I apologise in advance if you become half as addicted to this smoothie as I am!
On Friday night I said to my husband: “Sometimes I can’t wait to go to sleep on Friday nights because I know how good breakfast is going to be tomorrow”. He gave me a look (of course…) but he didn’t argue because Adam knows how good Saturday morning breakfasts are! Our ongoing food fixation: choco-nut smoothie.
What I didn’t tell him is that sometimes I think about this smoothie not on Friday nights. I’m talking Tuesday nights, Wednesday nights, Thursday nights…. Yep, I find myself waiting for this smoothie all week sometimes (we have, ahem, been known to have it for dinner). It’s so satisfyingly thick and creamy with a rich buttery taste of pecans and cacao, and it’s so easy to throw together in the blender.
It’s also nice big portion, so it should keep you full up ‘til lunch (whereupon you may begin thinking about it again…).
Actually, I’m not sorry – you are going to love this!
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
- 3 large ripe bananas, cut into pieces and frozen
- 1 cup/250ml of milk of your choice, plus a little extra
- 2 Tbsp raw cacao powder (or sub cocoa)
- 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
- ½ cup/60g oats
- 3 Tbsp nut butter of choice (I usually use my almond-ginger butter)
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup (optional – depending how sweet you want it)
- ¼ cup nuts of your choice (my favourites are pecans or almonds)
- ¼ cup raw cacao nibs (or sub chocolate chips)
METHOD
- Take bananas out of the freezer.
- Put cacao powder, flaxseed, nut butter, maple syrup, oats and milk into a blender and blend to a smooth consistency.
- Add the frozen bananas and blend again until thick and smooth. You may need to add extra milk gradually to help it blend, depending on how powerful your blender is and how thick you want your smoothie (I like mine as thick as possible!).
- Add the nuts and the cacao nibs and blend to a desired consistency (I like to keep mine a chunky texture).
- Pour into 2 glasses or bowls and use a long spoon for eating! Top with extra nuts, banana and cacao to make it extra special!