This post was originally published in 2011 when I was pregnant with my youngest child, Luke. I’m not currently pregnant. 🙂 I reshot the photographs for this Chocolate-Covered Cherry Shake and decided to republish it to put it back on the front page. If this one is new to you, enjoy! Save This Recipe! Enter your email and I'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you'll get new recipes from me every week! By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Happy Healthy Mama.
My honoring them included a weekly trip to Baskin-Robbins for milkshakes. Every Sunday, Tim and I would walk (that counts for something, right?) to Baskin- Robbins and and order milkshakes that had more calories and sugar than one person should consume in a day, let alone one sitting.
This pregnancy, I’m determined to honor my sweet cravings with a little more savvy. I’m not saying I did anything wrong during my pregnancy with Meghan. I gained 35 pounds, which is within the guidelines for healthy weight gain during pregnancy. (Okay, so it’s right at the top end of the guidelines, but I still made it!) I do think, however, I can eat my sweets while putting more nourishing foods in my body at the same time.
I’m not perfect. My tag line says I’m an “everyday mom on a mission”. I’m on a mission to do the best I can to eat the right foods and make healthy choices for me and my family. That doesn’t mean I’ve already arrived. I’m working towards that mission.
This “milkshake” is an attempt to satisfy my cravings for sweets while still making smart choices. This healthy shake has fresh fruit, almond milk, unsweetened cocoa powder, and no added sugar. I used stevia for sweetness, but if you don’t like or don’t have stevia, you can always use a different sweetener. I recommend trying 1-2 tablespoons of honey or agave nectar. I thought the stevia was perfect, though.
I wanted the shake to be thick like a real milkshake, so I used frozen almond milk and frozen cherries. I had some local cherries, so I pitted them and popped them in the freezer for a few hours beforehand. They sell already pitted and frozen cherries, and I totally recommend going that route. Next time I will for sure as this was a pain in the neck. 😉 Edited to add: I always use packaged frozen cherries for these now!
The combination of frozen milk and frozen cherries resulted in a shake that was thick and creamy. Not the exact texture of a regular milkshake, but pretty close.
The flavor was perfect. Chocolate+cherries is an incredible combination that I’ve always loved. The original idea for this recipe was inspired by a reader (thanks, Lisa!) and it’s something I’ve been meaning to try for a while. I’m so glad I finally did.
Edited to add: Over the years, I’ve made this with different sweeteners. I’ve edited to recipe to note the different ways you can sweeten this Chocolate-Covered Cherry Shake.
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Chocolate-Covered Cherry Shake
- Total Time: 5 mins
- Yield: 1-2 1x
Description
This shake is vegan, sugar-free, and a healthy way to kick your chocolate and sweets craving to the curb!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk, frozen*
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup cherries, pitted and frozen
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon stevia powder (alternative ideas: 1–2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey, 2–3 dates)
- shaved chocolate for topping (optional)
Instructions
- *You can freeze the almond milk in ice cube trays. {1 cube=approximately 1 ounce} I used my baby food storage containers. Other milks will work as well.
- Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Top with shaved chocolate if using. Serve immediately!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Category: Dessert
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 153
- Sugar: 17.8
- Sodium: 256.7
- Fat: 5
- Saturated Fat: 1.7
- Carbohydrates: 28.4
- Fiber: 9
- Protein: 4.6
I just happened to stumble across this recipe and is it ever good! Thanks so much for posting it! I added a couple of spoonfuls of instant coffee to it and my husband and I drink it in the morning. It is delicious!
Thanks for letting me know, Donna!
Love this shake! My two kids (age 5 and 2) love it too!
So glad to hear that Kristin!
Yum! I love cherries. In smoothies, they’re good frozen too!
I used to make this shake everyday for breakfast….except I would throw in some spinach with it!! Now I use blueberries instead of the cherries and its delish!!!
That’s similar to what Meghan has for breakfast every morning. Peanut butter instead of chocolate, though. 🙂
Peanut butter and cherries? Interesting. Cherries are about the only thing I’ve not mixed with peanut butter 🙂 might try that next 😀
I love this! When i was prego, I craved shakes ALL the time! It was so weird, but I just wanted to chocolate milk shake from a fast food restaurant SO bad. Luckily, I had bad boys like these to save me 🙂
I have such a weakness for sugary frozen treats, especially ice cream and shakes! I guess that’s why I have smoothie almost everyday for breakfast. I’ve never tried blending cherries into my smoothie though – I’m definitely going to try it! 😀
I’m always looking for healthy ways to get my ice cream and chocolate fixes! Perfect combo here!
We just got 5 quarts of sour cherries from my in-laws and froze them. I bet they’d make an interesting twist…more of a smoothie, probably, because they wouldn’t be so sweet.
You are so cute for 15 weeks. I always gain the “normal” amount, but it never leaves even with breastfeeding and actually HAVING the child. I mean, I thought I’d lose a little weight after 8 lbs leaves me. Good for you for thinking creatively about your cravings.
Anyway, that was NOT what I was going to talk about. I was going to say, I love frozen milk cubes in my smoothie. It helps so much. My favorite “low fat” shake is frozen milk cubes, cocoa powder, agave, and starlight mints. It’s so good. I definitely like frozen cherries too.
This sounds delicious! I usually try to overcome my cravings for sweet treats with either home-made frozen ice cream with frozen bananas, frozen strawberries and peanutbutter, blended together or eat dark chocolate. Once I also made a quick version of a lassi where i mixed milk, mango and goji berries in my blender. Also yummie. But sometimes all I really need is a carton of Ben & Jerrys Fairly Nuts…
Yummmmmm! I’m trying this sucker out tomorrow!
I love how you always do the best thing >for you<! ….It is personally inspiring to read someone who is honest with all of us and does what she feels is right for her. I love that about your blog…… Not to mention, the great recipes that go along with it!
Oh, thank you Julie! This comment made my day. 🙂
Looks yum! And I certainly “honored” my cravings while pregnant. I still tried to focus on healthy foods, but definitely ate my fair share of dessert. I’m surprised I didn’t end up super huge!
I think it’s all about balance. If you’re focusing on healthy foods most of the time, those little splurges don’t make a huge difference. (Ha-no pun intended :-))
Chocolate and cherries are made for each other…..I prefer that combo over chocolate and strawberries! Love the use of frozen milk, I have never done that. But I do freeze the yogurt I put in my shakes 🙂
I’ve never thought to freeze the yogurt. I use yogurt in smoothies and I’ll have to try that. I’ll bet it makes it nice and creamy!
Maryea, So glad you enjoyed our shake. We usually use two dates to sweeten when we make ours. I like your idea of the frozen almond milk, though. I think we’ll try that when we get home. We’re on vacation right now. Thanks for mentioning me on your blog.
Maryea, So glad you enjoyed our shake. We usually use two dates to sweeten when we make ours. I like your idea of the frozen almond milk, though. I think we’ll try that when we get home. We’re on vacation right now. Thanks for mentioning me on your blog.
Ooh, yum! Now that warm weather is finally here, I am going to have to start using frozen almond milk to make my smoothies! Thanks for the idea!
HA! I’m literally drinking this exact smoothie right now!! How funny!
Wow! Great minds think alike. 🙂
Oooh, that looks good! I was just thinking of doing something with cherries and chocolate as I still have way too many cherries in my freezer from last year so this looks perfect. Funny, I gained about the same amount of weight with my first pregnancy too, and I ate whatever I wanted. Looking back I cringe at the thought, haha. Good for you looking for better ways to satisfy cravings! I find now and even with my last pregnancy, that I don’t even want the treats I used to think were so great. I’d much rather have something like this because I feel so much better that eating junk. Although treat sometimes is nice 😀 Last night I made myself a chocolate milkshake just by making chocolate banana soft serve and watering it down a little more than usual with some almond milk. So yummy 🙂
LOVE loVE love chocolate cherry shakes…But I like the idea of freezing the almond milk!
And p.s. nobody’s perfect! We get one life, so why not enjoy it?
You’re so wise for your age! 🙂
I like the statement that you made: “I’m on a mission to do the best I can to eat the right foods and make healthy choices for me and my family. That doesn’t mean I’ve already arrived. I’m working towards that mission.” Nicely put 🙂 I can totally relate!
The best way to curb one’s craving for unhealthy foods is to make healthy versions. I know that you cannot always do that when you are not at home. But if you implement as much healthy foods as possible when you are at home, it will not be so bad if you have an unhealthy milkshake from time-to-time.
When faced with an unhealthy, processed or boxed food, etc., convince yourself that you can do so much better 🙂 Now… I am not perfect when it comes to this, and still have cravings for kettle cooked chips. However, recently, I have attempted to get my chips fix with a healthier version.
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
I totally agree–healthy versions of unhealthy foods really help curb the cravings. And I hold that same philosophy. Do the best I can most of the time and little slip ups are no big deal.