Chocolate Smoothie Bowl

A great alternative to a smoothie drink, this chocolate smoothie bowl is made with yoghurt, banana, tahini, cocoa powder, chia seeds, oats and topped up with cocoa nibs, bananas and other toppings of your choice. Perfect as a breakfast or a healthy snack.

Why make a chocolate smoothie bowl recipe?

• Easy to make breakfast recipe, perfect for summer or any time of the year
• Nutritional & healthy recipe, that can replace your breakfast
• Easy to digest
• Make it different every day by adding various toppings and changing the ingredients
• No need to use ice cubes or frozen bananas

What exactly is smothie bowl?

Smothie bowl is a thicker version of a breakfast smoothie, which is served in a bowl and decorated with various toppings, including fruit, seeds and edible flowers.

Most recipes are made with fresh or frozen fruit or vegetables, dairy or non-dairy milk and ice cubes, which are blended together, then scooped into a bowl and garnished with toppings.

My take on smoothie bowl recipe

I like to add more protein (like cream cheese, peanut or almond butter or tahini) and healthy fibre (like oats) or carbohydrates (like millet, oats or rice flakes) to thicken my smoothies even more and to give me more energy.

Unlike other recipes for smoothie bowls, I prefer not to use ice cubes or freeze my fruit or milk in advance. I prefer to use other ingredients, such as oats to thicken my smoothie. I suffer with IBS and find that excess coldness just stresses my digestive system out too much. I prefer to eat my smoothie bowls at room temperature and not nearly frozen. I even sometimes warm them up – especially in the winter.

If you prefer your smoothie bowl on a colder side, just use ice cubes instead of some of the yoghurt and use frozen bananas instead of fresh ones.

My top tips on making this recipe successfully the first time round

• Start with less liquid (including ice-cubes if using) than the recipe states and only add it in, if the mixture is too thick (remember this recipe ment to be smooth and thick)
• You don’t need to use ice-cubes if you don’t want to. In fact I often warm up my smoothie bowl in a microwave and eat it warm in the winter. Ice-cubes water down the recipe, so bear that in mind when adding them in
• If you have the time, leave the smoothie bowl to rest for 10-20 minutes to allow for all the dry ingredients (like the chia seeds or oats) to soak up more liquid. This will make the smoothie bowl even more digestible.

Any specialist equipment needed?

You will need a hand blender or food processor to make your breakfast smoothie bowl. It’s difficult to make it without it, but you don’t need to have any fancy food processor. I use a basic hand-held blender and it works just fine.

Chocolate Smoothie Base

• 1 cup white yoghurt Greek yoghurt, dairy free, plant based yoghurt
• 1 banana
• 1 tablespoon tahini light paste
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon flaxmeal seeds ground
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon oats
• tiny pinch of fine salt

Toppings – choose 2-3

• few slices of bananas
• 1 tablespoon cocoa nibs
• 1 tablespoon walnuts ground or roughtly chooped
• 1 tablespoon coconut flakes or sheded coconut
• 1 teaspoon honey agave syrup or date surup to drizzle over the toppings

• 

• 

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Add the yoghurt, cocoa powder, tahini, banana, oats, flaxseeds, chia seeds and a few grains of salt into a food processor or a blender. Blend everything until it’s thick and smooth.
• Taste the chocolate smoothie and adjust the taste by adding any sweetener (e.g. honey) or more cocoa powder.
• Pour or spoon the chocolate smoothie into breakfast bowl.
• Top the smoothie with bananas, cocoa nibs, coconut flakes, walnuts or any other toppings of your choice.
• The chocolate smoothie bowl is ready to be eaten straightaway, but you can leave it for 10-20 minutes to allow for the dry ingredients to absorbe more water and make the smoothie even more digestible.

NOTES

This recipe is for 1 large serving of breakfast smoothie bowl, which replaces a breakfast. Alternatively, you can make it into 2 smaller portions for smaller appetites or use it as a pudding or an afternoon healthy snack.

Tailor this recipe to your diet

• Vegan – use plant based yoghurt (everything else is already vegan friendly)
• Gluten – Free – use gluten free oats or cooked rice flakes (or rice) or leave them out altogether
• Dairy – Free – use plant based yoghurt (soya yoghurt or coconut yogurt)
• Nut – Free – use a different topping than the walnuts

Serving size

This recipe is for 1 large serving of breakfast smoothie bowl, which replaces a breakfast. Alternatively, you can make it into 2 smaller portions for smaller appetites or use it as a pudding or an afternoon healthy snack.

Can this recipe be made in advance?

Make this recipe in double or triple quantity, divide between plastic freezer friendly bowls, add lids (or use a strong cling film) and freeze. When you are ready to have your breakfast smoothie bowl, take it out the night before and defrost in the fridge. In the morning top it up with your choice of topping and enjoy your breakfast!

The smoothie bowl can also sit for about 10-20 minutes (or up to 1 hr) in a room temperature without any harm. Alternatively you can prepare your chocolate smoothie bowl in the evening (I often do), scoop it out to a bowl, but don’t add topping, cover and leave overnight in the fridge. In the morning just add your favourite toppings and your breakfast is ready!

How to store this recipe if you have any leftovers

If you have any leftovers, your breakfast smoothie bowl will be fine in the fridge for 12-24 hrs. If you know that you won’t be able to finish your smoothie within that time, it’s best to freeze it (unless you’ve already frozen in before).

Why not stay in touch…

I hope you enjoy making this recipe and if you do, I’d love to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or find me on Instagram or Facebook and add the hashtag #cocoaandheart so that I can see your post.

Or why not subscribe to my weekly newsletter with new recipes and baking tips straight to your mailbox.

Magdalena

LIKE THIS RECIPE? SHARE IT FOR LATER