My son’s favorite breakfast is a chocolate banana smoothie.
He likes it because he feels like he’s drinking a milkshake for breakfast. I like it because it is quick and easy and nutritious. I’ve tweaked this recipe over time, and I thought I’d repost it now that I have a blender that really works!
First, a little history. I was getting increasingly frustrated with the blender I bought a year or so ago for the purpose of making smoothies. It never seemed to be able to handle the ice or the frozen bananas. No matter how long I blended, we had chunks. I paid around $100 for it, and you’d think for that a blender would, you know, BLEND THINGS.
Sure, there are machines dedicated to smoothies — but the ones I hear people touting generally carry a very high price tag, and I just couldn’t bite the bullet.
Recently I was given the opportunity to review the Hamilton Beach Smoothie Smart Blender
The Hamilton Beach Smoothie Smart Blender retails for only $39.99 at Amazon.com — and I admit, I was skeptical. I’m of the “you get what you pay for” philosophy when it comes to kitchen tools, but I agreed to try it.
We put it to the test this morning, and I am delighted to inform you that IT WORKS!
It has an ice crushing setting, but I didn’t even bother. I just pressed smoothie and let it whirl for 20-30 seconds, until it appeared to be smooth. When I went to pour, we all waited with bated breath. It LOOKED smooth. Then we tried it, and we were thrilled. It was perfectly blended — not a single chunk to be had. I’m quite pleased.
I also like the spout — it is very easy to pour without a mess.
Making smoothies for breakfast is so easy. Just gather your ingredients.
Put everything together in the blender, and give it a whirl!
Here’s the recipe with my latest tweaks.
- 1 cup plain organic yogurt
- 2 egg yolks from pastured chickens (optional)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (or regular milk works too)
- 1 frozen banana, cut into large chunks
- 2 slightly rounded tablespoons cacao powder (or any cocoa powder, but there are added health benefits to raw cacao)
- 3 tsp maple syrup or raw honey
- ice
- Toss all the ingredients into your blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Serve immediately.
OK, I’m feeling a little silly. I’ve heard about putting frozen bananas in smoothies so I tried to do that this week. I put the banana in the freezer before bed and got up the next morning and couldn’t even peel it. Are you supposed to peel before you put in the freezer?
I slice my bananas and then flash freeze on a cookie sheet, then store in a plastic bag or container. They are super easy to use that way!
Kay, I take them out of the peel and put them in Ziploc baggies and freeze them. Then when I need one, I just take it out.
I also use them in banana bread sometimes, but those I allow to thaw on the counter before adding to the batter. 🙂
Looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing. Is egg the only way to get protein into the smoothie?
You can try protein powder, but I’m not a fan. It isn’t “real food” and when I tried it once, it tasted funny. I do use eggs from local farms so I hope they are from healthy chickens. I also wash them off before cracking them.
I wonder if you could use cottage cheese for protein (if you wanted to do dairy).
Smoothness is exactly one of the reasons that I don’t do smoothies. I have weird texture issues and if there is even the slightest chunky amount of anything I just can’t do it. My (expensive) KitchenAid blender broke recently (David swears we can fix it). I may have to get one of these and give it a try.
It still had some texture, but it was consistent throughout. We like our smoothies rather thick.
This is great recipe. Do you use pasteurized eggs? I am a bit paranoid of salmonella using raw eggs.
No, I don’t. But I do buy eggs from local farms that are from chickens raised on grass. I would be afraid to use eggs from the supermarket. I also wash them off, even if they look clean.
If I had just spent the money on a Vitamix instead of the 5 others blenders I’ve bought in as many years, lol…will be buying this when we move! Do they fill him up enough? I’m always afraid to let my kids have them on a school day bc they have late lunch.
They seem to fill him up enough, but then, this is the kid that will go without if there is nothing he wants to eat. So I figure this is as good as anything. I have been known to put spinach in there and he can’t tell the difference in taste. It does make it look a bit gruesome, but he’s game since he can’t taste it.
I have been coveting a Vitamix, but after trying this, I no longer want one!!
I have a chocolate banana smoothie for breakfast almost every morning. I don’t use the eggs, but for protein I add a tablespoon of peanut butter. YUMMY! It’s my favorite!
YUM! That sounds good!
What are your thoughts on the salmonella factor? Is this along the same lines as the raw milk as far as potential risk factors go? I definitely agree with you on getting local, grass-fed, cage-free eggs. I just don’t quite know how I feel about being non-pasteurized products. I’ve heard the taste & nutrition is superior, but I’m still a little skittish. Once again, I applaud you for how much thought AND effort you put into your family’s diet & health.
I don’t know how it compares in terms of risk but it is probably similar. The irony is, we don’t drink the raw milk anymore (or at least for now, lol) but I do the raw eggs. I always wash them, and I always think to myself, “I hope this isn’t stupid.” But the fact is, people get sick from lots of different foods. There was just a new outbreak somewhere down south. Did they ever figure out what caused it? Usually the outbreaks seem to happen with mass produced foods that are probably manufactured very cheaply. I hope that getting high quality foods from small, local farms reduces the risks somewhat, but eating raw eggs and milk is always going to increase the risk slightly. Are the health benefits worth the risk? Danged if I know. LOL!!
whoops, **buying!
My next (rather large) diet step is to cut out all mass produced factory foods. I make exceptions for some things, like local shops that I trust that make breads and things. And I agree, do we all remember the salmonella outbreak from spinach a couple years back? I flinched, but I kept eating spinach. We can’t be afraid of everything I suppose!
Yeah, it is really hard to know what to do, isn’t it?
I sort of just made this for myself and my 2 kiddos who will drink smoothies. Sort of b/c I used cow milk, no eggs and, since I have one of those blenders that doesn’t blend, no ice. Very yummy! My non blending blender is one of those “nice” brands that you would think would do the trick nicely. It’s also a combo food processor which processes ok but will leave you deaf. I’ve read that Hamilton Beach makes a good “bargain” food processor and we have a panini press of the same brand and we’ve been very pleased with that.
I’m thrilled! I’d definitely recommend it.
I had this for breakfast this morning, JL – great! I’ll probably cut down on the cocoa powder next time, but I really liked it. The only way I can excuse chocolate for breakfast, which is, um, kinda like a dream come true 🙂
I know, right!!?? 🙂
OK, you’ve sold me on the blender. Unless they want to send me a free one, too. I am so tired of my stupid blender that doesn’t crush ice or even strawberries. Libbie LOVES smoothies, and I’d love a way to make them easily.
Does it wash easily with that spout?
Jessie
Yep, washes up no problem. I just stuck it in the dishwasher.
i always feel like i’m wasting space to put ice in my (or especially my daughter’s) smoothies. it’s not much of course, but i’d rather save the space for more fruit! so i try to use enough frozen stuff that i don’t need it. that means she gets mostly fruit smoothhies, but i bet she’d love a chocolate-based one! i wonder if i could freeze a tub o’ yogurt, then scoop it out the same as ice cream? would it be too solid? i could just pour it in ice cube trays to freeze in portions.