Blended Iced Latte with Chocolate and Vanilla

I am normally not a blended coffee drink person. I tend to stay away from fraps and froofroo drinks in favor of plain coffee with a splash of milk. However, the other week I was in the mood for a treat and decided to concoct something in my kitchen. Making a coffee drink at home is a good way to not only save some money, but it also gives you control over the calories. Even the smaller, more simply drinks at Starbucks are around 400 calories!

You do NOT need fancy flavor syrups or fancy coffee beans for a decent coffee drink. I scrounged up from my regular cabinet inventory:

Coffee grounds
100% Cacao baking chocolate wafers
Vanilla extract
Sugar(Or substitute. Honey might be good)
Whole Milk

No need to measure, just add to taste. Soften your baking chocolate in the microwave for a few seconds and brew two ounces of strong espresso. You can even do this in a french press if you have hot enough water and use lots of coffee. Make sure it is a dark roast. Add your espresso, softened chocolate, sweetener(a tablespoon sugar or less to taste), and vanilla(a teaspoon or two) to a blender or bowl. Mix a little with a spoon to further melt the chocolate. Add 3/4 cup of whole milk and 1.5 cups crushed ice. You can blend it in the blender or in a bowl with an immersion blender.

If you used real milk, it might be fairly frothy. You can always use more ice to lighten it up even more.

I think dropping the chocolate and using honey and cinnamon instead of sugar would probably turn out pretty good too. A flavor syrup would be much easier, but I like having as few additives as possible.

I have actually been off coffee for two weeks now and it is going much better than previous attempts. I am even off all the diet soda as well! However, looking at a latte makes me really want to pick up some coconut milk and make a dairy free treat.