3 must-have winter drinks to warm up

There is nothing like a warm drink to fight off the cold chills.

As the colder months begin to set in, blogger Linda Engelbrecht of the Honest Grazer shares the of the recipe of two of her favourite drinks that you can enjoy this season that’s sure to warm you from the inside out.

1. Poached pear and rosemary smoothie

“I find poached pears quintessential to cool weather, but I wanted to bring it into a different context of a smoothie that is light and fresh. It’s comforting and warming in terms of flavour but still light enough to have in autumn.”

Ingredients
– 4 pears (3 cooked (skin removed and boiled in plant milk) and then frozen, 1 for grilling)

– 1/4 cup kale (one large stalk)

– 4 sprigs fresh rosemary 1 tbsp almond butter

– 1 tsp fresh ginger (peeled and chopped)

– 2/3 cup any plant milk 1 tsp honey

– 1 tbsp hemp seeds

Method
– Peel and core pears and chop in halves. Bring the plant milk to a boil in a saucepan and poach the pear halves for 10-15min or until cooked through but not too soft.

– Remove the pears from the milk and allow to cool completely.

– Chop into rough chunks and place in the freezer overnight.

– Pre-heat oven to 200 C grill. Thinly slice one pear and places slices onto a roasting pan. Sprinkle over half the rosemary and walnuts and drizzle honey over.

– Grill for 10min until pear slices are sticky and nuts are toasted.

– Blend the frozen pears with remaining ingredients (kale, almond butter, hemp seeds, ginger and remaining rosemary) until completely smooth.

– Top with roasted walnuts and pear slices before serving.

2. Salt and pepper maca drinking chocolate
“Everybody knows chilli hot chocolate – I love to make this warming variation with a healthy dose of black pepper and maca. The maca gives a subtle caramel flavour and the black pepper is savoury and spicey, together they make interesting umami which makes this chocolate drink earthy and grounding.”

Ingredients

– 1/4 cup raw cacao

– 2 tbsp (rough chunks) raw cacao butter

– 6 fresh pitted medjool dates

– 2 cans coconut cream

– 2 tsp Maca powder

– 1-2 tsp maldon salt

– 1-2 tsp black pepper

Method
– Place all the ingredients in a saucepan on a high heat. Bring to a boil and whisk continuously until the dates are no longer chunky and the chocolate is thick and completely smooth. Pour into a mug or short tumbler. Serve with more salt and pepper sprinkled on top.