In the summertime, I get REALLY excited about the return of farmers’ markets and my favorite produce like berries! I am usually just cooking for one, so I don’t need to buy too much food each week, but sometimes I just can’t say no to all the fresh fruit at the market. Every now and then (read: pretty much every time) my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I end up buying too much fruit. I never want to let it go to waste, so I think of creative ways to eat it up, like this berry crisp. When I don’t want dessert, I freeze my fruit for smoothies. You really can’t go wrong with a fresh and healthy smoothie.
Since I have an insatiable sweet tooth, I wanted to pair cherries with chocolate for a Black Forest smoothie. To be honest, I used frozen cherries I bought at Trader Joe’s for this smoothie, but I could have easily used fresh cherries. I also wanted to keep the sugar low, so in addition to the natural sweetness from cherries and a frozen banana, I added a touch of honey.
I’ve never been a big fan of black forest cakes, but this smoothie has me hooked on the flavor combo and I’m already thinking up ways to pair chocolate and cherries in other lightened up desserts or snacks.
- 1 cup frozen or fresh pitted cherries
- 1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 2-5 ice cubes, or until desired consistency reached
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Serve immediately.
I absolutely adore the chocolate + cherry mixture, so this is a glorious idea in my book! Love that it only takes 5 minutes! I need to go locate the cocoa powder! :O
Oh I must try this – I’m a cherry fiend and I haven’t had Black Forest Cake in so long 🙂
Chocolate and cherries are one of those essential combos <3