An intense chocolate smoothie that’s thick and creamy without added fat and sugar. Perfectly customizable for a healthy meal or snack.
I was driving home from snowboarding the other day when I realized that the sun was still out — it was a little after 5:30 PM. Do you guys know what that means?!? It means that the days are getting longer, which means that spring is coming, which means that winter’s cold dark reign is coming to an end! Yipee!
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy winter and the change of pace/scenery that it brings, but I’m very much over it by the time January rolls around, and by February I’m looking at investing in property in Arizona so that I can migrate down there for 5 months and avoid the winters up here. But that’s besides the point…
The point is, it’s getting warmer, which is wonderful news given my current… err… situation. Remember when I told you guys about my smoothie addiction? It’s still going strong… and it now involves chocolate…
Two smoothies a day has become my new minimum, and I’m very much looking forward to being able to enjoy my addiction without having to pack on multiple layers of hoodies and fuzzy socks — especially because even that doesn’t seem to help when I decide to get a little crazy and use frozen milk…
But it’s worth it… so very worth it. This smoothie is so thick and creamy that I should probably just call it a milkshake. It becomes so aerated when you first blend it up that the texture reminds me of a fluffy Wendy’s frosty… minus all the crazy ingredients and sugar. The chocolate flavour is intense and completely overshadows the banana if you’re not a huge fan. And the best part is that you can make this into a meal or a snack depending on what you toss in it. So give it a try! If you need me, I’ll be by the fireplace in my hoodie and fuzzy socks…
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Thick and Creamy Chocolate Smoothie
- Total Time: 5 mins
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or regular milk)*
- 1 small/medium banana, frozen
- 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- dash of cinnamon
- 1 tsp. instant coffee granules (optional)
- 2 Tbsp. chocolate or vanilla protein powder (optional)
- 1Tbsp. nut butter (optional)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into any standard blender and blend until smooth.
Notes
* if you want to make your smoothie even thicker, freeze your milk in an use cube tray prior to making.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
I made this and added some cappuccino powder instead of protein powder, and it was so good! I added a tad more milk since I didn’t want it as thick and it was perfect. Simple but I wouldn’t have thought of adding the nut butter – great idea!
MMMM! It was really good!
Instead of adding frozen bananas can you add normal bananas? or instead of bananas can you add different types of fruit like strawberries? Or would that ruin the flavor ? just thought I’d ask 🙂
You could definitely use regular bananas! The only reason I call for frozen ones are because they help make the texture a lot creamier, but normal bananas are fine in a pinch. And while you -could- sub out different fruits, it would definitely change the flavour.
Did you use vanilla or chocolate protein powder in that pictured smoothie? What brand do you like? Thanks much.
It was vanilla protein powder. And I use Proteins+ by Genuine Health.
Sorry, i wrote more but it got deleted. Just wondering when you freeze milk what do you use for the liquid? Do you just freeze 1/2 cup milk and pour in the rest? Ahah sorry if this is a dumb question. Love your blog!
Eek! I kind of eyeball it, to be honest. I’ll toss in 3 or 4 frozen milk cubes and then add splashes of milk until I’m happy with the consistency.
Looks amazing!
I just made this using the frozen milk tip and my vanilla Justin’s Almond Butter and omg!!! Who needs chocolate ice cream with this delicious smoothie?!?! I even threw in a handful of frozen organic blueberries and a handful of organic frozen spinach and couldn’t see or taste them. You don’t get all the nutrition benefits of this with ice cream! LOVE
This looks wonderful, if I leave out protein powder and instant coffee, how will it taste, or can I substitute something else ? Even though I watch my sugar , pre diabetic , I can have a banana
It’ll still taste great, Eleanor! The banana and the cocoa are the most important parts.
I am definitely trying this!!! It looks amazing!!!!
Will definitely be featuring this recipe on our link roundup on the Anytime Fitness blog. Good stuff!
Sounds delicious! Pinning for when I finally get not smoothies!
This looks DELICIOUS! We make smoothies all the time at home and I LOVE chocolate. Cannot believe I have not yet made a chocolate smoothie. Thanks for the recipe!