This healthy chai latte is easy to make 100% raw and is a great caffeine free alternative to the sugar filled tea lattes! My kiddos love it too!
Oh coffee. I have such a love hate relationship with this drink. The taste, the spike of wild energy, the rush of being able to make connections in my brain faster than ever. But as we have talked about before here, it follows with a sharp crash for me, a midmorning slump, and I get angry, impatient with my kids and when I’m coming down off it, I’m overall I’m just not a very nice person.
So it seems to have it’s seasons. In times of need (hello conferences!) I turn to it on a near constant drip to keep myself going. And then off we come for my return to normal healthy living.
My all time favorite standby though is what we affectionately call the “dirty hippy”. It’s a spiced chai latte with a shot or two of espresso. Yeah. Double caffeine whammy. I will often get it with decaf espresso since I’m so sensitive which gets me odd looks from the baristas. And of course I love the extra whip on top let’s be honest. It is not a healthy chai latte by any means.
I discovered this drink recently while playing with almond milk and a chai craving at home and it’s perfection. Not too sweet thanks to being sweetened with just a single date but warm, frothy and full of all the chai spices that I love. And clocking in right at around 100 calories? It’s a pretty good choice.
Is it coffee or chai truly? No. But sometimes replacing those daily habits with a little bit healthier choice makes those splurge days worth it all the more.
Healthy Chai Latte Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk for 100% raw be sure to make your own almond milk
- 1 date
- 1 teaspoon cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder****
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon cardamom
- pinch nutmeg
- pinch cloves
Instructions
- 1. If desired warm almond milk gently on the stovetop (keep it under 115 degrees to stay truly raw!)
2. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend on high for 40 seconds. - 3. Serve Hot. Enjoy!
Looking for a warm drink when I couldn’t drink another cup of tea being sick with Covid. This was it! So good.
This sounds lovely! One thing to note: cocoa/cacao have caffeine in them naturally. This recipe is not caffeine free even if you don’t use traditional black tea.
Correct, as listed in the recipe card it has a very minimal amount of caffeine (roughly 4mg for a teaspoon vs 95mg for a cup of coffee and 47mg or so for a cup of tea) but if you are super sensitive you may not want to add that even!
I made this the other night and LOVED it. I’m having a group of girls over for a Fall crafting night tonight, and will be making this in a big batch for them!! Thanks for giving us chai lovers who can’t have caffeine such an awesome drink!! xoxo Katie
What is the cacao powder and the chocolate? And is the chocolate a powder also or syrup? Where do you buy cacao powder?
Hi Kim,
I updated the recipe with more info for you! Also it should have been just an either/or option and I realized it read confusing so that’s been updated. Either use cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder. Here is a link to order cacao if you can’t find it locally: http://amzn.to/1MQ1yYY.
Hope that helps!
xoxo Dani
I love chai! Can’t wait to give this caffeine free version a try!
This sounds delicious! My kids would love it. Although I might sneak some instant espresso into my cup – because I’m a rebel. 🙂