I love the taste of coffee.  Recently, I decided to make a low-fat version of a thick tasty coffee shake using Trader Joe's Nonfat Plain Frozen Yogurt.  Wait, it gets better! For some added sweet crunch and bursts of coffee and chocolate flavor, I tossed some chocolate covered espresso beans into the blender.  I love that addition, but if you are interested in a fat-free version of this shake, just leave out the beans.   

I had seen similar shakes made by others using vanilla or coffee ice cream.  However, at a whopping 600+ calories per 1 cup serving of ice cream and half of those being fat calories, it's quite a calorie commitment.  The nonfat frozen yogurt at TJ's has a great sweet tang and at only 200 calories per cup and zero fat, you can freely enjoy this tasty treat.  If you don't like the tang of plain yogurt or you're not a big frozen yogurt fan, you might want to opt for the ice cream version after all (just substitute an equivalent amount in the recipe and optionally throw in some ice cubes to lighten it up).

So if you need a little pick-me-up on a hot morning, after lunch, or before a late night,  I think this shake will do the trick!  If only Wona and I had come up with this recipe during our all-night college study sessions together...

Low-Fat Wide Awake Coffee Shake

2 cups Nonfat Plain Frozen Yogurt
1/3 cup water with 1 Tbsp instant coffee dissolved in it (or use 1/3 cup cold strong coffee, perhaps some leftover coffee)
12-15 Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans (about 1/4 cup)

1.) Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  All blenders are a little different so you may have to adjust the amount of liquid to get the consistency you like.
2.) Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings