This Cherry Chocolate Smoothie tastes like drinking black forest cake batter, but the best part is that it’s entirely healthy! Whip up this vegan, paleo, and grain-free smoothie for a high energy breakfast.
Last week I shared with you one of my ultimate go-to smoothie recipes. I have some variation of that creation most week days before I get to work. I blabbed on about how much protein, fiber, healthy fats and nutrition from all the greens and berries. Besides loving the taste and texture of that smoothie, I keep drinking because of how great I feel all morning. The kale berry power smoothie is my main squeeze when it comes to breakfast, tried and true.
But once in a while I like to challenge myself to think outside the blender a little and dare to be creative. Sometimes I get a little too creative, and concoct something that (while I still enjoy it) isn’t quite up to blog caliber. Or I’ll experiment with a new ratio that isn’t quite right. I’ll get a taste I love but the texture’s a deal breaker.
Today, my friends, is a different story. Today, I’m sharing a daring smoothie experiment gone right. It begins with my obsession with frozen cherries. Ever since their appearance at Trader Joe’s a few weeks ago I just can’t stop. They’re insanely flavorful, but it’s the texture that kills me (I mean that in the best possible way). I’ll pop a couple in my mouth as snacks. Throw some in my regular smoothie to give it that magic touch, but it wasn’t enough. The might cherry deserved more. It deserved to be celebrated. Exalted. Am I being dramatic? Maybe, or maybe these frozen cherries are just that good! I’ll let you be the judge.
So that’s the story of inspiration part 1, but there’s a part 2 to this tale: the chocolate. Regularly, I’m a vanilla protein powder kinda gal. But during some recipe development for work (yeah, sometimes I have to make smoothies on the job, it’s a tough life) I discovered how incredible the addition of cocoa powder AND chocolate protein powder can be. This magical combo turns an ordinary smoothie into dessert status. The texture is rich and creamy, almost like brownie batter sans the brownie batter tummy ache.
Cherries had found their perfect match. An elegant solution to my smoothie equation. Juicy, plump, frozen cherries meet deceptively healthy, but indulgent tasting chocolate and tah dah – a match blended in heaven. Looking to make this smoothie even more kick-ass? Grab a handful of spinach and toss it in. I promise you won’t even taste it, and trust me you’ll feel like a boss when you’ve already had spinach and it’s only 10 AM. You’ll also feel like a mega boss because you’ve already had chocolate and it’s only 10 AM.
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 cup of frozen cherries
- 1 tbsp of cocoa powder
- 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
- 4-8oz of unsweetened coconut milk* (depending on how thick you like your smoothies)
- Optional:
- 1/4 tsp of almond extract
- 1 handful of spinach
- *you can use your favorite dairy alternative (almond/cashew/soy milk)
- Place all ingredients into a high powered blender and blend until smooth
- Pour into you favorite smoothie consuming vessel (bowl, glass, mason jar, blender bottle)
- Optional
- Garnish with extra frozen cherries
Want more smoothie inspiration? Let’s be (insta)nt friends
Your Turn:
- Do you like vanilla or chocolate in your smoothie?
- Clearly I love the cherry chocolate thing, but what’s your favorite fruit/chocolate combo?
Ughhhh YES. Except I still haven’t taken your advice and tried frozen cherries. I need to. I feel like once I do I’ll want to make 250 different cherry smoothies.
It’s a slippery slope, but a delicious one 🙂
The chocolate/cherry combo is the BOMB! I love it for oats too with nut butter of course…It is definitely one of my favorite combos…Love that you still devouring smoothies despite the freezing cold temps. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Yes – the oat nut butter texture/taste combo cannot be beat! It’s literally 1 degree out and I’m still craving smoothies in the morning. Crazy. At least I have my hot coffee to warm me up after.
I make this smoothie often, but with a scoop of PB2 peanut powder instead of the protein powder
Oo that sounds delicious! PB2 is great for smoothies
This looks divine, nice work! I like experimenting with my smoothies as well, but I’ve definitely ended up with a few…ok a lot…of bad batches that I could barely drink, usually because I add too much kale or liquid and it becomes a soupy brownish green mess.
Thanks Lacey! Sometimes the colors, especially when you mix green and berries can be pretty unappetizing even if it tastes great, which is another reason I love blackberries in smoothies because they make things so pretty.
I’ve been waiting for this since your teaser on Insta. Looks awesome, can’t wait to try! Love the chocolate + cherries combo.
Thanks so much Alexandra! You just can’t go too far wrong with chocolate + pretty much anything.
I love the chocolate smoothie option!! And I have actually been wanting to try the cherry chocolate combo as well. Just need to get my hands on some frozen cherries and give it a try. Thanks for the inspiration:)
If you’re not near a Trader Joe’s check out Whole Food’s or Wegmans! Warning: they’re totally addicting
I’m new to your website and loving all your smoothie creations! What blender do you use? Do you recommend any one in particular? I’ve been using my father-in-law’s Ninja and I like the option to prepare a single-serve smoothie but have been thinking about getting a new blender. Would love your thoughts!
Thank you so much Sara. I either use a food processor (hamilton beach) when I want a thicker smoothie – you can use very little liquid and it makes it nice, thick and creamy. But for the weekdays when I’m short on time I love my nutribullet because it’s so easy to clean and does a good job for the price (around $100)
The dream blender would be a Vitamix but those are pretty pricey.
Love this smoothie! I switched the banana with 1/4 cup Fage 0% Greek yogurt to boost the protein and reduce the carbs. Plus, I added 1/2 tablespoon of nut butter for fat and 1 tablespoon of Acacia Fiber for a little extra fiber. I think that the frozen cherries help mask the chalky after taste I usually get with my protein powder. Yay! I will be definitely be making this one again soon. Thanks so much for sharing!