Chocolate nut smoothie bowl

I’ve just stumbled on to this recipe and been so impressed I’ve had to write it up straight away! It’s a pretty indulgent chocolate nut smoothie which makes for a surprisingly good dairy and soya free pudding, if you’re lacking in that particular department (who isn’t…).

It does require a fairly decent blender. We’ve recently replaced our food processor because it didn’t have enough ‘umph’ for the kind of things we wanted to do in it (guacalmole, smoothies etc…). In the end we replaced our entire liquidiser and food processor unit with a NutriBullet. It’s basically a fruit smoothie maker but it’s powerful enough to blend up anything we’ve put in it and we’re using it far more than anything we’ve had before. It’s great for ‘healthy’ fruit and veg smoothies but also more indulgent pudding type blends. (I don’t actually think the word ‘healthy’ should ever be used to describe food… Chances are if it’s ready to eat you’ve probably already picked it which basically means it’s dead – not healthy. No food is healthy in absolution, you need a mix of nutrients to match your body’s requirements. I often have to physically bite my fist at work when people start talking about how they wouldn’t eat “x” because it’s not healthy…)

This particular smoothie isn’t from a recipe as such – it’s cobbled together from trial and error based on variations of recipes I’ve seen and a wholehearted ambition for indulgence.

The following steps will make enough for 3, provided you’re willing to share. It’s not a science so make as you see fit…

• Get 1/2 a cup of blanched hazelnuts and 1/2 a cut of cashew kernels and place them in a small(ish) bowl
• Cover with boiling water and leave for 3+ hours to soften
• Place the nuts and the water they’ve been sat in into the food processor/NutriBullet cannister
• Add 1 banana (peeled obviously)
• Add 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter (I really like the crunchy Pip n Nut stuff at the moment)
• Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• Add 1/2 tablespoon of chocolate hazelnut spread (Nature’s Store for me…)
• Add a dash of maple syrup (just to take away the bitterness of the cocoa – you don’t need much)
• Top up to the fill line (or about a cup’s worth) of cashew nut milk

Blend until smooth. It might take a couple of goes as it’s pretty thick stuff but be careful it doesn’t overheat with the blade just spinning in air if it is too thick… Add more milk if that’s happening.

Pop the smoothie mix into the fridge for an hour until ready to serve.

Pour a portion of the smoothie mix into a small bowl and top with your personal preferences. I went for one half low-sugar granola and the other half nuts and dairy, soya free chocolate drops. (Moo Free make chocolate baking drops which are surprisingly good).

Eat with a spoon and then go back for seconds, thirds, fourths etc…

I’ve just put the rest of the mix in the freezer, if that works out as well as I think it will – you’ll see it here!

You’re welcome.