of Better for You Brownie Batter Shakes

Like most people, I enjoy occasional sweets and my biggest sweets weakness is brownies. As a child, sneaking brownie batter before it was baked was both an ultimate indulgence and an ultimate no-no according to my rightfully germaphobic due to her employment as a nurse mother. Before baking the brownie batter has a consistency and a taste that I always believed was completely non-recreatable. That is until I found this recipe on pinterest for cake batter shakes. I was definitely intrigued by the properties in this recipe but I hate cake and almost wrote it off until I read further and the author conveniently suggested using brownie batter. I think even my mother would approve of this method of batter indulgence. And hey, try it with cake batter if that is more your speed. I could get down to a strawberry shortcake version. Or add in some whipped cream vodka for an adults only treat. Whatever works; the possibilities are endless.

I am not a health freak by any stretch of the imagination but seeing as how its swimsuit season and I generally enjoy how my clothing fits when I am more in shape, I try to eat a bit healthier. I am sure that the original recipe is absolutely decadent and transcendent for a treat but I am not about to consume a more calories if I can consume less and still get all the taste. Luckily, my roommates agreed and as always let me experiment on them. I took the basic recipe and originally subbed in some vanilla soy milk and some fat free vanilla frozen yogurt. The result was amazing and rather guilt free(ish).

This time though I made a few adjustments to the recipe simply to see if I could still get the brownie batter taste without all the excess brownie batter. Seemed like ½ cup contained some extra calories I didn't particularly need. I also used vanilla almond milk because I like it better and I wanted to make up a batch of cookie dough dip with some garbanzos I had lying around. This mix tasted exactly like the fabled brownie batter of yore. And so without further ado...my healthy hack of brownie batter shakes.

Today's Cast of Characters:

 

Don't you just love when you have all the ingredients for a special treat right at your fingertips. Living so near a Safeway and a Whole Foods makes my entire life. All you need for this recipe is brownie batter, which can be whatever kind you want (I used Giradelli and it was divine); the aforementioned vanilla almond milk; fat free vanilla frozen yogurt; and vanilla extract. I also used a bit of light whipped cream but you can skip this or add the light cool whip option. I would also want to try this with marshmallows (perhaps blow torched) and graham cracker.

What to do:

Measure out your milk and add to the blender. I also added my vanilla extract during this step. You know, because I was impatient. If you like thicker shakes use less milk at this step. results are equally impressive.

Add in your brownie batter and make sure none is caught on the sides. If it happens to get caught on the sides push it down with a spoon or spatula so that it will be evenly mixed.

Finally add in your frozen yogurt and whir the blender a few times to combine. The mix is the perfect consistency when no more large lumps of yogurt can be seen. You can use more or less yogurt depending on desired thickness. I would recommend using more brownie batter if you choose to use more yogurt.

Pour into a glass and top with a squirt of whipped cream, a dollop of cool whip, or the blow torched marshmallows and graham cracker combination I came up with too late to try out. I will be very jealous if you do. If you use the whipped cream or cool whip, you can sprinkle a little extra brownie batter on top of the concoction for presentation and an added kick of deliciousness.

And now the most important thing.Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup Vanilla Almond Milk
1 cup Fat-free Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
⅓ cup Brownie Mix
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Whipped Cream for topping

Directions:

1. Add milk and vanilla extract into blender.
2. Next add in the brownie batter and make sure it is not caught on sides.
3. Measure your frozen yogurt into the blender and give it a few whirs to combine. The perfect consistency happens when there are no more lumps of yogurt.
4. Pour mix into a glass and top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of brownie batter. Enjoy!