Chia Seed Egg Cream Designer Smoothie
If you’re from New York, you know that egg creams have neither eggs, nor cream. Don’t ask why, it just is. My healthy, grown-up version of kids’ chocolate milk shake reminds me of our Brooklyn egg creams. Both kids and grown-ups love the surprise at bottom of the empty glass – a dark chocolate-covered dried plum (a.k.a. prune). It’s a healthy treat that makes you happy. Flavonoid-rich delicious dark chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder are “good for ya” foods, the Aztec’s Food of the Gods. Rich in anti-oxidants they’re reported to lower blood pressure and chocolate as a mild stimulant sharpens the mind, among many more attributes. An Aztec health food is healthy enough for me, and you. Even my grandmother would have approved this egg cream.
Ingredients
- Chocolate Dried Plums
- 2 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate, 72% cacao
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch processed preferably
- 4 pitted dried plums (a.k.a.prunes)
- Smoothie
- 1 scant tablespoon organic chia seeds
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch processed preferably
- 1-7/8 cups cold spring water, low-fat almond milk, or fat-free dairy milk, as preferred
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon organic raw sugar, or more to taste
Instructions
- Warm chocolate over simmering water until almost melted. Add coconut oil, remove from heat and stir until smooth. Cool. Dust prunes with cocoa powder. Dip in chocolate to cover. Place on waxed paper to set. Reserve.
- Mix chia seeds with 4 tablespoons water and set aside several hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge. Whisk water,[ or a milk] with cocoa powder until almost dissolved. Add to blender with chia mixture, vanilla and sugar. Blend well until frothy. Place a chocolate-covered plum in bottom of each glass. Fill with the chocolate-chia mixture. Serve straight away.
Notes
Soaked chia seed thickens the smoothies, as does low -fat cocoa powder, which replaces classic Fox’s U-Bet chocolate syrup.
Tip: Dip extra prunes in any leftover melted chocolate, for snacking..
I like this smoothie best made with spring water; you get the clean flavor of high quality cocoa and vanilla. But both of the suggested milks work well and you can use either one for even more nutrition, as preferred.
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