When I began exploring keto, I found all the talk about bulletproof or butter coffee and its potential for extending an intermittent fast very intriguing, but since I have never been a coffee drinker, it took some experimentation to figure out alternatives that work for me. Discovering Leanne Vogel’s recipe for rocket fuel lattes for women helped expand my options, and now I have a nice little repertoire of warm blended keto drinks to use several times per week, less as a fast extender and more as a light meal replacement, pre-workout fuel, or calorie booster along with a couple of hard-boiled eggs for breakfast on busy days. They are infinitely more satisfying than a cold smoothie for these chilly winter temperatures, and they have even allowed Jeremy to feel like he still gets to have treats while transitioning to keto.

I use this general template for a single serving of a hot keto drink:

• 1 T cacao butter (or an extra tablespoon of coconut oil or butter)
• About 1/4 C coconut cream (or heavy cream)
• 1 T coconut oil, MCT oil (or 1 scoop MCT powder), grassfed butter, or ghee
• 1-2 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides (or another keto-friendly protein powder)
• Enough boiling water, or hot steeped tea or coffee, or bone broth, to fill a 12oz mug
• Optional: About 1-2 T whole nuts/seeds, nut/seed or coconut butter
• Optional: Additional keto sweeteners, flavorings, supplements, and/or superfoods

Put all the ingredients in a blender while the water boils or the tea is steeping. Add the hot liquid to the level of about 12oz (or however large a mug you want to fill), and blend until frothy and smooth.

With these general ratios, I have made hot cocoa, mochas, golden milk, peppermint matcha lattes, maca chai lattes, and pumpkin spice lattes, but you can use this template to build any of your favorite drinks! I often use homemade blends of flavored teas as a base, and add small amounts of spices or superfood powders like acai or maqui, maca, mushroom blends, raw cacao, spirulina, lucuma, and so forth. As an aromatherapist, I am also comfortable occasionally adding 1-2 drops of an organic essential oil for flavoring and therapeutic purposes to my keto beverages because they have such a high fat content, but I would not recommend this unless you are confident in your familiarity with the quality and properties of the essential oils; a safer alternative for the layperson would be natural flavoring extracts or even tinctures.

Keto Cocoa

• 1 T cacao butter
• About 1/4 C coconut cream (or heavy cream)
• 1 T coconut oil, MCT oil (or 1 scoop MCT powder), grassfed butter, or ghee
• 1-2 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides (or another keto-friendly protein powder)
• Enough boiling water, roasted dandelion root tea, or bone broth, to fill a 12oz mug
• 1 T cacao powder
• About 6 drops vanilla stevia (or other keto sweetener to taste)
• Optional: 1/2-1 tsp maca powder and/or espresso powder, vanilla extract, dash of cinnamon, propolis extract
• Optional: Whipped cream for topping

Matcha Latte

• 1 T cacao butter
• About 1/4 C coconut cream (or heavy cream)
• 1 T coconut oil, MCT oil (or 1 scoop MCT powder), grassfed butter, or ghee
• 1-2 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides (or another keto-friendly protein powder)
• Enough boiling water, or peppermint, green or white tea to fill a 12oz mug
• 1/2-1 tsp matcha powder
• About 3 drops vanilla stevia (or other keto sweetener to taste)
• Optional: 1/2-1 tsp maca powder, vanilla extract, dash of cinnamon, ginger or other spices, peppermint extract or 1 drop organic peppermint essential oil
• Optional: Whipped cream for topping

Maca Chai Latte

• 1 T cacao butter
• About 1/4 C coconut cream (or heavy cream)
• 1 T coconut oil, MCT oil (or 1 scoop MCT powder), grassfed butter, or ghee
• 1-2 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides (or another keto-friendly protein powder)
• Enough hot chai tea to fill a 12oz mug
• 1/2-1 tsp maca powder
• About 3 drops vanilla stevia (or other keto sweetener to taste)
• Optional: 1/2-1 tsp espresso powder, vanilla extract, dash of cinnamon, ginger, and clove or other spices
• Optional: Whipped cream for topping

Pumpkin Spice Latte

• 2 T pumpkin puree
• About 1/4 C coconut cream (or heavy cream)
• 1 T coconut oil, MCT oil (or 1 scoop MCT powder), grassfed butter, or ghee
• 1-2 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides (or another keto-friendly protein powder)
• Enough hot chai or dandelion root tea to fill a 12oz mug
• 1/2-1 tsp maca powder
• Pumpkin spice blend (cinnamon, ginger, clove) to taste
• About 6 drops vanilla stevia (or other keto sweetener to taste)
• Optional: 1/2-1 tsp espresso powder, vanilla extract, nutmeg, allspice or other spices
• Optional: Whipped cream for topping

Golden Milk

• About 1 C canned coconut milk
• Whole spice blend: 1″ fresh sliced turmeric root, 1/2″ fresh sliced ginger root or 1/2 tsp ginger juice, 1/4 tsp cracked peppercorns, 1 cinnamon stick
• Or, dried spice blend: 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 big pinch ea cinnamon and ginger powder
• 1-2 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides (or another keto-friendly protein powder)
• 1 T ghee (or grassfed butter, coconut oil or MCT)
• Enough boiling water, or chai tea to fill a 12oz mug
• About 6 drops vanilla stevia (or other keto sweetener to taste)
• Optional: Vanilla extract

Add coconut milk to a small saucepan over medium heat with either the fresh or the dried spice blend (not both), and heat for about 10min until steaming, fragrant and vibrantly colored. Strain (if using whole spices) into a blender with the remaining ingredients and add enough boiling water or chai tea to fill a 12oz mug. Blend until frothy.

Citrus Creme

• About 1/4 C coconut cream (or heavy cream)
• 1 T coconut oil, MCT oil (or 1 scoop MCT powder), grassfed butter, or ghee
• 1-2 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides (or another keto-friendly protein powder)
• Enough hot citrus-flavored tea to fill a 12oz mug
  • Lemon peel, lemongrass, lemon balm, lemon verbena, green rooibos
    
  • Orange spice: Orange peel, rosehips, cloves, cinnamon chips, dried ginger root, coriander seed, rooibos
    
  • Lime peel zest or powder, green tea
• About 3 drops lemon- or orange-flavored stevia (or other keto sweetener to taste)
• Optional: Vanilla extract; lemon, orange, or lime extract; squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice; freshly grated citrus peel; dollop of keto citrus curd; 1-2 drops organic cold-pressed lemon, sweet orange, or lime essential oil; acerola cherry, amchoor, or amla powder
• Optional: Whipped cream for topping

Elderberry Chai

• 1 T cacao butter
• About 1/4 C coconut cream (or heavy cream)
• 1 T coconut oil, MCT oil (or 1 scoop MCT powder), grassfed butter, or ghee
• 1-2 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides (or another keto-friendly protein powder)
• Enough hot tea to fill a 12oz mug
• 
  
  • Elderberry chai: Green rooibos, dried elderberries, cinnamon chips, dried ginger, cloves, astragalus root
• 1 T acai or maqui powder
• About 3 drops vanilla, raspberry, or lemon stevia (or other keto sweetener to taste)
• Optional: 1/2-1 tsp elderberry syrup, vanilla extract, dash of cinnamon, ginger, and clove or other spice, squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Eggnog Latte

• 1 T cacao butter
• About 1/4 C coconut cream (or heavy cream)
• 1 T coconut oil, MCT oil (or 1 scoop MCT powder), grassfed butter, or ghee
• 1-2 scoops Vital Proteins collagen peptides (or another keto-friendly protein powder)
• 1-2 pastured egg yolks
• Nutmeg and cinnamon to taste
• Enough hot chai or dandelion root tea to fill a 12oz mug
• 1/2-1 tsp maca powder
• About 3 drops vanilla stevia (or other keto sweetener to taste)
• Optional: 1/2-1 tsp espresso powder, vanilla extract
• Optional: Whipped cream for topping

As a side note, some keto protocols suggest drinking bone broth as a fast extender. I still make homemade bone broth all the time, mostly by throwing chicken bones in the Instant Pot with vegetable trimmings and herbs, but I had a very hard time just sipping cups of this broth because I disliked the greasy feeling of drinking through the fat on top of the broth. Once I started making blended keto drinks, I decided to try simply blending a cup of hot chicken bone broth with a few fresh herbs and salt, and was very pleased to discover that the fat emulsifies to make a creamy and savory drinking broth that is far more palatable to me–and turned out to be a lifesaver when I had a tummy bug and didn’t feel much like eating solid foods. I may be developing some warm keto break-fast broth drinks in the near future for still more variety!