It’s January which means I’m back on my smoothie game. Bonus points to me for being able to quell John’s carrot cake requests at the same time (for however long that lasts).
I usually try to throw the kitchen sink into smoothies – flax, chia, oats, fruit, vegetables, protein, yogurt, almond milk, etc. – but I’m really glad I kept this one simple. The flavor and the texture were perfect.
Domestocrat’s Carrot Cake Protein Smoothie (makes 1 smoothie but can easily be doubled, tripled, etc)
3/4 cup carrot juice, bottled or freshly juiced (3 carrots)
1/2 cup almond milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1/2 frozen banana, cut into slices
1 tbsp. greek yogurt
1 scoop (roughly 1.5 tbsp.) vanilla protein powder
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. vanilla
First, prep the carrots for juicing if you plan to add fresh carrot juice. Three medium sized carrots yielded 3/4 cup juice which was perfect for this recipe. You can buy bottled carrot juice if juicing isn’t your thing (I hear great things about Bolthouse Farms Carrot Juice).
Next, add all of the ingredients to a medium sized (12 oz.) mason jar. Make sure to slice the frozen banana to ensure it doesn’t get caught up in the blender blade. Having a frozen banana is key to this recipe as it creates the perfect silky texture. Pro tip: remove the peel of ripe bananas before freezing (trust me, I learned the hard way – you do not want to chisel off frozen banana peel!).
A mason jar will fit perfectly on your blender with the blender blade attachment. Simply screw it on to the bottom of the jar exactly how you would with the full sized blender container. It couldn’t be simpler.
Blend up and enjoy this dessert in a jar!
