Creamy Coffee Smoothie–No Bananas Allowed!

It was a doozie of a weekend in the Pacific Northwest! Mother Nature let us know in no uncertain terms that winter is coming, and proceeded to huff, and puff, and blow all the last leaves off the long leaf maples in our front yard (along with branches of all shapes and sizes). I have to admit, I’m sad to see summer go – especially since I spent the majority of it in a full leg cast on the couch!

Now that Halloween has come and gone, for some reason, my brain has clicked into book publishing mode and I’ll be spending quite a bit of time over the coming months updating my book and bringing it current. That means poring over existing recipes and also a fair amount of recipe development, including this one. (Don’t worry, if you own the book already, the second edition will be a free upgrade, and I’ll do a few “free to all” days as well).

This is a smoothie for the folks that are not big banana-in-the-smoothie types. It’s creamy and sweet without that distinct banana flavor. And, it is a great way to use up leftover coffee instead of pouring it down the drain. You can make coffee specifically for this, but, I would recommend a different approach: Freeze any leftover coffee you have in the morning in an ice cube tray, and you’re one step ahead of the game when you want a coffee-spiked smoothie.

I get a lot of requests for portions for the single serve Ninja Blender cups, so I made this using the single serve cup. You don’t need the single serve cup, but if you have it, bonus!

TKT’s Healthy Coffee Smoothie

Print this Recipe!

Makes: 1 smoothie

Suggested Ninja Blender Jar

• Ninja Pulse: Single serve cup
• Ninja Professional Blender: 72 ounce jar, or single serve cup if you have it
• Ninja Kitchen System: Single serve cup
• Ninja Mega Kitchen System: Single serve cup

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup cold, strongly brewed coffee, or, 8 frozen coffee ice cubes (or, if you’re not doing coffee, try using brewed Teeccino, which is what I use these days)
• 1 teaspoon honey, pure maple syrup, or, 10-15 drops liquid stevia to taste
• 1/2 avocado (Smaller Hass variety)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 scoop preferred vanilla protein powder (I like this one)
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5-6 ice cubes ONLY if you didn’t use coffee ice cubes
• Top with cacao nibs for a little extra crunch!

Method

Place all ingredients in the chosen jar for your Ninja blender, pulse a few times to combine, and then steady state blend for about 30 seconds until smooth. If not using a single serve cup, use level “2.”

Nutritional Breakdown

Made with 10 drops liquid Stevia & Plant Fusion protein powder, not including cacao nibs.