the 8mm, which we have in gold and silver or, especially if you top it with bits, 11mm boba straws. You can pop these in the freezer too, if you dare put your lips on something so cold.

Enjoy your shakes this summer and don’t be shy to share your recipes and pictures with us. We’d love to see them either here, or on social media!