For Christmas last year I splurged and bought hubby a NutriBullet for his morning smoothie. Spoiler alert: 5 seconds after he opened the box I realized I should have kept it for myself! Since then I have been trying to craft a few low carb smoothie recipes that I can enjoy, and this chocolate keto smoothie rates up there with one of my tastier concoctions. There is a recipe book that comes with the NutriBullet but the smoothie recipes are pretty high carb, and high in fructose given all the fruit and syrup they cram into their recipes (perfect for you Paleo peeps!).
I have a few green smoothie options up my sleeve, but they include avocado which is out of season at the moment and hellishly expensive, so I came up with this keto chocolate smoothie which doesn’t include any fruit or veg at all but packs a chocolate anti-oxidant punch. Who shays you can’t have chocolate for breakfast!
If you are worried about eating the raw eggs included in the recipe then you can buy the pasteurized type, but I buy farm fresh locally sourced eggs from happy hens and I haven’t had an issue as of yet. I used MCT oil which works a little better than coconut oil in cold recipes because it doesn’t solidify at cooler temperatures, but if all you have on hand is coconut oil then go for it. If you do use coconut oil in place of MCT oil then remember to blend everything really well so you don’t and up with little coconut oil chunks, they can be a little unpleasant to swallow when you are drinking your yummy chocolate smoothie!
Interesting fact:
Cacao is a great source of serotonin, dopamine, and phenylethylamine, three well-studied neurotransmitters, which help alleviate depression and are associated with feelings of well being. Cacao contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO Inhibitors) that improve our mood because they allow serotonin and dopamine to remain in the bloodstream longer without being broken down. Cacao contains anandamide which delivers blissful feelings. Cacao also contains B vitamins, which are associated with brain health. Cacao contains significant quantities of the amino acid tryptophan which is yet another powerful mood-enhancing nutrient. All this makes cacao a natural Anti-depressant!
Disclaimer: You DON’T need a NutriBullet to make this smoothy, any blender or possibly even a stick blender will do the trick. I’m just smitten with hubby’s new toy so the NutriBullet was my choice of equipment for this recipe.
- 2 large free range eggs
- ¼ cup whey protein powder
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp MCT oil OR coconut oil
- 1½ Tbsp raw cacao powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup iced water
- crushed ice (optional)
- Place eggs, protein powder, coconut milk, MCT oil, cinnamon, raw cacao, water and ice in your Nutribullet cup.
- Place the blade onto the cup and insert into the machine.
- Pulse a few times to get the ice chopped up.
- Then blend further for about 30 seconds so that everything is well mixed together.
Vanilla and coffee extract also go really well with this recipe.
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