Chocolate Butternut Smoothie // Vegan & Gluten-Free

In my opinion, breakfast should taste as close to dessert without being dessert. I have never been a savory breakfast type of person and grew up on waffles, pancakes, and cereal, so it’s just natural that a breakfast smoothie that highly resembles a milkshake is the way to go!

The secret to making a great smoothie relies a lot on texture! What everyone prefers is different, but I love to have a creamy cold smoothie from the combination of healthy fats such as sunflower butter and vegan yogurt. Adding little bits like hemp hearts and chia seeds to sip up create a healthy sprinkles vibe that works in every sense.

Now to keep it cold and full of flavor I will use a combination of frozen banana and frozen butternut squash! This allows me to add a few more frozen aspects without having to add a ton of ice which will make your smoothie icy and watery rather than creamy like a milkshake!

If you need to feel free to use a different protein powder but I like pea protein because it’s not chalky and adds thickness!

The sea salt and cocoa powder are a power combo as cocoa powder makes it the best flavor in the world, Chocolate, and the sea salt amplifies the chocolate flavor! If you would like feel free to add in some honey or stevia to adjust the sweetness as sometimes with the addition of cocoa powder the smoothie may be a little bit on the bitter side for some. For me, I love dark chocolate so it suits me perfectly!

Ingredients

  • 1/4th cup frozen butternut squash

  • 1 frozen banana

  • 3/4th cup nut milk

  • 1 tbsp sunflower seed butter

  • 1 heaping Tbsp cocoa powder

  • 1 scoop pea protein

  • pinch of sea salt

  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds or Hemp hearts

Instructions

  1. In a blender combine all of your ingredients.

  2. Blend until smooth,. If you don’t have a tamper you might have to stop the blender halfway through and scrape down the sides with a spatula.

  3. pour into a glass, sprinkle in some chia seeds or hemp hearts, and enjoy!