Vegan Chunky Monkey Smoothie

Introducing my Vegan Chunky Monkey Smoothie... because who wouldn't want to eat ice cream for breakfast?!

Whenever I'm at my parents lake house over the summer, I bring a serious dose of hippy-ness... so to speak. I tote in my own makings for smoothies/smoothie bowls and my yoga mat to do yoga on the dock.

So after watching me do this for the past couple seasons, my dad made me a bet. If I could make a smoothie that tasted exactly like Chunky Monkey (his favorite ice cream flavor combo), he would join me for yoga on the dock ... for all the neighbors to see.

Well, how could I turn down a challenge like that?!

For the past few months leading up to summer, I've been testing and tweaking and toying with this idea of a Chunky Monkey Smoothie. Honestly, I knew it wasn't going to be that hard. The flavor combo of bananas, chocolate and walnuts lends itself wonderfully to a smoothie.

So I doubled down on the banana flavor, used cacao nibs and walnuts for some texture and the flavor, added in some cauliflower for a dose of veggies, a couple dates for added sweetness (so that the "ice cream" sensation would really stick) and some hemp seeds to round it out with good breakfast protein.

And voila.. the Chunky Monkey Smoothie. That just so happens to also be vegan, paleo and all-around pretty darn healthy for how tears-in-my-eyes delicious it is!

How to make a delicious (healthy) Chunky Monkey Smoothie?

1. Grab the classic flavors: bananas, walnuts and chocolate
2. Add something for sweetness (to remind us of ice cream, of course!) -- dates work great here
3. Add a little veggie goodness - while spinach or kale would work, the color would be less appealing, so using frozen cauliflower adds a nutritious kick without any added color or flavor.
4. Toss in some protein for good luck (and staying power!) -- I love hemp seeds because they're a complete source of protein!
5. Blend 'er up! Then kick back and be in awe that you're basically eating Chunky Monkey for breakfast.

Print Pin

Vegan Chunky Monkey Smoothie

Course Breakfast, Snack

Keyword Chunkey Monkey Smoothie

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 2 16-ounce smoothies

Ingredients

• 2 cups unsweetened plain almond milk
• 2 dates pits removed
• 2 frozen bananas
• 1/2 cup frozen cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
• 2 tablespoons cacao nibs
• 1/4 cup raw walnuts

Instructions

• In a high-speed blender, add all the ingredients. Blend for 1 minute on high until smooth.
  
  
• Serve in mason jars with a sprinkle of cacao nibs, if desired.