• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • All Recipes
  • 30 Minute Meals
  • Gluten Free
  • Vegan

Darn Good Veggies logo

menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • 30 Minute Meals
  • Vegan
  • Gluten Free
  • Subscribe
×

Home » Meal Type » Drinks

Published: Apr 29, 2017 · by Laurel Perry · About 2 minutes to read this article. · This post may contain affiliate links

Mad Cacao Smoothie

  • Facebook
Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

This 5 minute Mad Cacao Smoothie is flavored with almond butter and chocolate. It tastes like dessert and is full of protein to start your morning right!

A chocolate almond butter smoothie overfilling a glass topped with cacao nibs on a marble background.

This smoothie takes me back to better times.

Times of sand between my toes, long walks on the beach, and Hawaiian paradise.

Not that this smoothie has a tropical ingredient in it. No papaya, pineapple, or passionfruit to be found.

It triggers tropical memories because my sister was married in Hawaii late last year. The whole family rolled her wedding into a tropical vacation and spent a week on the island. There were plenty of blended drinks: piña coladas, daiquiris, and this less alcoholic Mad Cacao Smoothie.

(Side note: I had the opportunity to photograph her wedding and if you want to sneak a peek at the pics you can see them here!)

So despite the lack of tropical ingredients, this takes me bask to smoothie sippin' mornings in Hawiian paradise. Followed by long walks by the beach, sun bathing with a cocktail in hand, and then dreaming of tomorrow morning when I could wake up and start the next day with this Mad Cacao Smoothie. I would wakeup, barefoot walk down to the hippy dippy smoothie shop right by our hotel and order the same smoothie every day.

Now that I have perfected this Mad Cacao Smoothie at home, I have been slurping it up on the regular.

A chocolate almond butter smoothie overfilling a glass topped with cacao nibs on a marble background.

While this smoothie might not come with a side of paradise, it is some tasty breakfast fuel to get you through the day.

The base of this drink is frozen banana, the smoothie queen. Banana gives great creaminess, lends a bunch of natural sweetness,  and plays well with our other ingredients.

To that creamy base, we will add almond butter for protein and flavor. It adds 14 grams of protein to this recipe for some super staying power. This smoothie might taste like dessert, but it will get you through to lunch.

Then we dress up this Mad Cacao Smoothie real good. Cinnamon adds gourmet sweetness and a touch of cacao powder gives it a light chocolate flavor. The real magic is in the raw cacao nibs. We send them for a quick go-around in the blender, just to slightly break them up. When you slurp them up they taste like little bites of chocolate chips.

Get your blenders ready.

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
A chocolate almond butter smoothie overfilling a glass topped with cacao nibs on a marble background.

Mad Cacao Smoothie

★★★★ 4 from 1 reviews
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 2 servings 1x
  • Category: Beverages
  • Cuisine: gluten-free, oil-free, vegan
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Description

This 5 minute Mad Cacao Smoothie is flavored with almond butter and chocolate. It tastes like dessert and is full of protein to start your morning right!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 frozen bananas
  • ¼ cup almond butter
  • 2 teaspoons cacao powder
  • 1 cup almond milk ((more for a thinner consistency))
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons cacao nibs

Instructions

  1. Add all the ingredients but the cacao nibs into a blender. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary or using a tamper. Add in the cacao nibs and blend again to break them up into smaller pieces - like chocolate chips. Serve topped with more almond butter and cacao nibs.

A collage of mad cacao smoothies with cacao nibs.

« Kale Caesar Salad with Tofu Bacon
Strawberry Peach Chia Pudding »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tiffany says

    July 13, 2021 at 6:54 am

    Looks delicious. Is that 4 frozen bananas for 1 smoothie correct?

    Reply
    • Laurel Perry says

      July 13, 2021 at 11:28 am

      Hi Tiffany! 4 frozen bananas is correct, but the recipe should make enough for two smoothies :) Feel free to cut the recipe in half if needed!

      Reply
  2. M says

    August 19, 2021 at 11:23 am

    Instead of vanilla extract or in addition to if you love vanilla like me, you can get ground vanilla bean powder which has fiber in it. It’s very vanillaey and delicious. It also tastes sweet by itself so it adds a little sugar free sweetness to your recipes. I like adding it to Greek yogurt.

    I also make homemade vanilla bean paste and syrup with organic demerara sugar and vanilla bean power. It’s so much better than anything I’ve bought.

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • Laurel Perry says

      August 20, 2021 at 5:35 am

      Sounds AMAZING! I'll definitely have to try it with vanilla bean powder!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Primary Sidebar

Hi! I'm Laurel

Eating your veggies doesn’t have to mean bland steamed cauliflower and boring salads! My mission is to help people eat their nine servings of fruit & vegetables a day and LOVE it! About me →

Trying to Eat Healtier?

Subscribe and get our top tips for cooking veggies that you will CRAVE!

No spam. Ever.

Footer

↑ back to top

DARN GOOD VEGGIES

  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Contact
  • Media Kit

CONNECT

  • Newsletter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Youtube

FOOD & RECIPES

  • 30 Minute Meals
  • 10 Ingredients or Less
  • Gluten Free
  • Vegan
  • Plant Basics

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2022 Darn Good Veggies

Copyright © 2023 · Cookd Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in