DARK CHERRY AND CACAO CRUNCH SMOOTHIE

This (besides the sunshine) is my favourite thing to wake up to lately.

The darkest of cherries and bittersweet crunch of cacao conspire to recreate Japanese springtime in a glass, rich with health-boosting oils, creamy yoghurt and golden yolk…to keep you blissfully sated until lunch, or later.

If I’m having a smoothie as a stand-alone breakfast—not just a beverage—I want there to be something a little more interesting going on; there needs to be appropriate thickness, and actual texture. (The mouth feels are universally considered just as important as taste; culinary scientists note textural quality to be a key component in identifying flavour itself.)

Long story short, I like to bite into my food, whatever it is. If you’re like me, you’ll be entirely satisfied with the copious crunch of this smoothie. If you’re a stickler for semantics, and believe a smoothie should be exactly as it suggests, swap out the cacao nibs for cacao powder. (Won’t be as perfect, though. Just sayin’.)

For a vegan spin, leave out the ghee and egg, doubling the coconut oil instead.

Do you have to use frozen fruit in a smoothie?

If you want a creamy smoothie—and who doesn’t—you need to incorporate at least one frozen ingredient. In this recipe, only the cherries need be frozen, but it’s always a good idea to freeze some overripe banana chunks should the smoothie craving sneak up on you—bananas go well with almost any smoothie combo.

DARK CHERRY AND CACAO CRUNCH SMOOTHIE

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• Prep Time: 5
• Total Time: 5
• Yield: 2 1x

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A sinfully good—but seriously healthy!—smoothie loaded with cacao crunch and frozen cherry deliciousness.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen dark cherries 
• 1 small banana 
• 1/2 cup authentic (thick) Greek yoghurt 
• A generous swizzle of cold-pressed flaxseed oil 
• 1 heaped tbsp grass-fed ghee, melted 
• 2 heaped tbsp coconut oil, melted 
• 1 egg yolk 
• 1 heaped tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp almond extract 
• 4 heaped tsp raw cacao nibs 

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Instructions

1. Blitz ingredients together until you reach your desired consistency; start off on a low setting to break down the chunks and then turn up to high to make smooth. 
2. Pour into large glasses (or super-cutesy jam jars!). Sprinkle with a few more cacao nibs, dust over a smidge extra cinnamon. 
3. Bottoms up.

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• Category: SIP IT