protein coffee

I am an avid believer in morning workouts.
Mostly because if I don't do it before noon, I convince myself I'm too busy/tired/insert excuse here and I skip it.
So, many weekday mornings, I'm up at 4:55am to make it to a 5:30am barre class.
I know it sounds hard, but trust me - this is the best way to start the day!!!  The world is quiet, everyone is still asleep, and I can spend some time serving myself before I serve others.  I have found this to be key to my sanity as a working mom.

The thing about morning workouts, though, is that I'm usually ravenous afterwards.
I'm one of those people that wakes up ready to eat a full breakfast, regardless of the time.
So after a tough workout, I am ready to eat anything and everything in sight.
Lucky for me, there's no time for that.
Between getting myself ready, getting the kids ready, prepping bottles for daycare, making sure we all have everything we need for a successful day (in an hour's time, by the way), I rarely have time to cook breakfast at home on a weekday.
And by rarely, I mean, never.

Enter the idea of protein coffee.

I am not the first person to have this idea (thank goodness).
There are tons of threads online about this very notion with tips and tricks, most of which say "whatever you do, do not add protein to hot coffee because it will clump."

And listen, I love iced coffee just as much as the next person.
It's really my caffeine vehicle of choice, if available.
But it's SO COLD outside right now!!!!
I cannot drink iced coffee in a cold car on the way to work in 20 degree weather.  My bones need to be warmed!

I asked this question on Instagram the other night, and so many of you had great ideas.
- Use a frother (I ended up doing this!).
- Use collagen peptides instead (I already do this sometimes, but I had a very specific idea in my head of something new here).
- Try different kinds of blenders and proteins.

So many good things.

So I woke up Tuesday on a mission to try, and it worked!  It wasn't quiiiiite sweet enough, so I tried again today and I think I'm getting closer!
But it's at a place where I think I can share it with you as a base idea, and you can fancy it up however you please.

Ingredients

• 2 splashes of half and half
• 1/2 scoop of vanilla whey protein (I used Simple Truth brand for this, but I love Vega brand Protein & Greens too!) 
• 1 splash vanilla extract - optional
• 1 cup hot brewed coffee
• sweetener to taste (I used monk fruit sweetener, sugar would work fine too!)

Instructions

1. Add the half and half, protein, and vanilla to your frother (or in a cup, if you have a hand frother - I used this one instead)
2. Froth together until foamy and perfect
3. Fill your mug with coffee, add a little sweetener, and pour the protein froth on top
4. Mix and enjoy!

Here are some things I've found:

- A full scoop of protein made the froth kind of pasty...at least for me it did.  It was still delicious, but it wasn't as light and foamy as I personally like it to be. Go with 1/2 a scoop and work your way up - I'm sure some protein brands react differently!

- The particular brand of protein I used is not as sweet as you'd think - I would say the vanilla flavor is extremely subtle - so if you like your coffee sweet, definitely add sweetener!

- The only thing I forgot this morning was a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.  I think that would make this even more of a treat, so do that if you want to get fancy.

- The key is frothing the protein with a cold liquid first, because in this case, the internet wasn't wrong - protein will clump in hot coffee if added in powder form.

Have you ever tried this before?  What was your outcome?

Do you have a favorite way to make coffee?

Please tell me!

And for anyone interested, this is the sweetener I used.

Joe and I have been following a keto diet for a few weeks now, so I'm still learning what we are and aren't allowed to have, but this is a sweetener I have been referred to many times!

Found it here on Amazon if you are interested.