Cherry Smoothie

Is it breakfast? Is it dessert? Did it just make you crave some Ben & Jerry’s? This Cherry Smoothie may just be all of those things. Packed with all the fresh flavors of those luscious summer cherries, this smoothie also adds the creaminess from almond butter & sweet bananas to thicken it up. And then there are two secret ingredients. Ok, one is not so secret as you’ll find it in almost every one of my smoothies and that’s frozen cauliflower. As always, I promise you don’t taste it, but it packs a boost of nutrients.

The second ingredient is cacao butter to get that chocolatey taste but without turning your smoothie into a brown sludge-like mess. You know what I’m taking about. We’ve all made smoothies trying to be healthy, throwing in the mix of all those fruits and veggies, just to get that nasty brown or gray liquid. Now I don’t know about you, but I eat with my eyes first so I always want it to look pretty. Cacao butter is a fat derived from the cocoa bean. It looks like white chocolate and melts like coconut oil. It’s the perfect way to add some healthy fats & chocolate flavor to your smoothies or coffee without adding the brown color. You just need a little bit, so if you do end up using the product it last for quite a long time.

Here are a few more smoothie ideas to fuel your mornings…

–Triple Berry Smoothie

–Blackberry Acai Smoothie

–Matcha Mint Chip Smoothie

Print Recipe

Cherry Smoothie

A smoothie reminiscent of your favorite Cherry Garcia ice cream

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Keyword: almonds, cherry, smoothie

Servings: 1

Ingredients

• 1 medium frozen banana
• 3-4 frozen cauliflower florets
• 1 cup pitted cherries, fresh or frozen
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• 1 tsp cacao butter, melted (sub cacao/cocoa powder)
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
• water

Instructions

• To a blender add all the ingredients except water. Puree the mixture, streaming in water a little at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. You may have to stop the blender to scrape down the sides.
• Pour the mixture into your favorite drinking vessel & garnish with additional cherries and almonds if desired.

Notes

Fresh or frozen?  You can use either when making this smoothie.  Frozen fruits and vegetables lend toward achieving a thicker smoothie texture.  Pro tip:  Any time your fruits or vegetables start to near their expiration date, simply slice them up and place them in the freezer so that they are ready to get blended up in your next smoothie.  

Cacao Butter:  Cacao butter is a fat extracted from the cocoa bean and used to make chocolate.  It looks like chunks of white chocolate.  Melt a tiny bit like you would regular chocolate.  It works great in coffees & for adding chocolate flavor to items without adding the sugars found in chocolate products.  If you do not have any, you may swap out for cocoa powder or omit entirely.

Thickness:  When making smoothies it works best if you can slowly stream in your liquid once it begins to blend.  This way you can add to reach the perfect texture, but if you add the liquid first you can’t really take it away to alter the texture.

Enjoy!