Banana Cocoa Smoothie
Four years into Fit and Fed and still so many everyday basic recipes that I haven’t shared with you! One is this banana cocoa smoothie, which is almost more like a healthy chocolate milk. I love cold, thick smoothies but sometimes I don’t want to get chilled. When a room-temperature smoothie is called for this is my favorite.
The banana gives this smoothie the thickness I desire without any frozen fruit, and its sweetness counterbalances the bitterness of cocoa. That meets another constant goal of mine: enjoying chocolate without adding more sugar to my diet.
For the cocoa, I use Green & Black’s Organic Cocoa. They are the original fair trade cocoa. Avoiding slave labor in chocolate production is important to keep in mind when you are buying chocolate and cocoa. I can buy ethically-produced Rapunzel or Equal Exchange locally, but to me Green & Black’s has the best flavor, so I order it online. It can take time to arrive from England so I try to order ahead. If I’m out I’ll stock up at PCC with Rapunzel.
For the milk, I’m sticking with unsweetened soy milk for the protein (way more than other alternative milks) and because I’m in the camp that thinks soy is healthy. But if you are more of an almond or hemp or coconut milk person go for it.
For the vanilla I use Frontier Organic Vanilla Flavoring. It’s non-alcoholic so it doesn’t add any bitterness. (I do have some vanilla powder on the way so I’m excited to try that soon, too).
- 1 medium banana (5-6 oz peeled), ripe enough to have some fine spotting
- 1½ cups unsweetened soy milk or other milk
- 1½ Tbsp. cocoa
- ¼ tsp. vanilla flavoring or extract
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend.
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Banana Mango Smoothie This banana mango smoothie balances sweet banana perfectly with tart mango. Done in five minutes using three ingredients. frozen mango chunks, one medium-ripe banana, and unsweetened almond or soy milk.
Pineapple Mango Smoothie This tropics-inspired winner features frozen pineapple tidbits and frozen mango chunks from Trader Joe's, with unsweetened almond or soy milk and a spoonful of Thai Kitchen coconut milk.
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Can’t go wrong with that classic combination! I always have at least a half dozen bananas sitting around in my freezer, so it’s good to find more uses for them. This should be ideal for the warmer days ahead- Light, sweet, and refreshing!
Hannah recently posted..Background Information
I should get some bananas back into my freezer, I think I have every other kind of fruit out there! BTW I’m waiting for your Vegan a la Mode, it’s on back order at Amazon.