Chocolate in your breakfast smoothie? Sure, why not. Some people even say chocolate is a superfood.
For sure, a chocolate bar is not a superfood. A super-tasting food, yes, but not a superfood. However, cacao beans have a lot of benefits. But after they get processed in certain ways, and after you add sugar and low quality oils to them, they become not-so-healthy. So the trick is to get good quality cacao. Usually, when chocolate is refered to as cacao, it is in a more pure and healthy form. When it is called ‘cocoa’, that usually means it has been more processed and added to.
So, once you find some cacao powder, you can start adding it to your smoothies, and still call them healthy. And good cacao powder is quite strong, so you don’t need that much of it to chocolate-ize your smoothies. Usually about 1 tablespoon is enough for one large smoothie.
Cacao powder is full of antioxidants and vitamins and minerals, so don’t feel guilty about using it. It does contain some caffeine, though, so don’t overdo it. Also, cacao is a little bitter, so you might need to add a little more banana, apple, pineapple, carrot or beet to your smoothie to sweeten it back up again. Or, you can experiment with making not-sweet chocolate smoothies, and see how you like it. Just think of your chocolate smoothie as a variation on your fruit smoothie, and not as a liquid chocolate bar.
A lot of protein powders and smoothie powders come in a chocolate flavor. They usually taste pretty good, too. I use Vega protein powders because they are Vegan, they taste great, and they are full a good stuff. Also, they are available at my local grocery store, so they are easy to pick up. They have a chocolate protein powder that I really like. But probably the best and cheapest way to enjoy a chocolate smoothie is to buy a bag of cacao powder from your local healthy food store.
These smoothies all use almond milk, bananas, and strawberries as their base. The just add the cacao and the extra goodies, and you’re laughing. If you cannot find cacao, you can use a dark cocoa powder instead. All of these recipes make one large smoothie, or two small smoothies.
Berry and Chocolate Smoothie
- 1.5 cups almond milk
- 1 banana
- half cup mixed berries
- half cup strawberries
- 1.5 tablespoons cacao powder
Chocolate Coconut Smoothie
- half cup almond milk
- meat and water from one young Thai coconut
- 1 small banana
- 1 cup pineapple
- half cup strawberries
- 1 tablespoon cacao
Sweet Chocolate Pineapple Smoothie
- 1.5 cups almond milk
- 1 banana
- half cup strawberries
- 1 cup pineapple slices
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder
Chocolate Acai Berry Smoothie
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- 1.5 cups almond milk
- 1 frozen banana
- half cup mixed berries
- half cup strawberries
- quarter cup acai juice (or frozen acai puree)
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder
- 1.5 cups almond milk
- 2 frozen bananas
- half cup pineapple
- half cup frozen blueberries
- half cup fozen strawberries
- 1 handful cashews
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder
Chocolate Blueberry Banana Smoothie
The cashews in this last recipes are optional. I sometimes like to hand a handful of cashews, almonds, or other nuts to a smoothie, to add some extra protein and creaminess. Just make sure to use ‘raw’ almonds or cashews, not the roasted and salted kind. If you soak them for a few hours, they get a softer texture, too.
If you want to go the cheap and easy way, you can also add peanut butter to your smoothies. A tablespoon of natural peanut butter, combined with the chocolate and banana flavor, is really good. It is something that kids really enjoy too.
For the coconut recipe, you can use canned coconut milk, but it is healthier and fresher to get an actual coconut. Get a young coconut, not a brown hairy coconut, because the meat and juice will be softer and more tasty. You can buy Thai coconuts a lot of local asian markets.
Feel free to add more banana to these recipes, if you want them sweeter. Or less banana, if you are wanting a low-sugar smoothie. You can also add more strawberries, if you want them a little more tart or a little more pink. I find that strawberries and chocolate are always a nice combination. And you can never eat too many strawberries.
Hemp and chocolate go well together, too. So pick up some hemp milk, hemp seeds (hemp hearts), or hemp protein powder, if you want to experiment with the hemp and cacao combo. Those two, together with the strawberries, is something I really enjoy.
Happy smoothie making!
