Overnight Dairy-Free Banana Chocolate Breakfast Smoothie

Get excited, this is my first recipe post. Ever. Ever! I'm sharing with you this delicious smoothie recipe that I essentially loved off of during hot Summer morning. This smoothie is my recreation of the Rise N Shine smoothie from the dtox juice bar in Buckhead. I fell in love with the flavor combination while visiting my sister after we both sweated out half our body weight at FlyWheel.

When I came back to Philly, I craved this drink and felt pangs of jealously when my sister mentioned picking up a Rise N Shine after a workout. There are not enough juice bars in Philly and non to speak of in Fairmount (someone please put in an Equinox and a juice bar next to each other across from my apartment ASAP please!). So after some experimenting with the ingredient list, below is my take on this delicious liquid breakfast. It's got that great chocolate-peanut butter combination with the perfect amount of sweetness from the dates. My version skips the coffee since I love coffee so much I like to enjoy it separately. I also add in some cinnamon (cardamom would also work well here).  There are also a bunch of add-ins that I tried that work well - I'd pick using one or two at a time. The oatmeal gives it some tooth and extra fiber, Greek yogurt will thicken it to a fro-yo consistency, and the cold brew coffee is a throw-back to the original recipe.

OVERNIGHT DAIRY-FREE BANANA CHOCOLATE BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE
Adapted from the Rise N Shine at dtox juice

1 Ripe banana
2-3 Dried dates, pits removed
1 TB Cacao powder
1 TSP Maca powder
1-1 1/4 Cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or any nut milk of your choice)
1 TB Almond butter
1/2 TSP Cinnamon
Ice (optional)

Optional Add-Ins:
1/4 Cup Rolled oats
2 TB Unsweetened desiccated coconut
Dollop of Greek yogurt
1/2 Cup Cold brew coffee*

The night before, freeze the banana and soak your dates. Peel and roughly slice the banana into chunks. Do not freeze unpeeled and unsliced as you will spend most of your morning whittling the peel off the banana which makes a gross melty mess in your kitchen (voice of experience). Place the dates in a cup, glass, or piece of Tupperware and cover with enough water to cover the dates in excess of about 1 inch. Cover lightly with a lid or plastic wrap. If using a Vitamix or other heavy duty blender you may be able to skip this step. I used a Cuisinart immersion blender and needed to soak the dates to create a smooth puree.

The next day drain the dates and add them along with the frozen banana chunks to your blender. Next add in the almond milk, almond butter, cacao powder, maca powder, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth. At this point if you prefer a more Frappuccino-esque smoothie (thicker, colder), add in a handful of ice and blend until smooth.

*If adding coffee, only add half the nut milk.