Coffee or Mocha Smoothie
A thick, naturally sweet breakfast smoothie of cold brew, oats, Greek yogurt and soft dates, with a spoon of cocoa if you want it mocha. It is for anyone who wants a coffee smoothie without banana.
At a glance
- Coffee : milk
- 1:1
- Active time
- 5 min
- Total time
- 15 min
- Makes
- 1 large glass
- Serve
- Cold
- Kit
- Blender
Ingredients
Note: Soak the oats and dates in the coffee for ten minutes before blending if your blender is not very powerful.
Method
-
Soak the oats and dates
Put the oats, dates and cold brew in the blender jug and leave them for ten minutes to soften.
Soak 10 minutes -
Everything else in
Add the milk, yogurt, ice and cocoa if making a mocha.
-
Blend smooth
Blend on high for a full minute, until the dates have disappeared and the drink is smooth and thick.
Blend 60 seconds
Why this works
Most coffee smoothies are built on banana, which supplies sweetness and creaminess. This one replaces it with three ingredients that share the job. Dates bring sweetness, mostly glucose and fructose, along with a caramel flavour that suits coffee better than refined sugar. Greek yogurt brings creaminess, protein and a slight tang that keeps the drink from tasting flat. Oats bring body: their soluble fibre, beta-glucan, thickens the liquid as it blends.
Soaking matters with a home blender. Dried dates and raw oats are tough, and a short blend leaves flecks of date skin and grains of oat. Ten minutes in the cold coffee softens both, so the smoothie blends completely smooth.
Cold brew is the best coffee to use. It is low in sharp acidity, which matters next to yogurt, whose own lactic acid would double up with a bright, acidic coffee and taste sour. It is also already cold.
Cocoa turns it into a mocha with a single spoonful. Dutch process cocoa blends more easily and tastes rounder against coffee than natural cocoa. A pinch of salt or cinnamon in either version lifts the flavours. Using coffee ice cubes instead of plain ice keeps the coffee strong.
Variations
- Mocha: add a tablespoon of cocoa.
- With nut butter: a tablespoon of almond or peanut butter for richness.
- With protein powder: a scoop of vanilla in place of half the yogurt. See proffee.
- With banana: see the banana coffee smoothie.
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Questions
How do you make a coffee smoothie without banana?
Use Greek yogurt for creaminess, soft dates for sweetness and rolled oats for body, blended with cold brew and milk.
Can I make it the night before?
Soak the oats and dates in the cold brew overnight in the fridge, then blend with the rest in the morning. Blended smoothies separate by the next day.
Is a coffee smoothie a good breakfast?
With oats, yogurt and milk it has protein, fibre and your morning coffee in one glass.
Can I use hot coffee?
Let it cool first. Hot coffee warms the yogurt and makes a thin, lukewarm drink.