Richard Blais’ Horchata Smoothie Recipe

The following is a post sponsored by Benefiber. For our sponsored post policy, click here.

Yesterday we shared Richard Blais’ best holiday cooking tips, and today we have that yumtastic horchata smoothie recipe we promised! Sweet and spicy, we love this high-fiber twist on the traditional Mexican drink! It takes a little more time to make than your usual blend-and-go smoothie, but it’s oh-so worth it. So get out those straws …

Horchata Smoothie Recipe By Chef Richard Blais

Ingredients
1/3 cup jasmine rice (or rice of your preference)
1 cup blanched and skinned almonds
1 cinnamon stick
3 cups hot water
2 cups cold almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons Benefiber
1/3 cup simple syrup
Directions
1. In a spice grinder, pulverize the rice until fine and powdery.
2. Pour the hot water (as you would for coffee) over the rice and add the whole cinnamon stick and vanilla extract. Cool, cover and let sit overnight.
3. The next day (or at least 8 to 10 hours later) blend the mixture with the almond milk for a few minutes until creamy smooth.
4. Strain through a fine sieve and discard the grit.
5. Add the syrup and Benefiber.
6. Chill and serve!
We’ll cheers to that! And we bet a little protein powder (or tequilla) would be awesome in this, too! —Jenn