Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Caramel Smoothie Bowl

Since I already wrote a bit about why I made this bowl in the first place on Instagram, all I will say here is that I made this smoothie bowl (or nice cream, depending on how you define it!), because I was tired, had a rough night the day before and really needed something comforting and delicious.

Enter this bowl. I can’t decide if it’s a smoothie bowl or nice cream — I put just enough almond milk in the base to make it slightly more than nice cream texture, but not quite smoothie bowl texture. I could debate this in my head for hours.

Anyway, one of my favorite combinations for smoothies and nice cream is to combine dates with mama powder. It creates such a delicious flavor that is very similar to caramel. Then when you add in old favorites like chocolate and peanut butter, you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a winner whether it’s a soupy smoothie bowl or a firm scoop of nice cream.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Smoothie Base:
  • 4 frozen bananas
  • 2 pitted medjool dates (or use about 5 regular pitted dates, but the medjool ones are worth springing for on this recipe)
  • 1/2 cup of almond milk, optional. You can use as much or as little as you want depending on how thick you want your smoothie bowl.
  • 1 scoop of chocolate plant-based protein (I use ALOHA chocolate), OR 1 tbsp of raw cacao powder
  • 1 tbsp of raw maca powder
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Sauce:
  • 1/4 cup of vegan chocolate chips
  • 2 tbsp almond milk
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter (I used a coconut oil & peanut butter blend because I love the coconut flavor)
• Toppings:
  • 1/4 cup of vegan granola (use as much as you want)
  • 1 tbsp raw cacao nibs
  • Small handful of hazelnuts (or other nut)
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut

Method:

1. Place frozen bananas in high-speed blender (I use a Vitamix) or food processor. Blend until it starts to get creamy, adding almond milk if you desire (I personally like to add some so it’s more of a very thick smoothie consistency, but if you add none, you will have more of a thick ice cream texture).
2. Add in pitted dates, maca, protein powder (or cacao), and blend until smooth and well combined.
3. Pour into a bowl and place in the freezer while you make the sauce.
4. To make the chocolate peanut butter sauce, place all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir, and microwave more if needed. You can add more almond milk if you want the sauce to be runnier. Stir it well until you get the consistency you want.
5. Remove smoothie bowl from freezer and drizzle chocolate sauce all over, then add your toppings.
6. Enjoy!