Blizzards;Coconut Cream

Raw Blizzards

This week I decided to rawify the Dairy Queen Blizzard.  I've probably only had maybe three blizzards in my entire life, but the idea has always appealed to me.  Like a cross between a milkshake and a sundae, a blizzard is basically a thick soft serve ice cream with crushed cookie and/or candy pieces stirred in. 

Unfortunately, however, they're pretty bad for you.  Dairy Queen soft serve is made out of "milkfat and nonfat milk, sugar, corn syrup, whey, mono and diglycerides, artificial flavor, guar gum, polysorbate 80, carrageenan, and vitamin A palmitate."  Ew.

My version is raw, vegan, sugar free, and preservative free - making it much healthier for you, while still being completely delicious.  And yes, I flipped the blender upside down after I was done making the base, and it didn't fall out (wouldn't recommend trying this after it's been sitting on the counter for a while though).

As you've probably noticed by now, I like to make a lot of my recipes into basic guidelines or formulas which allow you to experiment and get creative. I want my recipes to be as useful as possible to people, so versatility is a must.  Here I've outlined the basic ratios and measurements for blizzard making, which I encourage you to adjust to your liking.

Ingredients:

•  Base
• 1 frozen bananas
•  1/4 cup nut milk, nut cream, coconut milk, or coconut cream
• Flavoring (optional)
• 1 tbsp for powders and weaker spices
• Cacao, maca, lucuma, mesquite, carob, etc.
• 1 tsp for extracts and stronger spices
•  Vanilla, mint, nutmeg, etc.
•  Sauce (optional)
• 2 tbsp sauce
• Caramel, chocolate, fudge, strawberry sauce, pineapple sauce, etc.
• Stir ins
• 1/4 cup cookie dough, oreos, fruit, candy, nuts, chocolate chips, brownies, peanut butter cups, pie or cheesecake crust, peppermint patties, coconut shavings, etc. 

Directions:
In your high speed blender or food processor, blend together bananas and nut milk until thick, smooth, and creamy.  If using flavorings, add them here as well.  Pulse in 3 tbsp of your stir ins, along with your sauce.  Spoon into a cup, and top with the remaining stir ins.  If you want, you can also add a little whipped cream to top it off.  Serve immediately, or place in the freezer until ready to eat.

Below I've included some of the blizzard flavors, and my best guess at recreating them.  To make one, just use the ingredients listed according to the directions above.  Feel free to experiment, and come up with your own blizzard combinations - next to eating them, this is the funnest part!  I like to get inspired on the DQ website.

You'll notice that I list a few different types of chocolate sauce.  Hard chocolate sauce is basically just my recipe for raw chocolate, which will harden when cold.  Liquid chocolate sauce does not harden when cold, and can be made by blending together equal parts olive oil, cacao, and honey or agave.  Fudge is a thicker chocolate sauce, and can be made by combining equal parts dates and cacao, with a little water and salt.  For cheesecake and pie crusts, I use equal parts nuts and dates, blended together with a little salt or lemon juice to form a dough.

• Cookie Dough Blizzard
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp fudge sauce
• 1/4 cup cookie dough
•  Oreo Blizzard
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup oreos
•  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Blizzard
• 1/4 cup peanut butter cups
• Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp strawberries
• 2 tbsp cheesecake crust
• Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 2 tbsp brownies
• 2 tbsp chocolate chip chunks
• Mint Oreo Blizzard
• 1 tsp mint extract
• 1/4 cup oreos
• Turtle Pecan Cluster Blizzard
• 1 tbsp caramel sauce
• 1  tbsp hard chocolate sauce
• 1/4 cup pecans
• Brownie Batter Blizzard
• 1 tbsp cacao
• 1/4 cup brownies
•  Choco Cherry Love Blizzard
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp cherries
• 2 tbsp chocolate chip chunks 
• Banana Split Blizzard
  
• 1 tbsp strawberry sauce
• 1 tbsp pineapple sauce
• 1 tbsp liquid chocolate sauce
• 1/2 banana
• Georgia Mud Fudge Blizzard
• 1 tbsp cacao
• 2 tbsp brownies
• 2 tbsp pecans
•  German Chocolate Brownie Blizzard
• 2 tbsp caramel sauce
• 1 tbsp coconut shavings
• 2 tbsp pecans
• 2 tbsp brownies
•  Pumpkin Pie Blizzard
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 cup frozen pumpkin (blend with bananas)
• 2 tbsp pie crust
• 1/4 cup whipped cream
•  Oreo Cookie Jar Blizzard
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 2 tbsp fudge sauce
• 2 tbsp oreos
• 2 tbsp cookie dough
•  Double Fudge Cookie Dough Blizzard
• 1 tbsp cacao
• 1/4 cup cookie dough