Blend

Morning Date Smoothie

Name: Morning Date Smoothie
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: Serves 1
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk; 4 pitted dates; 1 banana, preferably frozen; 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/2 cup ice cubes; 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

by: AGIRLANDAPIG

March 25, 2014

4.6

9 Ratings

Photo by James Ransom

Prep time 10 minutes
Serves 1

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

Training for a half-marathon (I know...everyone is doing one these days) means early morning workouts and quick, healthy breakfasts that we can take to work, on the go. This is a nutritious frozen treat that is sweet and creamy but not so heavy that it'll slow you down. You can also add 1/2 cup of protein powder if you'd like. And play around with different kinds of milks and ratios like coconut milk and soy milk. This shake is fast and requires no prep. And most important of all, it's tasty! Get excited for your morning date! —AGIRLANDAPIG

Test Kitchen Notes

It isn't often that the words "decadent" and "healthy" can be used in the same sentence. This recipe is one exception. Smoothies tend to be cloying and creamy, which may not appeal to some, but Agirlandapig completely bypasses this issue by using almond milk. The dates and bananas are quite sweet by themselves, but their flavors and sweetness are perfectly balanced. I can't think of a better way to begin a healthy day. Using fresh, homemade almond milk is worth the extra effort for its flavor, although store-bought would work equally well. —Panfusine

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

Directions

In a blender, combine the almond milk, dates, banana, cinnamon, vanilla, and ice. Blend everything together well until the dates are in tiny pieces and everything is smooth. Adjust with as splash of this or that. Enjoy cold!

Tags:

Contest Entries

Your Best Weekday Breakfast Recipe

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Melissa Pohle
Nancy Dince Street
krikri
Chef Devaux
Kris Koopen

Popular on Food52

25 Reviews

Melissa P. October 10, 2022

Very, very delicious. I bought a bunch of dates and didn't know what to do with them. I do now!

Sadie P. January 6, 2021

This smoothie is delicious and filling. I throw a couple spoonfuls of almond butter in as well. I could eat this every morning.

NXL November 3, 2020

I admit that I don't pay attention to the latest, trendy 'health' fads, but I don't understand the concern about the amount of the natural sugars in this drink. It DOES pack a lot of calories, though. The bottom line for me: It's delicious. I used frozen banana, so didn't add ice. Followed the tip to blend milk with dates first. Creamy and luxurious!

Lookatsadia May 19, 2020

Delicious and simple!

Nancy D. December 16, 2018

For those concerned about the amount of sugar, I only used 2 dates per serving and it was still delicious!

Tyrone October 22, 2017

Absolutely delicious! Combines things I absolutely love to make a great smoothy I never would've though of. Thanks for sharing!

krikri April 24, 2017

Out of vanilla. Blended a handful of oats first and threw everything else in. Delicious, thick, cold!

Chef D. December 18, 2015

I love dates, never had a date smoothie though. Will have to try making one.

Kris K. September 14, 2015

Ran across this recipe and gave it a whirl this morning. Personally, I found it far too syrupy sweet for my liking. The taste of the banana was lost to the dates and vanilla. To me, not so good.

Tara M. June 29, 2015

Also suggest blending the dates with the milk first before adding the ice and frozen banana as the cold can make the date pieces seize up and become harder to blend.

Jessipes April 14, 2015

@NuMystic. Jamba Juice is so far from my daily consumption, that I wasn't even thinking of their content! I enjoy dates in my smoothies as well, but starting my day with 34 grams (including the banana) seems a bit much...it will just have my feeling more hungry sooner. The fiber in dates is really not the reason to add 4 of them to my smoothie. I would prefer to do 2 and add a 1/2 or 1 scoop of hemp protein or 1 tablespoon of chia seeds/flax/hemp. That would make this smoothie much healthier. Regardless, comparisons to Jamba Juice are correct of course! Enjoy !

NuMystic April 13, 2015

@Jesspies obviously healthy is relative. A "classic smoothie" from Jamba juice has 53-70g sugar by contrast. Not to mention that dates are also packed with more fiber and more nutrients than the vast majority of other sweeteners.

http://naturalsociety.com/health-benefits-of-dates-7-reasons-eat-date-fruit/

Jessipes April 13, 2015

I'm not so sure I would consider this healthy! 4 dates: Thats about 20 grams of sugar right there. I definitely agree that I would double the liquid on this one.

Carol February 18, 2015

I have my own version of this most mornings! I like unsweetned coconut milk with frozen banana, hand full of cashews and a few dates! YUM!

meredith January 8, 2015

Just made this as an alternative to going to the store for ice cream for my evening snack-- delicious, it fit the bill! :) I followed the recipe pretty closely, only substituting a little light coconut milk and water for the almond milk. I could see this being more breakfast-y with other fruits/veggies or a little nut butter. A very yummy, adaptable recipe.

sarabclever September 28, 2014

I loved this. I don't usually keep almond milk on hand, so I just used almonds and water instead. I doubled recipe, used 1/3 almonds, probably about a cup of water and double everything else. (I started with 2/3 cup of water, to make one cup of almond milk, but that wasn't enough liquid). So delicious! I used medjool dates and it was like dessert.

kalexa September 18, 2014

I have been making a modified version (based on previous comments) of this for breakfast this week and I love it. No almond milk, about half a cup of cold coffee (I take what didn't fit in the travel mugs and slip in into the fridge before heading to work), and two to three tablespoons of greek yogurt and almond butter. I add a teaspoon of cocoa powder and blend it up in my Vitamix. Perfectly delicious and filling, and portable for the drive in. And I've had enough caffeine that I haven't really been drinking my hot coffee.

SophieL July 11, 2014

This is a keeper! The comments are all so helpful - diced dates soaked in the almond milk and adding espresso and yogurt are all good tips. Am drinking it now! Also appreciated the shout-out to Indio's date shakes - I go to Palm Springs a lot and this comment made me smile. Thanks!

wendy W. June 29, 2014

This smoothie is delicious. I doubled recipe to make for me and my niece and we both loved it! Will be making it again tomorrow morning.

EmilyC May 2, 2014

Made this today and it's delicious! I added 1/4 cup of yogurt to make it more filling. Thanks for sharing!