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It’s common knowledge that the first of September is the “legal” start of the pumpkin craze in the blogosphere. During my first few years of blogging, I fought the peer pressure tooth and nail and held off on the orange stuff until a little later in the season, but in recent years I’ve decided that sometimes it’s OK to go with the crowd. To pumpkin or not to pumpkin isn’t really a life-or-death matter (unless you have a pumpkin allergy – do those exist?). If you, my public, want pumpkin, I will give you pumpkin. However, I’m not personally a huge pumpkin fan myself, so I’ll be dabbling in many other autumnal flavors this fall. Stay tuned! And don’t be surprised if I break out a few more summertime recipes before becoming firmly entrenched in the holiday spirit.
The first pumpkin recipe of 2017 is…*drumroll*…a deliciously-creamy-yet-amazingly-light pumpkin pie milkshake with a secret ingredient. Not okra this time! Nope, it’s my other favorite (actually maybe slightly more favorite than okra because it’s more versatile…i.e. easier to cover up): CAULIFLOWER. Yep, the one I talked about in my recent Top 10 Favorite Non-Special Ingredients post. Why cauliflower? Because it makes the milkshake thick and creamy and smooth while adding veggies but not many calories! I got the idea from my favorite food blog, Pinch of Yum, in their recent Autumn Glow Milkshake recipe. Their recipe would be on plan as a THM Crossover if you use unsweetened almond milk and substitute your favorite low-glycemic sweetener for the honey (of which, of course, you would lose the flavor). Thanks for the idea, Lindsay! I’ve used the technique in a scrumptious healthy version of Chick-Fil-A’s Frosted Coffee that I have bookmarked for my next cookbook whenever that happens, and I have about 10 more ideas for frozen cauliflower in my current “Recipes I’m Working On” list (which is separate from the more generic “Recipe Ideas” list…lol).
This milkshake makes one very large serving (like, a little over a quart) or two moderately-sized servings. If you have the whole thing, it’s a THM:S, but if you only have half (and use low-fat cottage cheese), you’re looking at a THM Fuel Pull! Sure doesn’t taste like a Fuel Pull though! SO creamy, and very filling. I shared it with my mom who was ravenous after getting home from getting groceries and she loved it! (Surprisingly, she still loved it after I informed her of the secret ingredient half way through the glass.)
You may also enjoy:
- Starting THM
- my recipe index
- my recipes grouped by fuel type, allergy info, and theme
- my pumpkin recipes
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Shake
- Pumpkin Delight
As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission to help defray the costs of running this blog (at no extra charge to you). Thanks for your help!
You can pin this recipe here:
- 1 c. frozen cauliflower florets
- 1 c. ice
- 1 c. unsweetened almond milk
- ½ c. plain canned pumpkin puree
- ½ c. cottage cheese
- ⅓ c. half and half
- 2 T. whey protein powder
- 2 tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend (or more, to taste)
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
- 1/16 tsp. (2 doonks) THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
- Dash vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. glucomannan
- Blend the ingredients together until completely smooth. (I use this Vitamix.) Make sure you blend for a good long while so the shake gets nice and creamy.
- The shake makes one very large serving or two more moderate servings. Half of the batch actually just sneaks into THM Fuel Pull range if you use low-fat cottage cheese. If sharing with someone and using this on its own as a snack, you should probably add a little extra protein powder.
- Feel free to top with some Reddi-wip or homemade whipped cream (definitely THM:S)!
Don’t have half and half? Try using half almond milk and half heavy whipping cream to replace it.
I chose to use whey protein powder in this instead of collagen for extra creaminess.
Wondering about the Vitamix- do you use it for recipes that call for a food processor also or do you own a separate food processor? And if so, which food processor? I the Ninja I have but a tab keeps breaking on the processor bowl and/or blender pitcher making it useless.
I use a separate food processor. 🙂 The blender can work as a food processor for some things if you just pulse them, but a food processor is a better solution. My mom used to have a Ninja blender with blender and food processor attachments, so even after we got a Vitamix blender we kept the Ninja food processor, but I think it’s since given up the ghost and I’m not sure if she’s replaced it with something else or not. I got married in February and moved, and I still don’t have a food processor, so I currently don’t make things that require one unless I can do it by hand. It’s on my list of things to buy, though, because I miss having one! Just not quite sure where I’m going to store it yet…haha. (Small house problems.)
Hi Brianna getting ingredients to make this but wouldn’t it be an E? 1/2 cup carbs is 7 grams is that still in the perimeter of an s?
Hi Wendy! I’m afraid I don’t quite understand your question; I’m sorry! This shake uses all very light S and FP ingredients and doesn’t have any significant carb sources, so it’s a light S if you have the whole thing. Counting is not required on THM as long as you keep fuel types separated. 🙂 (If you do want to count, you can have up to 10 grams of net carbs in an S setting, but there are certain things you don’t have to count carbs in, like nonstarchy veggies, so to me counting is just too complicated!)
Hi Briana,
Love your website and own your wonderful book.
Just curious- why the cottage cheese? (I’ve seen it in a few drink recipes and seems gross to me.
Creaminess with few calories! You don’t even taste it when it’s blended with the other ingredients!
I don’t have half and half on hand, could I use heavy cream instead? and would that make it a heavy s?
Yes you could do that, but it would be fairly heavy (not so bad if you shared with someone). If I were you, I would use 1/2 cream and 1/2 additional almond milk to make up the 1/3 c. half and half. 🙂
I cannot wait to try this! I bought the frozen cauliflower just so I could make it, then realized I’m out of protein powder! Do you think collagen would work as a replacement?
I’m sure it would! It may not be quite as creamy but should still be good.
Can I use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese? I live overseas and the only cottage cheese available is fat free. Or would the fatfree be ok?
I haven’t tried ricotta cheese in many recipes outside of lasagna, but I’m guessing that would work. 🙂 The fat free cottage cheese is great as long as it doesn’t have a lot of nasty filler ingredients as some low-fat dairy products do.
Wow! This concept is so deeply disturbing that I think I’m going to have to go try it right away!!! 🙂 Thankfully I stock frozen cauliflower in my freezer. Thanks!! Happy Pumpkin Season!!
I use cashew milk, unsweetened with vanilla. I think that would substitute fine, although the recipe is listed as nut free, not the case with almond or cashew milk. You may want to add another option in the notes for nut free. Can’t wait to try it!
The nut free option is located near the top of the printable recipe, before the ingredients list. 🙂
I missed it. Thanks!
I made this today. It was delicious! I added a little mineral salt to bring out the sweetness a bit more. Could I drink the whole shake with a small S meal or is it meant to be a meal on its own?
Sure, you can drink it with a meal! The shake is a very light S.
can u taste the cauliflower? Seems strange to add a veggie like that to a milkshake!
Strange, but it works, and I couldn’t taste it – nor could my mom!
I’m so excited to try this!!! I love creative ways of getting more vegetables into our diets.
I can’t wait to try this! I love that it’s a bigger serving as shakes are always breakfast for me so I want full size. I’ve been doing the cauliflower in chocolate shakes for years. So smart to use in different flavor combinations like pumpkin! Btw…do you use fresh cauliflower chopped then frozen or pre frozen bagged cauliflower from the store? Bagged frozen cauli is preblanched I’m assuming and wondering if there is a taste difference. I’ve always used the bagged frozen store cauli. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes and I LOVE the direction you’re going lately with recipes – trying new things, less heavy S, etc. ??.
Thank you for your sweet comment, Nicole! I also use bagged frozen cauliflower, which is why I made the note I did at the bottom of the recipe. I haven’t tried fresh so I don’t know if there is a taste difference or not, but I would guess that there is a slight cauliflower taste with cauliflower that hasn’t been blanched. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
Thank you so very much for all you do. Your recipes are tried and true and I have learned so much from your explanations. They have helped me tremendously!!!