This is a little treat we started making a couple of months ago, and my wife has been wanting me to share it with the world ever since.
You could spend big $bucks and order something like this at your local coffee shop, or you could do like we do and make it yourself at home. It only costs about 50 cents per serving if you make it yourself. And if you make it skinny like we do, it will have a fraction of the calories too.
Skinny Vanilla HappyCino (click on any image to enlarge)
There are endless combinations you can make of this frozen drink. The basic one involves just four ingredients, and the taste reminds me of the snow ice cream we used to make when I was a kid.
Skinny Vanilla HappyCino 
Print This Recipe
A Happy Acres original
1 cup skim milk
1.5 oz sugar free vanilla bean syrup
dash ground vanilla beans (optional)
2 cups ice cubes
Combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into glass, add a straw if you like, and sip away.
Servings: 2
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 40 calories, <1 calories from fat, <1g total fat, 2.5mg cholesterol, 56.2mg sodium, 191.1mg potassium, 6.1g carbohydrates, 0g fiber, 6.2g sugar, 4.1g protein, 157.9mg calcium, <1g saturated fat.
If you like your drink a little sweeter, add a bit of your favorite sweetener. I often use a little stevia powder in mine. That satisfies my sweet tooth without adding any calories.
some HappyCino ingredients
Another one of our favorites has a few more ingredients, and the flavor reminds me of a malted milkshake.
Malted Cocoa HappyCino Print This Recipe
A Happy Acres original
1 cup skim milk
1.5 oz sugar free chocolate syrup
1 heaping tbsp unsweetened malted milk powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 cups ice cubes
Combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth.
Servings: 2
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 67 calories, 4 calories from fat, <1g total fat, 2.5mg cholesterol, 83mg sodium, 232.3mg potassium, 10.5g carbohydrates, <1g fiber, 8.5g sugar, 4.7g protein, 161.3mg calcium, <1g saturated fat.
To add coffee flavor, you can use instant coffee or espresso powder, or else freeze prepared coffee in an ice cube tray and use the coffee cubes in place of plain ice cubes. Leftover brewed coffee works well for this.
By using different flavored syrups – with or without sugar, and other flavoring additions like cinnamon or nutmeg, you can make your own customized frozen treat. So do like we do and save the money and the calories by making it yourself!
Oh man, does this sound delicious! I love drinks like this.
Yum! This sounds great and perfect for a hot day. Sort of like a “grown up” milkshake. =)
I also made snow ice cream as a kid in PA! What a great memory.
Sometimes we even have it on a cool day like today! 😀
Mmmm…sounds delish! I’m curious, how do you grind a vanilla bean? Do you buy them dried? I usually buy the whole beans, but they’re still a little moist and tacky.
I bought the vanilla beans already ground. It’s 100% pure ground vanilla bean, with no added sugar or other ingredients. I’m guessing they dry the beans before grinding. I got it from the Arizona Vanilla Company, along with some of their beans. I was pleased with the quality, and I’m not getting any kickback either! 🙂
your ‘malted cocoa happycino’ reminds me of my current favorite summer beverage – what i like to call the ‘ice-malt’. it loses nothing by taking away most/all of the ice cream and satisfies that craving.
what i really miss is the chocolate milk i used to buy in switzerland. open the bottle, sip it down and freeze until slushy. deeeelish!
good lookin’ blog, thanks for sharing. can’t wait to try out the chive blossom garlic…once i have a garden 😀
Hi….Could you tell me where you buy your unsweetened malted milk powder?? I have looked everywhere!! Thanks!
King Arthur Flour has it. That is what we are using now.
Thank you so much!!