Chocolate Oats Smoothie Bowl

Tasty, filling and nourishing chocolate smoothie bowl with goodness of rolled oats, banana and plant based milk. It is vegan, gluten free, easy to make and a healthy quick breakfast option for busy mornings or post workout snack.

This banana oats smoothie bowl tastes so decadent that you can even have it as a guilt-free dessert. It is also customisable as you can have experiment by using different fruits, berries, flavours, nuts & seeds as per your liking.

The ‘smoothie bowl’ is different from regular smoothies in a way that they are thicker, creamier and instead of sipping through a glass, we eat it with a spoon. Personally I find it more satisfying to eat as we get combination of different textures in every bite. I am sure even kids would love it.

Ingredients you’ll need:

To make this bowl of creamy goodness, you only need 3-4 main ingredients. Other ingredients like sweetener, flavouring or protein powder are optional & are discussed in detail below-

Oats: I love blending oats in my smoothies as it instantly makes them thicker, filling and rich with fibre. Use rolled oats or instant oats for this smoothie. I would not recommend using steel cut oats as they need to be cooked or soaked overnight first to get the same smooth texture on blending.

Though oats are naturally gluten free but still make sure by checking the label on packet. A 1/2 cup (40-45 gms) serving of rolled oats has approx. 5g protein and 133 calories. You can slightly adjust its quantity in smoothie as per your diet preference.

Banana: Use ripe bananas for maximum sweetness. They should not be too mushy (like the ones we use for banana bread) but should have some dark black spots. To get thick consistency smoothie, I would recommend freezing them a night before. However it is totally optional and you can even use them straightaway if short of time.

Milk: You can use skimmed milk, whole milk or opt for plant based milk like almond or soy milk to make this smoothie vegan.

If you don’t have almond milk, just soak 12-15 almonds a night before. Peel them in the morning and blend with 3/4 to 1 cup of chilled water. Though traditionally, for making almond milk we are supposed to strain this liquid  but I use it straightaway in this smoothie.

Flavouring: I love chocolate flavour so I have used unsweetened cocoa powder in this smoothie. If you don’t like it feel free to skip and instead use mangoes, frozen strawberries (to make strawberry banana smoothie bowl) or 1/4 tsp vanilla extract or a big pinch of cinnamon to enhance the taste.

Sweetener: I personally don’t add any sweetener in my smoothie bowl as for me bananas are sufficiently sweet but if you are making it for kids they might like it to be sweeter. You can use any sweetener like – honey, maple syrup, date syrup or coconut sugar.

Variations:

• Protein Powder– If you want to increase the protein quotient in the smoothie, add a scoop of vanilla or chocolate protein powder while blending. If needed, add some ice cubes or additional milk to mix the protein powder seamlessly.
• Coffee– Apart from it, you can add some instant coffee powder or a shot of expresso to make coffee or mocha smoothie bowl.
• Seeds– You can even blend in some flaxseeds or soaked chia seeds.
• Acai– Skip the cocoa and instead use frozen acai puree or acai powder and you will have a yummy acai bowl ready. Feel free to try out other fruits also like mangoes, mixed berries or dragon fruit.

Topping Ideas:

To add variety of textures to the smoothie bowl, top it up with ingredients like banana slices, berries, granola, mixed seeds like chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, homemade granola, nuts like almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, dark chocolate shavings or coconut flakes. In the end, you can drizzle some peanut butter, nutella or chocolate syrup to make it even tastier (& of course prettier too!).

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients: (For 2)

• Rolled Oats- 1 cup
• Ripe Banana- 2 medium
• Almond or Oats Milk- 1/2 cup (unsweetened)
• Cocoa Powder- (1+1/2) tbsp (unsweetened)
• Peanut or Almond Butter- 2 tsp
• Honey / Maple syrup- 2 tsp (optional)
• Topping Options:
  • Banana Slices
  • Peanut Butter
  • Chia Seeds
  • Granola / Nuts
  • Dark Chocolate Chips
• Optional Add-Ins:
  • Protein Powder
  • Instant Coffe Powder
  • Vanilla Extract / Cinnamon powder

(Note: Frozen banana helps in making the smoothie thicker. If you don’t have time to freeze it, no problem, use fresh bananas as it is. If you want to make it nut free, skip adding peanut butter or any kind of nuts.)

Directions:

Step 1: (optional)
Peel and slice the bananas. Transfer them in a freezer safe bag and freeze for 2-3 hrs (or better overnight).

Step 2:
To a blender jar, add frozen bananas, oats, almond milk, peanut butter, honey / maple syrup & cocoa powder (If you want to add coffee / vanilla / cinnamon powder, add at this step). Blend well. (Taste once and add more milk if you want the smoothie to be thinner or oats for thicker consistency. Blend once again.)

Step 3:
Transfer the smoothie into 2 serving bowls. Top up with toppings of choice like – granola, chia seeds, nuts, bananas slices, berries or peanut butter. Enjoy.

Tips:

1. As oats absorb moisture, the smoothie will become thicker & creamier with time. You can even make it a night before and store in fridge in an airtight container for next morning. If required, mix in 1-2 tbsp milk later to adjust the consistency.
2. Add the toppings just before serving to prevent them from getting soggy.

Pin for later:

(P.S: This recipe was originally published on 10 May’2019 and has been updated with better recipe and images.)

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(6 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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