This healthy peanut butter banana smoothie is made with nutritious ingredients like oats, hemp seeds, and cocoa powder. It’s vegan and gluten-free.
If you’re like me, your smoothies tend to be a dumping ground for “superfoods” – leafy greens, seeds, turmeric, etc. And hey, green smoothies are great and I personally never get tired of my favorite spinach smoothie.
But do you remember the good old days before smoothies were a health food? There were berries and sweet tropical fruit, there was chocolate, and there was even sometimes, dare I say it… sherbet?! Now there’s a word most of us haven’t heard in a while.
I’m referring to the days before high-end juice bars like Juice Press started promising us optimal health at just twelve dollars per bottle. I’m talking about when we were all perfectly content with Jamba Juice’s sweet, fruity concoctions, which we drank just for – gasp! – pleasure.
This healthy peanut butter banana smoothie is a nod to the olden days and my favorite smoothie at Jamba Juice. It’s deliciously creamy, unapologetically peanut butter-y, and just plain fun to drink.
OK, so this is a grown-up version of my favorite treat and I do include some superfoods here, like oats and hemp seeds. Both of these add fiber, protein, iron, and other minerals to the smoothie, but they also help make it creamy. Thanks to these nutrients – plus healthy fats from the peanut butter – this smoothie is pretty filling, so you can definitely have it for breakfast, as a midday snack, or even for dessert.
An important key to the creaminess of this smoothie is a frozen banana. Frozen bananas give smoothies an icy texture and eliminate the need to water them down with too much ice. What I usually do is take ripe bananas, peel them, break them up into one-inch chunks, wrap in plastic, and freeze until solid. Frozen bananas will keep for at least one month. I like to have a few in my freezer at all times.
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Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 0 mins
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving 1x
- Category: Breakfast, Snack
- Cuisine: American
Description
This healthy peanut butter banana smoothie is made with nutritious ingredients like oats, hemp seeds, and cocoa powder.
Ingredients
- A handful of ice cubes
- 1 frozen ripe banana (See Note)
- 3 tablespoons rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon hulled hemp seeds
- 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
Instructions
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and add more ice or milk if an icier or thinner consistency is desired. You can also add a splash of maple syrup or a pitted Medjool date if you prefer a sweeter smoothie.
Notes
To freeze ripe bananas, peel them, break into 1-inch chunks, wrap in plastic, and freeze until solid. Frozen bananas will keep in the freezer for at least 1 month.
Nutrition
- Calories: 420
- Fiber: 9 g
- Protein: 16.9 g
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