NANCY CHEN

View Original

basic bulletproof coffee recipe (+ vegan version)

Nancy Chen

This originally appeared on the Juicery blog

Fats are glamorous now. Gone are the days of low-fat diets; the trend of eating healthy fats to stay satisfied is here to stay. As someone who’s been a huge advocate of healthy fats (hello, cue in my obsession with avocados and nuts), I’m glad the rest of the world is finally catching on.

But have you tried adding fat to your coffee?

If you haven’t heard of “bulletproof coffee,” that is essentially what it is — a mix of fat and, you guessed it, coffee.

Originally started by Dave Aspry, the idea is that it can replace your carb-heavy, grain-filled breakfast. The saturated fat keeps you full, while the coffee keeps you alert.

Essentially, it makes you feel “bulletproof.”

I’m not going to promise you it’ll make you feel invincible. I’m not going to tell you to even replace your breakfast with this.

Sometimes I do, but sometimes I drink it for an extra energy boost with breakfast or with a snack (one of my favorite pre-teaching back-to-back boxing class go-to’s). It depends on your energy needs and how active you are.

I’ve taken Aspry’s original formula and modified it, adding some superfoods and spices.

Here's my go-to recipe, as well as a vegan version. Both use the same spices, but a key component of the normal one is that it contains collagen, one of my favorite additions — it supports a healthy gut, skin, and hair, and helps with muscle recovery. The vegan version uses protein powder instead!

Note: You can make both of these versions as iced; just make sure to use a little less hot water and pour it over ice.

“golden milk” bulletproof coffee

ingredients

* For a vegan version, use protein powder instead. I like Manitoba Harvest hemp or Garden of Life grain free smooth unflavored.
** I use ghee (basically clarified butter — it’s heated and then cooled) instead of grass-fed butter as it’s easier on my stomach (it has less lactose than butter), but you can definitely just use grass-fed butter instead — KerryGold is a popular brand that many use . 

directions

  1. Combine coffee and all ingredients in a blender.
  2. Blend on high until frothy (about 20 seconds).*
  3. Pour into a cup and enjoy!
*You can shake it up in a Blender Bottle or mason jar, but it won’t get as frothy and won’t taste as good — I recommend blending it if you have a blender handy!

And there you go! feel free to play with this as you want; add spices, take some out, add non-dairy milk, etc. The great thing about it is that it's so versatile — basically use coffee, collagen, fat, and MCT oil as your base and customize it to suit your tastes. Some other versions I've done: bulletproof earl grey, bulletproof hot chocolate, and an iced bulletproof latte.

If you're looking for places that sell bulletproof coffee, it hasn't 100% caught on everywhere, but here are some places that I've seen it / tried it: