Healthy Chocolate Shake Recipe

Welcome to this month’s Recipe ReDux!  When I found out that our theme is chocolate, I was pretty stumped.  I’m not much of a baker, so chocolate chip cookies were out.  A healthy recipe using chocolate?  Hmm…..

Inspiration hit me last week when a friend mentioned that she thought of me while sipping a smoothie made with raw cacoa powder.  A smoothie with chocolate?  What a wonderful idea!

Coming up with a recipe was harder than I thought.  The first two attempts were duds.  But the third came out perfect.  Nice and thick, a little sweet, and with my favorite combination of flavors, chocolate and nut butter.  Yum!  This recipe can be made with quite a few variations.  I hope you will find one that you like as much as we did.

Cheers to a healthy chocolate shake!

Healthy Chocolate Shake from InspiredRD.com #glutenfree #dairyfree

Healthy Chocolate Shake

4.50 from 4 votes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup milk I used coconut milk
  • 1 very ripe banana
  • 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder use raw cacao powder if you can find it
  • 1 Tbsp. nut butter I prefer almond butter, Jeff prefers peanut butter
  • 1 tsp. honey optional - use if banana not very ripe
  • 1.5 cups ice add less ice for smoother shake

Instructions
 

  • Put all ingredients in blender in order listed. Blend until smooth.

 

  • Emily February 20, 2012 at 10:15 pm

    wow, snap! we had the same idea. I love your photos!

  • Deanna Segrave-Daly February 21, 2012 at 3:48 am

    Chocolate, peanut butter, milkshake? I’m so in! In fact, I will be making this for breakfast this morning šŸ™‚

  • Regan @ The Professional Palate February 21, 2012 at 4:30 am

    Love it when a topic pushes us to create something we never imagined. This looks delish!!

  • Elizabeth Jarrard February 21, 2012 at 6:12 am

    yum!!!! i love making a similar shake with almond milk and chocolate vega protein powder

  • EA-The Spicy RD February 21, 2012 at 7:26 am

    Looks so refreshing! I love banana and kale shakes, but cocoa and nut butter sound pretty fabulous too!

  • Janel February 21, 2012 at 8:15 am

    Love tossing chocolate chips into my smoothies and leaving them a little bit whole šŸ™‚ You have to try this smoothie idea: Trader Joe’s frozen mangos, a splash of milk, and some dark chocolate chips added in at the end. It’s more like dessert but so delicious!

  • Danielle Omar - Food Confidence RD February 21, 2012 at 8:47 am

    Love this, I drink this exact shake all the time! So delicious and satisfying! Great for when you’re craving ice cream, too! šŸ™‚

  • Ann Dunaway Teh February 21, 2012 at 9:07 am

    Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it – especially since I’ve been craving a good milk shake though can’t have any dairy or soy. Hope to join in next month with the Redux!

  • Grain Crazy February 21, 2012 at 10:18 am

    I think I am going to have to make this for my picky-eater sons! I bet they would eat this and get them some protein and fruit at the same time. Great post!

    Britney

  • gabriella vetere, RD February 21, 2012 at 10:33 am

    I make a similar shake with a vegan chocolate protein powder that is amazing! Pb + banana + chocolate is amazing! šŸ™‚
    newutrition.wordpress.com

  • janetha February 21, 2012 at 11:33 am

    MMmm looks amazing! I love how easy it is to make shakes healthier, because they are one of my very favorite things to enjoy!

  • gretchen February 21, 2012 at 11:48 am

    love coconut milk, chocolate, and nut butter… i really might just have to make this.

  • Alexa Rae Stone February 21, 2012 at 3:42 pm

    This looks SO good. I love mixing banana, peanut butter and chocolate. I will probably use Almond Butter also. Thanks for the recipe!!!

  • serena February 21, 2012 at 3:43 pm

    So simple. So yummy. My kids will love!

  • Meg February 21, 2012 at 5:08 pm

    Looks awesome!

  • Sarah Remmer February 21, 2012 at 9:48 pm

    This looks amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m going to make it tomorrow!

  • Emma Stirling February 22, 2012 at 2:11 am

    Shakealicious! I’ve been reading up on raw cacao powder. As its not roasted or fermented the poly phenol flavonoids are much higher. What kind of blender do you have?

  • Meal Makeover Mom Janice February 22, 2012 at 4:26 am

    How can you go wrong with a chocolate shake? Love the coconut milk addition… After school snack today?

  • Karman February 22, 2012 at 5:01 pm

    Haven’t tried adding cocoa powder to my shakes but this sounds good!

  • Rayna February 23, 2012 at 10:21 am

    5 stars
    I made this and it tastes great! This is a yummy and healthy alternative to regular shakes. I posted it on my blog.
    http://curiouscountrycook.blogspot.com/2012/02/cameras-healthy-chocolate-shake.html

  • Jen February 23, 2012 at 7:15 pm

    4 stars
    I freeze slightly overripe bananas for smoothies –you don’t need ice if the fruit is frozen, and it’s a good way to use bananas that are starting to turn. Just peel first.

  • Avital February 23, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    sounds great! I like the idea of combining PB, cocoa, and bananas in a cold refreshing drink!

    • Avital February 24, 2012 at 9:54 am

      5 stars
      Just made this for lunch/filling snack- soooo good! Thanks for the recipe!

  • Marie Spano February 25, 2012 at 7:31 pm

    What a great idea to put straight cocoa powder in vs. just chocolate flavored whey protein. I love it!

  • teri@managedmacros May 6, 2012 at 2:21 pm

    I want one…now. If I only had ice! Sad that this is my missing ingredient!

    • inspiredrd May 6, 2012 at 2:22 pm

      Do you have any frozen bananas? Then you wouldn’t need ice!

  • Rachel @RunningRachel December 31, 2012 at 6:52 pm

    Yummy!!

  • E Walker January 10, 2013 at 4:31 pm

    4 stars
    The chocolate shake was very great taste to it. Thanks for the recipe!

    • inspiredrd January 11, 2013 at 8:43 pm

      So glad, thanks for letting me know!

  • Amber January 31, 2013 at 12:22 pm

    We add spinach to ours….my kids love it

  • Justin April 9, 2013 at 6:32 pm

    Don’t substitute the nut butter for “Nutella” it does not turn out well. You’d think Chocolate + Chocolate = Can’t go wrong… You’d be wrong.

  • Anders April 23, 2013 at 2:21 pm

    This might taste nice, but Its hardly healthy. Unless you use diet coconut milk, Its very high in fat and carb.

  • namajama November 22, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    This shake is great, love it. Add a little protein powder?