Thick Coffee Banana Smoothie

Submitted by Annacia

"There are a few little preparation quirks that distinguish a good smoothie from a great one - at least in my book. For one, I like to par-freeze the fruit I'm using - not rock solid, mind you - because it helps thicken the drink; room temperature fruit only thins it. Ditto for the liquid I use, in this case coffee - usually left over from the pot I've made that morning. As prepared here, this smoothie has a mild coffee flavor, but if you want a stronger coffee kick then go ahead and use some double strength brewed coffee that has been well chilled."

 

• Ready In: 34mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• 177.44-236.59 ml fresh brewed coffee, cooled
• 1 medium banana, peeled
• 14.79-29.58 ml sugar (optional) or 14.79-29.58 ml honey, to taste (optional)
• 354.88 ml french vanilla yogurt (low-fat or nonfat is fine)
• 14.79-29.58 ml protein powder (or other nutritional powder) (optional)
• 4.92 ml chocolate syrup (optional)
• 0.06 ml vanilla extract

directions

1. Twenty to thirty minutes before you plan to mix your smoothie, put the coffee in a shallow pan and place it in the freezer, stirring once or twice after 15 minutes.
2. It should become slushy-icy.
3. Thinly slice the banana onto a plate and put that in the freezer as well, to chill.
4. While you're waiting, chill the glasses you plan to use.
5. When you're ready to proceed, combine the chilled coffee, banana, and sugar to taste in a blender.
6. Blend just until smooth.
7. Add the yogurt and any of the remaining ingredients you wish to use.
8. Blend again, briefly, just until smooth. Taste, adding a little more sugar if needed. Transfer to the chilled glasses and serve.

Reviews

[DailyInspiration]

This is a very tasty smoothie. DH was hesitant about the combination of banana and coffee, but I assured him that you definitely are the "Queen" of Coffee"! : ) The only changes I made was to use truvia sweetner (but less than called for as my frozen bananas were very ripe and sweet), and no protein powder (wish I had had it on hand. This made a nice breakfast smoothie -- you get the best of both worlds -- breakfast and coffee.LOL Made for Everyday is a Holiday tag, September, 2013.

 

[Anonymous]

This tasted great, I used rum extract instead of vanilla and really enjoy it. Thanks

 

[Evan W.]

Uber gross. Needs about half a cup of sugar to be palatable.

 

[duonyte]

I have to say I was a little nervous making this, as coffee and banana are not - to me - a natural combo, but Annacia is the queen of coffee, so I gave it a try. I really was pleasantly surprised. I used my own kefir, strained slightly to give it a thicker consistency and some vanilla to flavor it. I have a supply of frozen banana slices in the fridge at all times for smoothies. Did not use any of the optional ingredients, although perhaps a small amount of honey would have been good. Mr. Grumpy did not care for it, but I thought it was a really nice way to start out the morning when it's 75 deg by 5AM.

 

[Bay Laurel]

Perfect! Very satisfying and I felt like a big cheater. Thanks for sharing Annacia!