I have to be honest, I was in half a mind not to share this recipe with you all because it’s about as far away from raw as it gets, but it’s too fun not too share quite frankly! So I’m sorry if you’re here expecting a raw version of the absolutely ridiculous ‘Freakshake’ milkshakes that have been popping up all over the Internet for the last couple of months, because this is not it.
This recipe does have one redeeming feature however, as despite it’s super-unhealthy appearance, it is in fact refined sugar free, and made almost entirely natural ingredients. That’s not to say you can guzzle these down left-right-and-centre, but it’s pretty cool how creative you can get with plant-based ingredients!
If you haven’t seen a Freakshake before, feast your eyes on these over-the-top creations by Molly Bakes. They pretty much look like my idea of heaven (which for me involves living in a sea of caramel and chocolate sauce to be perfectly honest!), but the problem is, they’re about as far from vegan as it gets. This means I’m forced to admire them from afar (torture!).
I was nervous about sharing this recipe because it doesn’t really fit the ‘theme’ of my blog (although going off-piste is always fun, and keeps things interesting!), but I live for showing people that any dish an omni eats, you can make a totally badass vegan version of. In fact, if you can’t make a vegan version of a dish, I think it probably isn’t ‘real’ food anyway. So naturally, the only logical conclusion was to try to make my own veganised, cruelty-free version of the infamous Freakshake, because milkshakes taste so much better that way!
This recipe is so easy to customise to your own tastes, for example, you can use your favourite dairy-free ice cream in place of the frozen bananas (I LOVE Booja Booja ‘Keep Smiling Vanilla M’Gorilla‘ ice-cream) if you want something a little more decadent. You can also use Coconut Merchant’s cocoa amor caramel if you don’t fancy making the caramel sauce, but if I’m being honest I would definitely make the caramel sauce yourself because the recipe I followed is pretty much the best caramel sauce I have EVER had.
I came across Bakerita’s ‘Paleo Caramel Sauce’ recipe on Pinterest, and my jaw just hit the floor (seriously how incredible does Rachel’s sauce look?!). I thought about coming up with my own caramel recipe for this, but I’m so glad I didn’t because hers is sheer perfection- I had to prize the spoon from my boyfriends hand as he tried to inhale the pot, it’s that damn good! It’s sweet, salty, buttery and rich, and unbelievably it’s refined sugar and dairy-free!
EDIT: I have since discovered that Coconut Merchant sell the most INCREDIBLE caramel sauce called ‘Coco-Amor Caramel Spread‘ that tastes just like the paleo caramel sauce, but even more delicious, and you don’t have to spend ages making it. Winner!
If you do one thing this year (and let’s be honest, you should probably only have one of these once a year!), then make yourself one of these babies, because they’re absolutely worth it! And maybe it was the sugar-rush, but I couldn’t stop dancing around with happiness with my groovy, preztley, caramelly mess of a milkshake in hand! In fact, the happiness levels totally outweighed the amount of naughtiness in this recipe!
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You can make this recipe as simple, or as complicated as you want; I decided to make my own ice-cream for this recipe, and followed other bloggers caramel sauce and brownie recipes, so I have added links to the recipes I used below. But if you don't fancy doing it yourself, you can use store-bought ingredients instead!
- 3 small, very ripe bananas cut into coins and frozen overnight
- 3 Tbsp coconut cream (the solid stuff from the top of a can of coconut milk)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 Tbpsp maple syrup
- 500ml almond milk (or milk of your choice)
- Optional: 2 Tbsp peanut butter
- 2 Tbsp whipped coconut cream
- Salted Pretzels
- 20g raw chocolate OR dairy-free dark chocolate
- Bakerita's 'Paleo Caramel Sauce' recipe
- EDIT: I have since discovered Coconut Merchant's 'Coco-Amor Caramel Spread', which makes the most perfect replacement that tastes even better!
- The Vegan 8's 'Best Vegan Double Chocolate Sunflower Brownies' (SO fudgey, and SO good!)
- I substituted the chocolate chips in this recipe for chunks of raw chocolate, and the cocoa powder for cacao powder.
- Dip the rim of your glass into melted chocolate (I used Loving Earth's raw, organic 'Coconut Mylk Dark chocolate), and place the glass in the fridge to harden for 5 minutes before dipping your pretzels in the melted chocolate, and sticking them around the rim of the glass.
- Place the frozen bananas, almond milk (or milk of choice) and vanilla in a blender, and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Drizzle a few spoonfuls of the caramel sauce around the edges of the glass. You can also swirl some into the milkshake if you like!
- Fill the glass with the vanilla milkshake (stopping about 1cm from the top of the glass), and top with the whipped coconut cream, a chocolate brownie, and more caramel sauce.
If you want to know more about the ingredients used in this recipe, check out my ‘Raw Pantry’ page!
It’s totally weird seeing the Freakshakes appear all over the internet! They originated in the city that I’m currently living in (Canberra, Australia). Canberra kind of has a bad reputation for being a boring place to visit/live in, so it’s mind blowing to see the Freakshakes appear all over social media! I know some people who are pretty passionate about the new Vegan Freakshake in Canberra and it’ll be interesting to see what combos everyone comes up with!
I completely respect how you made everything from scratch here! It makes me hungryyyyyyy xo
I bet that must be so weird for you, it’s always so exciting when something/someone from your hometown makes it big! And Canberra sounds like a pretty groovy place to me, especially if it is home to freakshakes and the world’s most creative raw dessert creator! 😉 Just had a quick google of what vegan freakshakes you have on offer in Canberra, and holy heck! You have a coconut, lychee and raspberry one?! Excuse me whilst I book my plane tickets over- how incredible! You Aussie’s are just miles ahead of where we are in the UK with vegan food! And thank you so much! We had three glorious days off from work, and all I wanted to do was make food! xxx