Chocolate Smoothie Recipe

This chocolate peanut butter smoothie is quite a bit different with the addition of mixed berries, and oats. We love a chocolate berry smoothie around here so if you're up for something new and delicious read on! 

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Smoothie recipes are such an easy and delicious energy boost. I tolerate carrots with ranch but I relish a good smoothie. This chocolate smoothie recipe is both crave worthy and healthy.

Energy is somewhat elusive for me. Some days I'm killing it - Leslie Knope style, on other days standing wears me out. I don't know if i just got the short end of the DNA stick (I do have celiac) or if it's poor decision making when it comes to food. For this reason I am choosing to be intentional about what I snack on and eat. If there's one thing this mom of three can't afford to be - it's tired. 

This chocolate banana smoothie recipe is the best of both worlds. I still get something rich and chocolatey, but it's full of healthy ingredients. Bananas for Manganese, Vitamin C, and Potassium. Peanut butter and greek yogurt for protein. Oats for fiber. Mixed berries and cocoa powder for healthy antioxidants. And just the smallest amount of honey to sweeten it up just a smidge. 

You can trust me - I would never say spaghetti squash tastes "just like pasta" or wheat bread is better than a baguette. A chocolate milkshake recipe it is not - delicious? Definitely. 

Are chocolate smoothies (and others) actually healthy?

You can find smoothies around every corner I feel like. Heck, the ice cream store by our house sells them. If you opt for a smoothie anywhere - healthy you will not be. (Okay, thanks yoda) When you blend up your own you control all of the ingredients (no "smoothie bases" allowed). 

Our local cafe serves up some dreamy albeit funky smoothies. It's caused us to get adventurous with our blender. I've been pleasantly surprised what fruits, vegetables and nuts taste amazeballs together. Pineapple is naturally so sweet it pretty much tastes good with anything. If you are looking into green smoothies - pineapple is a fantastic way to make them taste good. 

We now rotate ingredients like pineapple, pear, avocados, bananas, dark cocoa powder, oats, peanut butter, almonds, berries, pecans, sweet potato, butternut squash, cinnamon etc. We make chocolate smoothies different all the time but this one is an all time favorite.

Although energy is more of my driving force for smoothies if your sights are on weight loss - they can be great for that too. You just want to be careful with sneaky sugar laden ingredients that pack little nutrition like concentrated fruit juices. You also want to keep additional sugars like honey and maple syrup limited. 

Whole fruit does a fantastic job sweetening up a smoothie. Opt for unsweetened ingredients like unsweetened plant based milks and unsweetened yogurt. Read this for more information on how to make smoothies healthy.

I occasionally eat a chocolate protein smoothie but there is some debate on the health benefits of protein powder so I don't usually buy it. I prefer to get my protein and vitamins from whole foods. A greek yogurt smoothie packs a good amount of protein. 

Whats in this chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie?

• Banana
• Peanut Butter
• Greek Yogurt
• Oats
• Dark Cocoa Powder
• Mixed berries
• Unsweetened Almond Milk
• Honey

Bananas are a great way to add sweetness as well as creaminess to a smoothie. This smoothie has frozen berries to thicken it up but if a smoothie doesn't have frozen ingredients simply freeze some unpeeled bananas and use those. Oats also act as a thickener. 

This smoothie is packed with protein (peanut butter and greek yogurt), and super filling so I usually use it as a meal replacement. I like to top it with gluten free granola and whipped cream. If you are interested in a very simple coffee smoothie recipe click here.

How to make this chocolate smoothie:

Put all of your ingredients in the blender and buzz it up real good! 

So easy! If it's a little too thick you can always add more almond milk but pour it in slowly.

It's a lot easier to make it thinner than to thicken it up. 

Top with granola and whipped cream if desired. Just check the ingredients on your granola if your intention is weight loss. Granola packs in a-lot of calories and some are healthier than others.

If you'd like to find some more smoothie recipes follow me on Pinterest as I'm always on the lookout for incredible smoothies!