Here’s one more of our “insta recipes” – recipes that are born out of a spur of the moment, when we remember to take a picture before devouring the whole thing and then post it on Instagram.

Do you ever dream of having dessert for breakfast? Or are you looking for a healthy dessert choice? Then this one’s for you my friend. This delicious smoothie tastes like a candy bar but is actually packed with nutritious and healthy ingredients, this is, simply put, the best of both worlds.

You don’t believe me? Read on!

So where does the caramel come from, seen it’s not in the ingredients? You might or might not know that a “cooking trick” many Vegans use to infuse their sweet foods (ice cream, frosting etc.) with a 100% Vegan flavor is to create a date paste with dates and a bit of water or in this case plant-based milk. The result is the closest thing to a caramel sauce. The rest of the ingredients is pretty basic except for 2 superfoods I added at the end, chia seeds and maca powder. These are in fact totally optional if you don’t have them at the moment, but you still want an indulgent delicious smoothie.
But don’t take my word for it, go on and try this for yourself :)

Date caramel & peanut butter smoothie (secretly healthy)

This secretly healthy smoothie tastes like your childhood candy bars with a mix of peanut butter and date caramel.

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Prep Time 5

Total Time 10

Course Smoothies

Servings 1 people

Ingredients

2 frozen bananas
1,5 cup plant-based milk I used soy
1/3 cup oats use GF if you are gluten intollerant
6 dates pitted
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp maca powder optional
1 tsp chia seeds optional

Instructions

If your dates are not soft, soak them in warm water for 5 minutes and then pit them.
Blend your dates and half a cup of your milk of choice, in order to get the caramel taste going. If you have a high power blender, good for you! As mine is anything but high power, I cut the dates in smaller pieces with regular kitchen scissors before adding them to the blender. Mind you, you might still get little specks in the final result, but I didn't mind.
Now add the rest of your ingredients except the chia seeds (if using) in your blender.
Blend until the desired consistency and creaminess is achieved (i.e. no big chunks of dates). This won't take more than 30 seconds/2 minutes depending on your blender.
Pour in a large mason jar, sprinkle your chia seeds on top and enjoy!

Notes

You can substitute peanut butter with any other nut butter: almond, cashew, sunflower, tahini, etc. Home-made would be even better!
You can substitute maca powder with lucuma or skip it all together, but you would be missing a lot of the healthy benefits of such powerful ingredients, thus making this smoothie less "secretly healthy".