I've been making some version of a chocolate milkshake for years. If consumed as a quick meal, I'll toss a scoop of whey chocolate protein powder into a cup of skim milk with ice and drink it. Today let's make a healthy, thick chocolate milkshake as a snack. It has the protein of milk and potassium of a banana but for a meal, I need additional whey protein.
Ideally, a healthy snack should be 100 to 200 calories and not more. The banana gives the milkshake its thickness, but the unsweetened cocoa powder will dominate its flavor. Here's the recipe:
Healthy Thick Chocolate Milkshake
Ingredients:
1 - 1 1/2 cups skim milk - Start with 1 cup and test the thickness. If you think ahead to use frozen banana slices, you'll need the extra milk. 2 tablespoons of cacao powder, or dark cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 large banana - If you want to slice and freeze your banana ahead of time, you can skip the ice cubes. But who always thinks ahead when you crave a snack?
4 ice cubes
Directions:
Toss the milk, cocoa powder, banana, and ice cubes into a blender and mix until you get a rich, thick, and delicious milkshake. At this step, you can add the extra 1/2 of milk if the shake is too thick. Pour into a tall glass. If you need to gain weight lucky you, you can garnish with extras like nuts, seeds, chocolate shavings, or whipped cream. I drink my milkshake as is. It's still tasty!
Yes, you can make this milkshake with oat milk, almond milk, or soy milk. My favorite is cow's milk, which has 8 grams of protein per cup.
Skim milk is 90 calories per cup, the banana is about 100 calories (usually I use a medium banana so 70 calories) and the cocoa powder is 50 calories, so our milkshake is over 200 calories but not by a significant amount, and they aren't empty calories. Personally, I'm mindful, yet not obsessive when counting calories. My aim is to stay in the ballpark. When hungry, I consider vegetables, fruit, or skim milk -- free food, never fretting over the few extra calories they contain.
Enjoy!
You may also enjoy:
