A few days ago while doing an inventory of my canned goods, I noticed four cans of tart cherries staring back at me. Wow. When did I buy those?? I grabbed one and checked the date: getting close to expiration time. I’ve been on a mission to use those cans before the clock strikes midnight on them (what exactly happens on the expiration date anyway? Do they self-destruct? Instantly acquire botulism?) My first recipe was a vegan version of Cauldron and Cupcakes’ Cherry Ripe Slice (I love the name of this recipe. I feel like I could change the words around and it would still make sense. BTW, “slice” means cake. Mmmm, cake.).
Sadly, my attempt didn’t come out quite as expected. Perfectly edible, but not ready for prime time. I encourage you to check out Nicole’s recipe. It looks and sounds wonderful. Still craving chocolate and coconut, I opted to create a smoothie variation (not picture here) of her dessert, the recipe of which is below the Chocolate-Cherry-Banana Smoothie recipe. Two smoothie recipes for the price of one!
You’ll need cacao nibs and cocoa powder for both of these recipes. I use NuNaturals NuStevia White Stevia Powder packets to keep these sugar-free. Their NuStevia Simple Syrup would work nicely, too!
Chocolate Cherry & Banana Green Smoothie
- Yield: 1 1x
Description
Like a chocolate-covered cherry in a glass – with the added nutritional benefit of spinach.
Ingredients
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 very ripe bananas, sliced and frozen
- 3 Tbsp. powdered unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder
- 1 Tbsp. coffee, optional
- liquid or powdered stevia (or your favorite sweetener), to taste
- 1 15-ounce can pitted, tart cherries (packed in water, not syrup), drained well and frozen (or one 12-ounce bag of frozen sweet cherries)
- A big handful of baby spinach or kale
- cacao nibs for topping, optional
Instructions
- Put everything (except the cacao nibs) in a high-speed blender in the order listed and blend until smooth. It’s just that easy. Add more liquid as needed to get the ingredients moving.
- Divide smoothie between three glasses and sprinkle with cacao nibs.
Notes
- The coffee is optional – – but oh my, it deepens the chocolate flavor!
- This is not a low calorie smoothie. To lighten it up, use water instead of non-dairy milk.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3
- Calories: 247
- Sugar: 23
- Sodium: 175
- Fat: 5
- Saturated Fat: 4
- Unsaturated Fat: 1
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 49
- Protein: 8
- Cholesterol: 0
Cherry Ripe Slice Smoothie
- Yield: 1 1x
Description
Cherries and chocolate and coconut…sigh. Go easy on this one – it’s calorie-rich!
Ingredients
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 tsp. coconut or vanilla extract
- 2 very ripe bananas, sliced and frozen
- 3 Tbsp. powdered unsweetened cocoa
- liquid or powdered stevia (or your favorite sweetener), to taste
- 1 15-ounce can pitted, tart cherries (packed in water, not syrup), drained well and frozen (or one 12-ounce bag frozen cherries)
- A big handful of baby spinach
- cacao nibs for topping, optional
- toasted unsweetened coconut flakes for topping, optional
Instructions
- Put everything (except the cacao nibs and toasted coconut flakes) in a high-speed blender in the order shown and blend until smooth! (If using both frozen bananas and cherries, you will need more liquid to get and keep the mixture moving.)
- Divide between four glasses and sprinkle with cacao nibs and toasted coconut flakes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 606
- Sugar: 21
- Sodium: 99
- Fat: 49
- Saturated Fat: 42
- Unsaturated Fat: 3
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 46
- Protein: 10
- Cholesterol: 0
I love the interesting color of these smoothies, almost like a pea soup.
When you throw the ingredients in – you sometimes have no idea what the color is going to be! I love when they come out with that beautiful, bright green.
I feel like my banana allergy is really holding me back in the smoothie department! 🙁
Dang! Well…I’ll bet there are other fruits you could use instead…or even a dollop of nut butter.
Sub in avocado for the creaminess!
Looks like just the thing to curl up with a good book on a sunny deck somewhere. Yum.
Now that’s an idea!
I put kale in hubby’s smoothies (with a lot of fruit to try and disguise it) never thought of teaming up green veg with chocolate and cherry though – sounds amazing!
Barb – you can sub in avocados for bananas, they thicken smoothies up nicely 🙂
Oh, right! Avocado! Brilliant suggestion.
I really SHOULD have a smoothie today. Good idea.
Smoothies for all my friends!
I might have to omit the spinach since I am hopelessly without a Vitamix, but these look great!
Think the spinach would wreak havoc w/ a regular blender? Maybe if you chopped it first??
I dunno…my blender is pretty much useless. It’s cracked on the sides and frequently spits at me. It could probably work though. I just sort of shake it around while it’s blending and smack it a few times. High tech, I know.
I had one of those blenders, too…Then I dropped it one day and completely did it in. Oops.
Another “on-purpose,” perhaps?
Well…maaaaybe…
I regularly use frozen cherries in smoothies. It hides any leafy greens that didn’t get fully pulverized and had a delicious sweetness.
I just bought a big bag of frozen cherries since I’m out of the canned ones 😉 – looking forward to more concoctions!
Looks delish!
It sure hit the spot! Thanks!
Have you ever had a real cherry ripe candy bar? They are Australian and my hubby’s favorite. Her dessert looks crazy awesome. I just looked up the ingredients with a hope and a prayer that they are possibly vegan because they are made with dark chocolate. No such luck, milk and gelatin. Now I get to make your smoothie and come up with a vegan candy confection! Or a cherry ripe mini donut!
No, but it sounds delicious (candy bar)! I LOVE cherries! Which is why I tried to veganize Nicole’s dessert. I came kinda close…but probably won’t give it another go for a while. I’m liking the sound of a confection, though, Somer! And cherry pie…oh I love that!
Yummy, can’t wait to make this. I added kale and banana to my smoothie today!
Amazing how the kale disappears, isn’t it?
yes, just like like beautiful specks of goodness
I am yet to brave any greens in my smoothie – tell me you can’t taste them Ann? Tell me??! This sounds gorgeous and I love the flakes on top. I need a food photography master class for sure!
x
Be brave, my dear. I have my hand over my heart as I say this: you will not taste the greens. This is a solemn promise. But – your body will say to you: thank you, thank you!
Yum, yum, yummy! ♥
My Elflings would go mad for this! ♥
Chocolate cherry milkshake without the nasty stuff! Elfling-approved is what I aim for!
Yum- brilliant flavour combination!
Sometimes I miss having beautifully coloured smoothies when I throw in veggies (which is always lol). But then I give them a taste and remember it doesn’t really matter 🙂
Gabby – I KNOW! I feel the same way sometimes. And knowing all of the goodness we are getting – – worth it!
Yum – they look scrumptious!!! Do you make your own almond milk in the Vita mix?
I’ve made my own, but prior to the Vitamix. I can’t wait to try it – must be much easier than when I did it in my $20 blender!
I am not the biggest cherry fan. I convinced myself while I was in 3rd grade that I didn’t like cherries because the cool girl didn’t like cherries. Now I really just don’t like them..I psychologically convinced myself they were icky. However, this recipe does sound delicious and I am sure subbing strawberries, or raspberries would taste just as good!
Raspberries would be awesome! Damn that stupid cool girl! Wonder if SHE likes cherries now?
That Vitamix of yours is certainly earning its keep! I love cherries too and I would sloosh back your delicious smoothie in an instant. Excellent job with all the social media business!
The Vitamix has just about paid for itself, I think!
Yay for using up ingredients! Love the inventive nature of us cooks…this looks awesome Anne!
This smoothie sounds so tasty – I can imagine if really hitting the spot for brekkie on the go 😀
Thanks for the links of VVP 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Gotta love chocolate smoothies. I too would find some products hiding in the pantry, if only I could find a way to see them all in one view. Btw, thanks for creating the vvp social medias. I be sure to follow them.
Thanks, Richgail!
THANK YOU for doing all that wonderful stuff for the VVP. I love looking at the Pinterest board–it’s a true smorgasbord. So inspiring.
These smoothies look lovely! I laughed when I read about your mysterious pile-up of canned cherries. Funny how that happens. I’ve been stockpiling bags of cinnamon like there will be a world shortage of it, I discovered the other day, to my surprise.
Haha! Why do we do that with certain ingredients? I must have 4 bags do soy flour in my freezer! And lots of cumin on the pantry shelf. Funny.
Delicious!! I do believe one or both of these is destined to become my Sunday afternoon snack this week, mmmmmm. Thank you SO MUCH for all the amazing links to the VVP, too! It’s so good to be able to look at them all on one Pinterest board and the FB page is a brilliant idea! xx
Thanks! It’s been fun going back through the Potluck – really some crazy-delicious eats!
What a grand & special smoothy, which I love! Saturday, I received my Vitamix! Yeah! I also bought the dry container to grain my own grains! I can’t wait to try this recipe out!
I am still learning how to use it! MMMMMM,…!!!
Congratulations! I’m still learning about mine, too, but have used it every day since I got it. Love it! Let me know how the grains go. Would love to do that, too.
This looks so luscious! I can’t believe there’s green hidden underneath that chocolate! What a delightful way to sneak in some spinach!
Does all this VVP social media set up mean it’s going to be recurring event? Cuz, it would be really cool if did!!
I just posted my favorite green smoothie recipe today! I’ll have to try yours also
I’ll check it out, thanks!
I really need to embrace smoothies more… I just like chewing!
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Looks delicious! Always love hidden veggies in smoothies.
Thanks, Jess!