When I served-up this chocolate milkshake smoothie recently, L said “what kind of culture do we live in where parents give their children a glass of milk and a bottle of chocolate syrup when they could give them this“? To be fair to those parents who offer up store-bought chocolate syrup in their houses (hi Mom!), we both grew up with a bottle at-the-ready and we turned out fine. (Though, if you ask my brother I bet he’d tell you that’s up for debate.) But I’m here to tell you that if you have access to these simple ingredients, a blender, and you have 5 minutes to spare, this smoothie will blow your mind and fool your kids, your friends, and your partner into thinking that they’re drinking a real-deal milkshake. It’s smooth, creamy, icy cold, and intensely chocolatey with just a hint of vanilla. And its richness satisfies a sweet craving, a post-workout fuel-fest, or makes a pretty awesome breakfast. Don’t believe me? Try it. I dare you.
- A generous handful or 2 of spinach
- 1-2 pitted medjool dates, depending on how sweet you want it (I like 1.5)
- 1 ¼ cup almond milk
- 2 tbsp full-fat coconut milk or cream OR plain yogurt OR more almond milk
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cocoa nibs
- 2 tbsp vanilla protein powder
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 cups ice
- Cocoa nibs or dark chocolate chips for topping, optional
- *Note: For added satiety, consider adding in more protein powder and a tablespoon of coconut oil.
- Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth, using the tamper if needed. If it’s too thick, add a little more almond milk to thin it out.
Mimi
Wow! You definitely can’t tell there’s spinach in there!
Kris
And you definitely can’t taste it, Mimi. That’s the best part.
Laura
Hey girl!
Curious on what protein powder you use! (my mom always stocks chocolate syrup in her fridge too)
xoxo
-L
Kris
Hey Laura,
I don’t use protein powder a lot, but when I do, I like whey protein because I find that it blends in really nicely and is quite creamy. To be totally honest, I’m not married to one particular brand. I tend to buy what I find on sale as long as I feel like the quality of the ingredients is good, but that’s probably because I haven’t come across the one that I love the best yet. The most important thing that I look for is that it doesn’t contain sugar or weird artificial sweeteners. Even though I advocate eating real food 99% of the time, I’m ok with certain “artificial sweeteners” on occasion, like stevia and xylitol. From what I’ve read in the research and learned in some of my nutrition classes, they don’t spike your blood sugar. Although, I may change my mind on that given when I seem to be hearing lately. Sorry this isn’t the best answer. You were probably hoping for something more definitive. Do you have a good suggestion?
Laura
I’ve been flitting between Vega (http://myvega.com/) and Sunwarrior (http://www.sunwarrior.com/store/) for a while, but I’ve been sort of curious about jumping on the whey wagon–especially this goat based one: http://www.teraswhey.com/our-products/goat-whey-en.html. We can discuss protein and gettin’ our pump on next Saturday! xo
Paleo recipe
Wow! this is truly more than just a chocolate milkshake. Great concept. Besides doing this for friends or family, have you considered doing it on a large scale for business? Well, you never know.
Sylvie | Gourmande in the Kitchen
Now this is my kind of milkshake, filled with good ingredients and chocolate!
25 Superfood Smoothies to Power + Fuel | With Food + Love
[…] The Chocolate Milkshake Smoothie by, 80 Twenty […]
Jenny
Can you use a different kind of milk? I would like to try this, but I have a nasty reaction to almond milk 🙁
Kris
Absolutely, Jenny! You can use any milk that you like. Coconut milk would be fantastic, but really whatever you like would work just fine.
Lorraine
How do you expect poor people to make this T.T
I cant get ahold of some of the ingredients.
Kris
Hi Lorraine, I hear your concern with this. I believe whole-heartedly that healthy, real food should be accessible to everyone, regardless of income. I try to focus my recipes to use seasonal ingredients most of the time, which cuts down on cost, but has the added benefit of being more flavourful. You’re right though, not everything on here is easily accessibly, either due to geographic location or cost for people with very low incomes. That said, I do source many of these ingredients (chia seeds, cacao nibs, etc.) at places (either in my city) or online for the best prices that I can find. If there is something, in particular, that you are looking for, please feel free to email me and maybe I can help you find a cheaper option.