Raw Carob Banana Smoothie

This raw carob banana smoothie is dangerously delicious.

Only because it’s hard to stop at just one glassful.

(I seem to make a lot of food like that, don’t I?)

But, hey, if you’re eating such amazing food, does it really matter?

I whizzed up this raw carob banana smoothie in a brave (but possibly misguided) attempt to reduce my chocolate intake.

And although that particular experiment failed, (what can I say? I love my chocolate), this smoothie has definitely made a huge change in my attitude toward carob.

I’ve been slowly warming up to the idea of carob as a chocolate substitute, because I have to admit, we’ve not always been the best of friends.

My first experiences of carob as a child were not very positive (bleck, I can still taste those carob buds), and ever since I’ve resented carob’s ‘try-hard’ chocolate flavour.

Carob just always seemed like a second-rate alternative to chocolate.

But I’ve had some reasonably successful experiments recently, and I think I’m slowly coming around.

I’d have to say that this recipe for a raw carob banana smoothie is definitely my most successful carob experiment yet.

So successful, in fact, that I’m rather taken with this creamy carob concoction, completely in spite of the fact that it has carob in it.

It actually tastes good in its own right, rather than seeming like a pathetic attempt to imitate chocolate.

I know I sound surprised, and I guess I am, but I am also really pleased. Honestly.

I’m always thrilled when I discover food that tastes this good.

And what’s even better is that my 4yo loves to drink it, and she’s not usually a big fan of my chocolate smoothies.

So anything that can win her fussy tastebuds over must be amazing, in my book.

It’s so fast to whip up too, so it makes a great quick dinner or afternoon snack.

So go on, give it a go and let me know how your carob experiment goes.

Raw Carob Banana Smoothie

This raw carob banana smoothie is dangerously delicious. But, hey, if you’re eating such amazing food, does it really matter?

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Category: Drink

Cuisine: Paleo, Raw, Vegan, Wholefoods

Tags: dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, oil-free, salt-free, soy-free, sugar-free

Cook time: 10 minutes minutes

Makes: 2 serves

Calories per serve: 410kcal

Author: Nikki, Eating Vibrantly

Ingredients

• 2 med bananas (200g)
• 3 tsp carob powder
• 2 med medjool dates (50g)
• 1/2 cup cashews (70g)
• 3 tsp sunflower butter or pepita butter or almond butter
• 2 tsp lucuma powder [optional]
• 1 tsp mesquite powder [optional]
• 2/3 cup water (180g)
• 1 cup ice (180g)

Method

• Put everything into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.

Preparation

• Before: -
• During: 10 mins
• After: -
• Need: Blender

Nutrition Information

Serving: 350g; Calories: 410kcal; Carbohydrates: 60g; Protein: 9.8g; Fat: 19.6g; Saturated Fat: 3.2g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 5.4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 9.1g; Sodium: 15mg; Potassium: 815mg; Fiber: 7.8g; Sugar: 33.3g; Vitamin A: 100IU; Vitamin C: 12.4mg; Calcium: 90mg; Iron: 3.4mg

Tips

• You can use frozen bananas if you have them on hand. Just use all water instead of a mix of ice and water. But either way, this smoothie is definitely at its best served cold.
• You can substitute any nut milk for the water and cashews. I’m just too lazy to use up our precious nut milk in a smoothie, so I prefer to “make it on the fly” as part of the smoothie recipe.
• If you use soy milk, hemp seed milk or another nut-free non-dairy milk, you could make this smoothie nut-free.
• You can use any nut butter instead of the sunflower butter. I like the taste of peanut butter as well, and the almond butter also works, but I do prefer the sunflower most of all.
• The lucuma and mesquite are entirely optional, but they do combine with the carob taste very well, and take the whole experience up a notch, so use them if you can.
• This recipe also scales pretty well, so it’s easy to make it just for one (just halve everything), or for up to 6 or more (depending on the size of your blender).

My inspiration

So I was on the hunt for carob smoothie recipes and I came across Young and Raw’s dairy-free peanut butter & carob smoothie recipe, and adapted it to create this masterpiece. Their recipe is simpler than mine, and it’s still super delicious.

I did start out using peanut butter (I had an old jar that had been sitting around for ages) and once I ran out of that, I moved on to sunflower butter to use up yet another neglected jar of nut butter.

But then the flavours worked out so well that just had to go and buy myself another jar of the stuff (sigh).

And I just love to sneak in super foods wherever I can.

What a happy discovery.

Have an awesome day!