Coffee Almond Mocha Smoothie

This post was sponsored by Starbucks in conjunction with Yummly.

I have a confession. I love Starbucks iced coffee drinks. Not that this is particularly a bad thing. I mean, they are pretty darn delicious. However, with a new baby in tow, it’s not so easy to just hop around the corner every time I need my fix. Now, of course there’s always the option to brew and chill my own at home, but again, it’s time consuming and requires me to plan ahead – something I’m really not so good at.

So when I was contacted to try the new Starbucks Iced Coffee – Brewed to Personalize beverages, I was thrilled. Starbucks has taken their 100% Arabica coffee, brewed it for you, chilled it and sent it to your local grocery store, ready for you to take home and personalize it to your tastes. Each bottle makes six 8-ounce beverages and comes in three flavors: unsweetened, lightly sweetened and caramel. Plus, with only 10-60 calories per serving, you can enjoy all the deliciousness without the guilt.

I was asked to create a recipe using Starbucks Iced Coffee – Brewed to Personalize beverage and I decided to use the unsweetened version so that I could fully customize it. When I tasted it on its own, I noticed it had a surprisingly smooth, rich, freshly-brewed flavor. This is not what I expected from a bottle of ready-to-drink iced coffee. I was pleasantly surprised and would’ve been happy just to drink it by itself. However, I was equally excited to whip up a delightful concoction.

It’s been crazy hot here in San Diego lately and I’ve been craving frozen beverages to beat the high temperatures. This frozen coffee treat is flavored with almond butter, cocoa and sweetened with fiber-rich dates. Starbucks Iced Coffee – Brewed to Personalize allows you to make this recipe and any of your other favorite coffee drinks quickly and easily. It’s personalized iced coffee the way you want it when you want it. And, at a suggested retail price of $4.99 per bottle, it’s an economical way to enjoy your favorite iced coffee drinks.

I received compensation in exchange for writing this review and creating a recipe using Starbucks Iced Coffee – Brewed to Personalize. Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own.

Coffee Almond Mocha Smoothie

www.barbaracooks.com

Servings: 2 • Size: ½ recipe • Weight Watcher Points+: 7

Calories: 251 • Fat: 8g • Carbs: 46g • Fiber: 6g • Protein: 5g

Sugars: 29g • Sodium: 54mg • Cholesterol: 0mg

Ingredients:

• 2 bananas
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 1 ½ Tablespoons almond butter
• 6 ounces Starbucks Iced Coffee – Brewed to Personalized, Unsweetened
• ¼ cup almond milk
• 2 dates, pitted
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 2 teaspoons chopped almonds

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into glasses and sprinkle with the chopped almonds.

Feeling feisty? Add a drizzle of chocolate syrup to the edge of the glass before sprinkling with the almonds.