Coffee Smoothie

2 bananas (preferably speckled), sliced and frozen
3/4 cup plain, whole milk yogurt
3/4 cup high quality, black coffee

Optional Add-ins:

1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp high quality cocoa (or cacao) powder

• Slice the bananas and place them in a single layer on a small tray lined with parchment (or wax) paper.
• Freeze them over night.
• In the morning, make coffee (or set your automatic timer so it’s ready when you wake up).
• First add the yogurt to the blender, then the frozen banana slices (and any optional add-ins if using), then pour in the coffee (hot from the carafe) and blend immediately.

Serves 1.

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RECIPE SIDE NOTES:

~ Freezing the bananas is key to getting the right consistency (I found that using fresh bananas makes it too watery). The ice-cold bananas offset the hot coffee so that the end result is a medium-cool drink (personally, we don’t like ice-cold smoothies or drinks). It also works using one frozen banana and one fresh banana, but in this case, you’d have to make your coffee ahead of time and cool it off in the fridge. It’s just easier to use 2 frozen bananas since you have to freeze one anyway – this way you don’t have to wait for the coffee to cool off. Another option (if you prefer) is to use 2 fresh bananas, but add a cup or more of ice cubes. The ice will thicken the smoothie, but as far as I’m concerned, if I can just freeze the bananas, and get the same consistency, I’d rather not water down the rich flavor with ice. Of course, do whatever works best for you – I’m just laying out all the possible options. Keep in mind, if you want this to be the consistency of a thick milk shake, chill the coffee in the fridge ahead of time and use frozen bananas.

~ Can use vanilla yogurt if you prefer, but nutritionally speaking, you’d be better off using plain (as flavored yogurts are full of sugar).   If necessary, you can always add a drop of liquid stevia (or whatever type of sweetener you prefer).  Keep in mind the speckled bananas sweeten the smoothie nicely on their own (while still being a whole food as opposed to a condensed sweetener).  Up to you, your taste buds, and your personal health standards.

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