What’s better than enjoying a nice mid-afternoon snack outside on a warm spring day?

The birds are chirping above, the world is utterly verdant, lush, and lively, and a light breeze is brushing through the tips of your hair. Stretching out our legs as you recline on the beach chair you’ve set up in your back yard, you pick up your tumbler of iced coffee, humming contently as you taste the delicious, sweet combination of honey, vanilla, and coffee beans.

Suddenly, your stomach cramps up, your eyes cross, and you double over in pain, knocking the coffee over as you go. And then you remember: you’re lactose-intolerant, and the coffee shop iced coffee you just downed was chock-full of whole milk.

Even if you’re not lactose intolerant, I bet you two have faced the unfortunate repercussions of drinking a super sugary, dairy product. For example, after my AP Lit exam today I went out for Cookout milkshakes with one of my friends. And while I don’t regret the decadent, peanut butter fudge shake one bit… my stomach sure did, as it churned throughout my entire drive home!

Unfortunately, coffee is one of those hidden evils, where you expect it to only be around 30 calories or so due to the sugar and milk… but it actually ends up closer to 200 or even 400 calories! And no matter how much caffeine is coursing through your veins, that inevitable sugar rush is sure to counteract all of it and land you in the same old afternoon slump.

So, instead my go-to has recently become this healthy, dairy free, low sugar and low-fat iced coffee recipe! Now, I know what you’re thinking: there’s no way coffee that healthy tastes anything like coffee from a coffee shop. And you’re right, it doesn’t.

It. Tastes. Better.

Instead of super-sweet, cavity-inducing syrup coating the bottom of your cup, you have the nice sweet undertone of honey incorporated throughout the coffee. Additionally, the light coconut flavor from the coconut milk provides a nice balance to the strong coffee used in the recipe.

And all for only 34 calories!!

Try finding a coffee that guilt-free at your local coffee shop! 😉

*On a side note, I’m so sorry for not posting for the past week and a half! AP exams ended up consuming way more of my time than I anticipated and my computer was having some technical issues that prevented me from posting on a few of the days I did have free. But from today on it will be back to the normal posting schedule, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday!

Lightly Sweetened Iced Coffee

• 1 c strong coffee (cold)
• 1/4 c milk of choice (I used coconut milk)
• handful of ice
• 1 tsp honey (or agave)
• 1/16 tsp vanilla extract

Add  ice to a glass. Add coffee, vanilla, and sweetener and stir until sweetener has fully dissolved. Pour milk over coffee. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information (from myfitnesspal.com)

Calories: 34

Fat: 1g

Carbs: 6g

Protein: 0g

(Yields 1 serving)