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This Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie tastes like a milkshake, only without refined sugar. It’s easy to make at home and quickly satisfies your sweet tooth!
Why You’ll Love It
It’s nourishing. This smoothie recipe is filling and delicious, with 11 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber per serving. It makes an easy breakfast or mid-day snack that’s loaded with minerals.
It’s allergy friendly. When you use dairy-free milk, like unsweetened almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk, this recipe is vegan-friendly. It’s naturally gluten-free, too!
It’s easy to customize. If you don’t have peanut butter, swap it for another nut butter, like cashew butter or almond butter. Feel free to add other ingredients you love, like Greek yogurt, flax seeds, or chia seeds. Flax seeds add omega-3 fatty acids and extra fiber to each sip.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Frozen bananas give this smoothie an ice cream-like texture and the creamy peanut butter helps add creaminess, too. No dairy is required!
You can use cocoa powder or cacao powder, depending on which you keep in your pantry. Either option will work in this recipe. If you’d like to add veggies, you can also sneak in a handful of baby spinach or some frozen cauliflower, which will go unnoticed in flavor.
Want to add extra protein? Add a tablespoon or two of hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds), which have the nine essential amino acids your body needs, or a scoop of your favorite protein powder.
How to Make a Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
1. Add the ingredients.
In a high-speed blender combine the milk, frozen banana, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. It might not look like enough liquid for blending, but this is the perfect starting point for a slushy smoothie texture.
Note: If you are using a blender with a wide square base, you might need to double the recipe. Larger blender containers require more ingredients to pulverize the ingredients sufficiently.
2. Blend.
Secure the lid on your blender and process until the smoothie looks creamy, with no visible chunks. This should take approximately 60 seconds.
At this point, you can adjust the flavor or texture. Add a handful of ice for a thicker consistency, but don’t add too much or you risk diluting the flavor. Use an extra splash of milk or water for a more runny consistency.
3. Enjoy!
Pour the smoothie into a glass and serve it immediately for the best flavor and texture.
Looking for more smoothie recipes? Try my popular Apple Smoothie, Zucchini Smoothie, or Oatmeal Smoothie for more ideas.
Make-Ahead Smoothie Bags
Want to make this smoothie ahead of time? Add the frozen banana, sliced into coins, cacao powder, peanut butter, and spinach (if you’d like), into a freezer bag or airtight container.
Smoothie freezer bags can be frozen for up to 3 months, so make as many batches as you’d like to have on hand.
When you’re ready to make a smoothie, dump the bag’s contents into the blender and add the liquid ingredients, including the milk and vanilla. When blending a smoothie bag, you’ll sometimes need to add extra liquid since everything is frozen this time. Feel free to add an extra splash at a time until everything blends.
As a result, smoothie bags can sometimes be slightly less flavorful. Feel free to add a touch of honey or maple syrup to help boost the flavor if needed.
Need a nut-free recipe? Try using sunflower butter or tahini instead of peanut butter.
Ingredients
- 1 frozen banana , sliced for easy blending
- 1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add the banana, milk, cacao powder, peanut butter, and vanilla to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Taste and adjust the texture as needed, adding a little more liquid if you need help blending, or a handful of ice if you'd like a thicker texture. Just keep in mind that adding extra ice or liquid will dilute the flavor slightly. Feel free to add a little more cacao powder for a stronger chocolate flavor, or a squeeze of honey or maple syrup, if you want a sweeter taste.
- Serve right away for the best taste and texture. See the tips in the post above for making smoothie bags that you can store in the freezer, for a make-ahead idea.
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Notes
Nutrition
If you try this healthy chocolate peanut butter smoothie recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below so I’ll know how you like it!
This recipe is my go to!!!! It is amazing and taste just like a milkshake but healthier!!!
Great stuff! I needed something decadent and this fit the bill! I used almond milk, a heaping tbsof cacao powder and a little bit of agave for extra sweetness. Oh and my vegan pea protein powder which added 100 calories and 22 extra grams of protein. Win! Win!
Very good I would put less choco next
This is SO delicious!! I like to add a couple of handfuls of baby spinach to it – with the cocoa powder the shake won’t turn green and you can’t taste it. I also like it with almond butter (Edgar Cayce said if you eat almonds every day you’ll never get cancer!). It’s so good either way! Thanks for the great recipe!!
Thank you for this recipe. I cut it in half since it’s just for me, and because I used the bullet blender. I still used 1 tsp of vanilla extract and also added a spoonful of cherry preserves. I will call this my banana split smoothie. I wish I didn’t cut it in half, lol.
From my two middle schoolers : “Best smoothie ever – like soft serve ice cream or a milkshake!” I had a taste myself and wholeheartedly agree!
Yay! That’s the best review ever! I’m glad they enjoyed it.
I added a cup of kale to this and you couldn’t even taste the difference-delicious
This is the best thing thatvhas happened to my family. I add kale and avocado to my 7 year old’s every morning to sneak some veggies into him and the Chocolate peanut butter taste completely hides them. My mother in law, who is a sugar addict, couldn’t believe how good this recipe is and now replaces some of her junk food with this recipe! I have never added ice.
As satisfying as ice cream! Refreshing and tasty.
This is my favorite chocolate smoothie recipe to date. I’m a chocoholic, and it’s superb. And I didn’t even freeze the bananas. Did add 1 Tablespoon ground flax/chia. Thank you. I’m going to make your almond flour chocolate cake next, which looks divine.