Remember visiting the state fair and walking around with a funnel cake? Powdered sugar all over your face and hands? We have taken those cherished childhood memories and made a healthy Raspberry Funnel Cake Smoothie using our kefir. Fruity, tangy, and sweet, this Smoothie Saturday creation is summer in a cup!
The Benefits of Cultured Dairy for Better Health:
Research continues to show the importance of eating healthy foods, including cultured dairy such as kefir, for optimal digestion and gut health, a strong immune system, and to support the microbiome. Fermented foods like kefir hold important value in this line of research due to the link between the gut-brain axis and overall health. Specifically, kefir has been shown to help diversify the microbiome, improve digestion, reduce inflammation, support healthier blood sugar levels, and improve satiety since the bioavailable protein it contains triggers the release of GLP-1.
Lifeway Kefir is packed with a variety of vital nutrients important for overall health, including bone and muscle health; these include vitamin D3, K, calcium, and vitamin B12. Along with our probiotic-rich kefir, Lifeway also offers artisan-made Farmer Cheese,a creamy, high-protein cheese made with live and active cultures to support healthy muscles and a healthy microbiome. Lifeway Farmer Cheese is easy to spread, free of gums and thickeners, and contains no added salt or sugar for optimal health benefits.
Servings: 1 - 2Ingredients
For the Smoothie
- 2 cups frozen raspberries
- 1 banana
- 1 cup Lowfat Raspberry Kefir
- 1/2 cup canned coconut cream, shake the can before pouring
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 1/2 cup ice
For the Funnel Cakes
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1-1/4 tsps baking powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 3/4 cup Organic Whole Milk Plain Kefir
- 1 large whole egg
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- coconut oil spray
- powdered sugar for dusting
Directions
- Smoothie: blend everything together and pour into a chilled glass.
- Funnel Cake: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set this aside. In another mixing bowl, whisk the kefir, egg, and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients, in half cup portions, into the wet ingredients. Mix together until well blended. If the batter is so thin that it will drip through the air fryer basket or crisper plate, add more flour, a little at a time until the batter is a little more like a really soft dough.
- Preheat your air fryer to 375°F. Spray the basket or crisper plate of your fryer lightly with vegetable oil.
- Place 1/4 of the batter into a pastry piping bag or a plastic baggie. Squeeze the batter through the hole as you move the bag in a swirling motion into the air fryer basket or onto the plate. Spray the top of the cakes lightly with vegetable oil.
- Place the basket or plate with the cakes inside the preheated air fryer. Cook for 5 minutes. Flip, if desired, and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, crispy, and cooked through.
- Remove the cooked funnel cakes to a platter or wire rack and dust with powdered sugar. Continue doing this until all the cakes are cooked and dusted.
