I love deserts, but savory foods have always trumped sweets for me when it comes to those urgent must-have-now cravings. This has been slowly evolving over these past few years though and at this point, if I don’t get something sweet at some point in the day, I’m not a very happy camper. Chocolate is my go-to staple for this fix, but as you probably know, once you open that door, its hard to close it. One small square quickly turns into an entire chocolate bar and with my limited level of self control, I just can’t even go there for my daily fix these days.
These sweet-tooth cravings mostly hit at night and I have been dabbling in healthier, real food options to prevent me from going into full swing crazy chocolate lady mode on a regular basis. This vegan banana almond milk smoothie is a winner either as a sweet start to the day or to satisfy that sweet craving whenever it strikes. The taste is somewhat like an almond flavored horchata.
Almond milk smoothies are a great way to get that creamy deliciousness of a milkshake without any dairy. You can play around with the ingredients on this recipe to create all kinds of liquid treats. For a unique twist, sometimes I use this
espresso almond butter, which is simply divine. I’m a coffee fiend and the hint of java flavor in that little combo makes my day. It’s perfectly awesome with regular almond butter too though, which is the route I normally take. If you want to get super fancy, toasting the oats adds a level of decadence that fully launches this almond milk smoothie into the desert category.
- 1 ripe banana, sliced and frozen
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 Tbsp. rolled oats
- ½ Tbsp. flax meal or seeds
- 1 Tbsp. almond butter
- ⅛ tsp. cinnamon
- Add oats to blender and pulse to grind into a powder. If using full flax seeds instead of flax meal, add flax seeds along with oats.
- Add remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth. If your banana is not frozen, add several ice cubes before blending.
Just made this and we loved it! I was making a double batch of it and accidentally doubled the cinnamon on top of that and it still was not overboard on the cinnamon flavor! Great smoothie and very filling–I’ll make this again!
Nice! I’ll have to try it with more cinnamon next time I make this one!
Hey, my hits will help you make it to that big lofty goal! I love to read blogs and found you from your mom and am fascinated by the fact that you are an author. Having grown up costarvenive menno (I’m now city menno on the east coast) I find your comments on pop culture to be very interesting. It’s very fun because I know where you are coming from! Thanks for posting.
Hey Christy! Just made this and it’s so filling! I doubled the cinnamon. Mmmm….
Oh good! Glad you liked it. I have been on a smoothie kick lately and will have to share a few more of my fav blends with you! 🙂