Don’t let the cooler temperatures stop you from enjoying those delicious smoothies! This vegan gingerbread breakfast smoothie is warmed up on the stovetop to create a creamy and comforting drink that’s packed with vitamins, minerals, fibre, and plant based protein. It makes a healthy and delicious breakfast or snack!
How do we feel about molasses?
Love it? Hate it? Can’t figure out what to do with the bottle of it that’s been hanging out in the pantry for the past 1.5 years? The one that you can’t even pry the cap off of because the molasses solidified around the opening and turned into the equivalent of super glue?
Mmm hmm.
Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s back there peeking out from behind the brown sugar and honey, reminiscing about that one day long ago when it was able to lend its robust flavour to that lone batch of gingerbread cookies you made for your office’s ugly sweater Christmas party; patiently waiting for a chance to get back in your good graces.
Sound familiar? Yup...
I happen to love molasses, but even so, I found myself having to dig it out from the back of my pantry and run it under hot water so that I could get the lid unstuck. Poor, neglected thing. And it’s a shame, too! Because… molasses? That dark sticky goo that inspired the phrase “slow as molasses” and flooded the city of Boston in 1919? It’s actually pretty darn good for us.
Not only does molasses contain minerals like manganese, copper, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and selenium, but it’s also an extremely concentrated source of iron, with just 2 tablespoons containing 30% of our recommended daily allowance. That’s awesome news! Especially for vegans, vegetarians, and us ladies, who need a little extra iron once a month… if you know what I mean ?
It’d be a shame not to take advantage of those kind of health benefits, right?! Which is why I think you should dig your molasses bottle out from the back of your pantry, run the lid under hot water to get it unstuck, and toss a spoonful or two into this warm gingerbread breakfast smoothie…
The cold doesn’t really phase me when it comes to continuing to enjoy colder smoothies, but I will admit that it’s nice to curl up to a nice warm drink when it’s cold and dark outside… especially when that drink tastes like Christmas [and packs an impressive 30% of your RDA for iron].
And while I know that it can feel like a bit of a hassle to toss a smoothie into a saucepan after blending it, I promise you that the extra step is so.very.worth it… not only for the warmth, but for the creaminess.
I don’t know about you guys, but I like my smoothies super thick — almost like a pudding. And the beauty of this recipe is that you can either enjoy it as-is, or add extra milk to reach your preferred consistency. The same goes for the molasses. I usually go for the full 2 tablespoons, but you can stop at 1 if that’s enough for you — I promise that you can just barely taste it at that point, and you’re still getting a nice boost of iron.
So I hope you enjoy! And I hope that you’ll let me know by hitting me up on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, or by leaving a comment down below!
I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!
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Gingerbread Breakfast Smoothie
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 Tbsp. nut/seed butter*
- 1 – 2 Tbsp. unsulphured blackstrap molasses**
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- pinch of salt (optional, but recommended)
Instructions
- The night before, add all ingredients to the bowl of your blender and give it a stir to ensure that everything is well combined. Cover and place in fridge for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. This step isn’t absolutely necessary, but allowing the oats to soak for a few hours will make them easier to blend and give you a smoother, creamier smoothie.***
- When ready to eat, blend on high until oats are fully broken down and a smooth and creamy consistency is reached.
- Transfer the smoothie to a small saucepan set over medium heat and bring to a simmer or boil, depending on how hot you want it. If the smoothie is too thick, add an extra splash of almond milk until desired consistency is reached.
- When your smoothie reaches your preferred temperature, transfer it to a heat-safe glass, garnish with toppings of choice, and enjoy!
Notes
* I used almond butter because it has a sweet and mild taste, but feel free to use whichever nut/seed butter you prefer. ** start with 1 Tbsp. and add more to taste. *** if you have no time to let your oats soak, you can simply skip to step 2 and 3, but then transfer your warm smoothie back to your blender and blend until it becomes creamy.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
Looking for more warm and cozy breakfast recipes? Try one of these!
Banana Oat Baked French Toast
Hot Chocolate Breakfast Smoothie
Cinnamon Bun Breakfast Bake
Hot Chocolate Smoothie Bowl
Vegan Pumpkin Hot Chocolate
I absolutely love the sound of this recipe! I bought almost all of the ingredients and plan on making one for my 99-year-old nana who has been struggling with a newly ordered pureed-food diet that is depressing her! She could use it more than anyone – last week I heard her begging for a gingerbread cookie and knew this would be perfect. Thank you SO much for sharing your culinary magic!
I only have one question/dilemma- What kind of milk do you use?! Between all of the gums, thickeners, and emulsifiers in non-dairy milks proving to be unhealthy as well as the controversial effects of all dairy-containing milks including raw organic cows milk I am at a loss!!!! I know making coconut or almond milk at home would be perfectly healthy but I don’t have the means right now. Do you have any recommended brands for healthful milks packaged without the gums? If not it might be regular ol’ cows milk for Nana because that’s at least what her system is used to !
If you take the time to read and respond thank you so much in advance.
Hi Mary! I use Silk unsweetened vanilla for my milk. It does have Locust Bean Gum and Gellan Gum, but it doesn’t have Carrageenan which is the one that seems to have the most controversy surrounding it. If your nana is fine with dairy milk, though, then you could always stick to that 🙂
“… because you can’t eat with scissors.” LOVE YOUR BLOG, and this recipe! xx, Ashley
We’re in summer over her in Australia so a hot smoothie is not what I need but would it still taste nice cold? Does it need the cooking time on the oven or can it just be blended?
It would taste great cold, Leslie! I actually have several flavours of overnight oatmeal smoothies that I enjoy cold and they come out just fine.
This is my new favorite thing! It’s like Christmas in a glass!
Any chance we could skip the saucepan if we use the soup function on our blender ?
I love the idea of this smoothie! Sounds delicious! Would it work as a cold smoothie, too? And would it work without boiling it after blending it?
I was super excited to try this one! But I didn’t have molasses :S I tried substituting brown sugar…..and it worked. Tasted amazing. But my conversion rate of brown sugar for molasses must have been WAY off. It made me sick to finish it cause of so much sugar LOL. Gonna try again tonight and hopefully I will get the right about of brown sugar in as as substitute. Cause I love this!!
Oh my gosh – I hope I have some almond milk because I want to make this right now! Yum! And thanks!! 🙂
Hello! I love putting oats in smoothies, too! I’ve included this recipe in my list of oat-tastic recipes to check out in my Saturday round-up. Don’t worry: it’s simply a link that takes my readers to your fantastic blog. 🙂 Check it out! http://www.theoatmealartist.com/this-week-in-oatmeal-12122015/
Have a great weekend!
Lauren / The Oatmeal Artist
Thanks so much for inlacing me, Lauren! And I seriously LOVE your blog name!
I have to have this for breakfast tomorrow, it combines gingerbread and smoothies!
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Mmm gingerbread. I actually don’t know what molasses really tastes like on its own. Gotta go home and try!
Also, I am very intrigued by the idea of warming up a smoothie. I usually don’t care if I’m drinking a cold smoothie during the winter, but something sounds amazing about a creamy, warm smoothie… 🙂
It’s like a super duper thick and creamy hot chocolate… with different flavours 😉
yoiu know how i feel about molasses! and i swear, we have the same brain. I made a recipe with gingerbread and molasses, but in pudding form. Gah, but yours is way better. LOL! I should just forget it and direct everyone here… swoon!
Noooo! Pudding is -amazing.- I Sometimes I add less liquid to my smoothies just to get them super thick and pudding-y.
The idea of a warm smoothie had me making a face until I saw that mid-smoothie-pour action shot! I might need to go dig out me (crusted shut) bottle of molasses and try this out later for lunch (because breakfast food is appropriate at all times of the day)!
I love the idea of a warm smoothie! I always crave them but they make me too cold in the winter so this is the perfect solution.
And I had to laugh at what you said about the crusty molasses bottle because it’s so true! When I took mine out last month I had to check the date because I’ve had it forever, haha!
I honestly have no idea if molasses even goes bad. I know honey lasts forever, but is the same true of molasses? I hope so because I’ve had mine for a long time 😆
I LOVE molasses, and am obsessed with all things gingerbread! YUMMMM
I think I’ve only ever had molasses in gingerbread. I know I have the same bottle of it in my cupboard. You’ve inspired me to add it to my oats tomorrow morning. Great idea!
I like my smoothies thick too. Could step 1 also be used in your Hot Chocolate Breakfast Smoothie? Im obsessed with it 🙂
It definitely could, Molly! I’ve actually gone back and modified the hot chocolate smoothie based on my experiments with this one. The longer the oats sit in liquid, the creamier they become.
This sounds so great and I’m not even a huge fan of gingerbread. I also like my smoothies super thick so I’m always throwing in chia seeds to make that happen 🙂
A warm Gingerbread smoothie sounds so good right now as it is about 20 degrees where i live! I love molasses, it just tastes like Christmas to me!
My favorite thing about this recipe is that the smoothie is placed in stemless wine glasses. The best! We have them in our house and sometimes I pour my milk into them to feel fancy. 🙂
It’s definitely nice to bust out the fancy glasses every now and again. Amazing how big of a difference it can make to how much you enjoy your meal!
Our molasses never comes out except in November and December either – my mum uses it to make a sweet potato pudding at Thanksgiving, and back it goes! Good way to use it more 🙂
Agree with Megan on the action shot! I am definitely more than a little into molasses and totally on Baird with the warm smoothie idea for winter! This is something we all can enjoy – if I can round up the ingredients for tomorrow morning 🙂
Warm!? I’m intrigued!
I once described molasses by saying that if it was a woman, it would be Nigella Lawson. I am definitely going to put this smoothie in rotation this week!
😆 That’s definitely a good description of it! And I hope you enjoyed it if you made it, Paula!
Good lord woman, I swear you have mastered the action shot. I want to drink this smoothie mid pour.
Also, I love the health benefits of molasses. Now I just need to pick some up so it can age in my pantry. 🙂
I always think how I should have more molasses for its health benefits but it never occurs to me until December. Why is that?
Probably just because it’s not that mainstream or versatile. I mean, it’s tasty, but not exactly a subtle flavour 😆