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This Coffee Smoothie tastes like a blended drink from a coffee shop, only without the refined sugar. You can make it with brewed coffee in just minutes!
This coffee smoothie recipe is a great way to use up a cup of coffee that went cold while you were busy or distracted. Use regular or decaf coffee in this recipe. You’re in charge of the caffeine level!
Cold brew coffee is perfect for this, if you keep it in the fridge.
For even more coffee flavor, pour your leftover coffee into an ice cube tray and let it freeze overnight. You can add the coffee ice cubes to your smoothie for an extra boost.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Medjool dates are the perfect sweetener for this smoothie because they add a caramel-like flavor. Use ones that are soft and squishy for the best results. If you don’t have dates on hand, you can use a tablespoon of maple syrup or honey, instead.
Or try a frozen banana, if you don’t mind a banana flavor with your coffee.
Almond milk, hemp hearts (which are hulled hemp seeds), and a spoonful of almond butter help make the smoothie creamy and filling. If you need a nut-free recipe, use oat milk, coconut milk, or any other plant-based milk you love.
This recipe is dairy-free as written, but you can use regular milk if you prefer.
For a thicker texture, you can swap the hemp hearts for chia seeds, flaxseed meal, or a couple of tablespoons of rolled oats. Or, add a scoop of protein powder or collagen peptides to make it more filling. It’s easy to customize!
How to Make the Best Coffee Smoothie
Use your fingers to split the dates in half and remove the pits. The dates should be soft and squishy for the best results.
In a high-speed blender, combine the pitted dates, coffee, almond milk, almond butter, and hemp hearts. Secure the lid and blend until the dates are pulverized.
Taste the mixture and make sure you like the flavor. For more sweetness, you can add an extra date and blend again.
Once the liquid tastes delicious, add a cup of ice cubes and blend again. This will create a slushy texture, like a blended coffee drink you’d buy at a coffee shop. Keep in mind that the ice will dilute the flavor slightly, so don’t add too much.
For extra coffee flavor, use a few frozen coffee ice cubes instead of regular ones.
Once the smoothie is slushy, serve it right away for the best flavor and texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can replace the dates with a frozen banana in this smoothie, but it will taste like a coffee banana smoothie, rather than a fancy coffee shop drink. I’m not a fan of coffee + banana, but I know others love it.
Yes, add a tablespoon of cocoa powder or cacao powder, plus a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract for a chocolate flavor. In this case, you might want to add an extra date to help counteract the bitter flavor of the cocoa.
You can use peanut butter instead of almond butter for a similar creaminess, but with a hint of peanut flavor. Or try cashew butter, instead!
You can use frozen zucchini or cauliflower instead of ice cubes in this recipe.
Looking for more healthy smoothie recipes? Try my Apple Smoothie, Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie, or Chocolate Banana Protein Shake for more ideas.
Ingredients
- ½ cup brewed coffee , cooled
- ½ cup almond milk (or any milk)
- 3 Medjool dates , pitted (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon hemp hearts
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
- 1 cup ice cubes , or more as needed
Instructions
- In a high-speed blender, combine the coffee, milk, pitted dates, hemp hearts, and almond butter. Blend until very smooth. Taste the mixture, and add an extra date if you'd like it to be sweeter.
- Add the ice cubes and blend again, until the smoothie has a slushy texture. Serve right away for the best consistency. Tip: For extra coffee flavor, pour leftover coffee into an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. Then use the frozen coffee cubes instead of regular ice cubes to boost the coffee taste.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Coffee Smoothie recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it.
I am blown away by how much this taste like a Frappuccino!! Delicious!!
OH. MY. GOODNESS. SOOO GOOD! I’m sitting here enjoying this frozen mocha goodness (added the cocoa powder) with a couple of your Vegan Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’m calling it PMS Heaven!
As a foodie working on a healthier, more whole food diet, I’ve run in to quite a few recipes that call themselves “just as good…no one will know…”. AND, um, no, everyone knows…it tastes awful!
Well, so far, you are 2 for 2 in my book! I’ll be checking out more from you, for sure!
Agreed! Total foodie, it’s hard to give up food when then substitutes people claim are amazing are inedible!
I will say I substituted flax for hemp since I didn’t have any handy and the after flavor was a bit bitter. But I am excited to try with hemp as it has promise!
Also, when substituting chia seeds, would you soak first? Thanks for the wonderful recipes Megan, loving 4/5 that I’ve tried so far!
What can I sub the dates out for to make this recipe Keto friendly?
In the Recipe Notes: If you would prefer to leave out the dates, feel free to use your favorite sweetener as an alternative. This drink will still be thick from the ice, but it won’t have as much iron or fiber without the dates.
I made it this morning and it was delicious. Only put 3 dates in and it was still sweet enough.
Used teechino in place of the coffee and chia in place of the hemp. Absolutely amazing! (And my new favorite way to eat spinach!)
I finally got around to making this today with the temp at 100 degrees! Oh. My. Gosh, — definitely keeping this recipe handy throughout the summer. Thanks you Megan!!
Absolutely divine! Can’t do too much caffeine, so my adjustments are as follows:
I use decaf or regular coffee for the coffee base, but I use tecchinio ( herbal coffee replacement) and freeze for the ice cubes. I also add a scoop of dr axe chocolate bone broth protein powder.
I’m wondering if your photo is the same as the recipe here, because I halved the recipe for a single serve, and mine was green. Yours, somehow looks chocolate.
It’s green when you use spinach, it’s chocolate-colored when you leave the spinach out. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see that it’s green 95% of the time we make it, too! But, sometimes you have to make the non-green version to convince people to taste it. 😉
Even if you use spinach, you can still get a brown, chocolatey smoothie if you add raw cacao powder (I like 2-3 tsp for this recipe). I used kale in mine and it was a pretty unappealing color until I added the cacao! It came out really good!
Looks amazing!
My new favorite afternoon drink!!!
I had to tweak it a bit, but yum! I used 4 dates, about a tablespoon of almond butter, left out the spinach and hemp hearts,added a splash of oat milk and about a tablespoon of maple syrup. So good!