Panera Chai Tea Latte

I don’t know what got into me, but about a month ago, I randomly ordered a Chai Tea Latte at Panera Bread Company. When it comes to my choice of beverage, I typically do not venture out of my comfort zone of H2O. And when I do step out of the box, it is usually a fountain pop. Yes, yes, even I indulge in the occasional pop. And I admit, I enjoy it. Anyhow, I like to keep within my comfort zone simply because I don’t like to drink my calories. Let me back up a bit by saying I have never even had a sip of coffee. And sometimes I truly wish I enjoyed the comfort and routine that coffee offers. It sounds so cool to say “hey, want to meet for a cup of coffee?” and I get a twinge of jealousy when I am in a coffee shop and someone orders some sort of skinny mocha latte with a shot of espresso. I don’t even know if that is a real thing, I am just lumping together all sorts of fancy terms that I have heard thrown out there. My point is, it just sounds so mature, so grown up. And here I am ordering a hot chocolate. Lame-o. Well, one sip of my Chai Tea Latte was all I needed as an invitation to the cool kids club! This is how my newest obsession started.

Soon enough I was going thru Tim Horton’s and Dunkin Donuts drive thru’s ordering a Chai Tea Latte. Unfortunately, because My Fitness Pal demands my honesty, I had to input each cup of latte. Ugh. Sometimes, a cup of latte could cost me 330 calories for a 10 ounce serving. I knew this could easily be modified in order to fit into my calorie allowance by simply changing it up and using almond milk (which only costs me 60 calories per cup) instead. To the internet I go, in search of inspiration for a homemade recipe. As long as I was customizing the milk option, I made a couple more tweaks. One of the biggest omissions I made was to eliminate the clove, which is a prime element found in Chai Tea. I do NOT like clove. I found that by omitting it, it did not change the overall taste I was looking forward to. Following is my version of Chai Tea Latte.

Author: Organize Yourself Skinny

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 2 c. water
• 2 black tea bags
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon cardamon
• ¼ c. brown sugar
• 2 c. unsweetened almond milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Boil water and steep tea bags. Steep for 1 minute, toss tea bags. Stir in ginger and cardamon. In small pan, heat brown sugar and milk until sugar has dissolved. Stir half of milk mixture into each cup of tea. Mix in cinnamon. Find a quiet corner, put your feet up, grab a good book and enjoy!