Now that’s a sassy title for a Tuesday morning. I’ll be honest, I’m not usually a fan of things labelled ‘skinny.’ It’s not that I don’t want to be healthy, but the connotation is one of substitution or filler or, worse yet, the subliminal reminder that, as a woman, I constantly need to focus on being ‘skinny’ to increase my perceived value. This being said… I am a marketing gal by day and even I had to admit that ‘healthi(er)’ or ‘lightened up’ just didn’t work the mojo for this recipe. Skinny b*tch, it is. Sometimes you just have to go for the buzz words.
Jargon. Revenue streams. Synergy.
(or, in food blogging- Vegan. Gluten-free. Skinny.)
Patio season and bikini season are… the same season. I looove the warm weather, I love sitting on a sunny patio enjoying a bevvy or three with my friends, I love flouncing around in a bikini with total confidence. (Easier said than done.)
Alcohol is empty calories, that’s the hard truth. It will bloat you, it will dehydrate you. But, that doesn’t mean you have to abstain completely.
These piña coladas substitute coconut water in place of coconut cream, making them much less calorically dense than a traditional colada. You still get all the coconutty flavour from the coconut water and the coconut rum, and all the wonderful frothy creaminess from whizzing it up in a blender, but you’re saved from consuming a meal’s worth of calories in one wee drink. (because, let’s face it, the Piña Colada is the Frappuccino of alcoholic drinks- delicious, but pretty much dessert in a cup)
It certainly doesn’t hurt that coconut water is amped full of nutrients and electrolytes so it’ll also help cushion the blow of that hangover (or potentially even stave off completely if you don’t drink tooooo many, no judgement).
I did a lot of recipe testing with this drink, and not just because it was fun (although it certainly was). At first, I just combined coconut water, pineapple, rum and regular ice cubes in the blender but I found it got too diluted. What I was left with was a very watered down piña colada, and no one wants that. I finally hit the sweet spot when I froze the coconut water into cubes, substituting the plain water ones. I’m sure you could reverse the two and freeze the pineapple juice instead and add liquid coconut water… hmmm… maybe I should continue to recipe test this. (okay, now I’m just looking for an excuse)
In short, don’t substitute regular ice cubes- that’s the biggest trick with this recipe- freeze one of your liquids so that the whole drink stays flavourful and punchy and undiluted.
Happy sipping!
| Skinny B*tch Piña Coladas | Print |
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1 cup coconut water, frozen in cubes (approximately 8 standard cubes)
- 1 Tbsp pineapple, cut into chunks
- 1-2 oz coconut rum* (optional)
- Place all ingredients in a blender and puree on high until frothy.
LOVE the name! haha! Awesome…as is this recipe! I love coconut…and can’t wait to try this! Thank you! 🙂
Thanks, Sher! Nothin’ like getting a little sassy on a Tuesday haha 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I love the title! Although I am less of a skinny one since I had my little missy!
These just sound amazing! i love the heavy cream version, but I think this could be my new summer drink! Just need the weather to warm up again and I am going to be singing Pina Colada all the way to the beach! 🙂
Thanks for sharing, I love it!
Thanks, Louise! At least you’re a good mama and have an excuse, I don’t have a little bean yet so I’m the only one to blame for my ever expanding bum haha! The heavy cream version is deadly delicious, I hope this one hits the spot too 😉
I never would have thought to use coconut water instead of coconut milk. Very nice. Will try! Though I’ll have a rum free version as I can’t mix citrus with alcohol 🙁
Rum free is just as tasty, Sandy (and bonus- no hangover!) I would recommend adding a spalsh of coconut extract in place of rum to really amp up the coconut flavour in this case.
Genius, Finn!! I was just sippin on one of these beauties over the weekend, although it was not a skinny b*tch! It was a full fat one! Love how you freeze the cubes too.. perfection! Now, you won’t find this pasty white Pacific Northwest body flouncing around in a bikini this summer, but in my minds eye.. I see a tan, skinny, bikini laden lady flouncing around with this cocktail in her had, sunning on a remote island… with shades. Hey, I can dream, right? Thank you for this Finn! 😀
Thanks, Traci!! The frozen cubes are the key to keeping all that flavour in (well, that and the coconut rum 😉 ), took me a couple iterations to get that right. All in the name of progress, right? It’s hard life for a food blogger…
I admit, I won’t be rocking the bikini this summer either- but hey, flowy maxi dresses are “in”, right? We’re in luck!
getting drunk and getting skinny and getting extra nutrients = sounds like my kind of playground 🙂
Right?!?! All of the above, please! 😉