#ChoctoberFest: Keto Bulletproof Mocha

We're kicking off a week of #Choctoberfest with a little something healthy!

My wife and I started eating according to the ketogenic diet at the start of September. The keto diet, as it is usually called, is a variation on the high protein, high fat low carbohydrate diet that first become popular through the work of Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1970s (although there are differences between the two, both in purpose and process).

Keto, put simply, suggests eating mostly fat, with a moderate intake of protein and lower proportion of carbohydrates. While many people still believe the old dietary guidance that demonizes fat—and saturated fat in particular—there is a great deal of research calling that association into serious question. (For a good summary of the science, try this New York  Times article.  For a much more thorough and detailed analysis, Nina Teicholz’s book Big Fat Surprise is a good choice.)

Keto depends on eating a significant amount of fat, which calls for a significant shift in the way most of us think about food. Meanwhile, you also need to reduce carbohydrates. Most sources recommend a maximum of 20 grams a day when getting started, then up to maybe 40 or 50 grams once you’ve entered ketosis.

To help get started with the day, many ketogenic diet books and online resources offer some variation on “rocket-fuel coffee,” coffee with rich quantities of butter, heavy cream and sometimes other fats such as coconut oil added.

The problem I had with these recipes is that the fat additions feel gratuitous. To my taste they contribute nothing to flavor or palatability—it’s just a mechanism to consume the fat. Something more was needed to turn the fat into a needed component of the recipe, so I set out to experiment.

After a few trial runs, I developed this recipe for keto-friendly mocha

You can make this with either heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk. The coconut milk lowers both fat and carbohydrate levels—it lowers carbs by slightly more, but that’s essentially a wash—but it also adds another flavor note that I like. Try it both ways and see which you prefer.

Keto Bulletproof Mocha
Makes 2 servings.

Make with hot coffee to ensure good butter melt and mixing.

Ingredients
2 cups hot coffee
4 tablespoons butter
½ cup unsweetened nut milk (plain or vanilla flavored)
1/4 cup heavy cream OR 2/3 cup full fat canned coconut milk
2 tablespoons cocoa
(optional) 2 scoops collagen supplement
2 teaspoons monkfruit sweetener

Place butter into blender. Softening or slicing it beforehand won’t hurt but isn’t necessary.

Pour coffee on top of butter to begin melting process.

Add dry ingredients, then add remaining liquids.

Blend until butter is melted and ingredients are well mixed, 20-30 seconds.

Macro-nutrient Information:
With heavy cream: Per serving: 42g fat; 5.5g carbohydrate; 11g protein
With coconut milk: 41 g fat; 3.5g carbohydrate; 11 g protein

You’ll find this recipe is amenable to a lot of variation.  You could try adding other spices such as cinnamon; topping with whipped cream; adding a splash of bourbon or rum for an evening cocktail if you're drinking alcohol; or serving with keto-friendly cookies.

Feel free to experiment, observing your own chosen keto limits.

Bonus: It’s a delicious mocha even for people not doing keto. Nothing about it tastes fake or unnecessary. It only takes a few minutes to put together and none of the ingredients are likely to be hard to find except possibly the monkfruit sugar, which can be ordered online if necessary, or replaced with sugar if you're not avoiding it.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!  Don't forget to check out these other wonderful Choctoberfest posts bloggers are sharing today, and enter the Giveaway for a huge collection of chocolate goodies!

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