his secret may not change your life but it just may change your smoothie intake and that’s kind of the same thing. Right? Lean in close so I can whisper in your virtual ear…vanilla. A tiny splash of vanilla will transform your smoothies and take them to the professional level.
I can’t take credit for this secret. I discovered it through Leanne Brown’s cookbook, Good and Cheap. I’ll revisit that at some point because the beautiful recipes she created have brought some definite magic to our table over these past few months. But for now – back to the smoothies.
The directions are painstakingly simple. 1) Put your delicious ingredients in a blender.
2) Add just a little bit of vanilla – I eyeball it, but put in under a teaspoon. Start small. You can always add in a little more if you can’t taste the subtle “pop.” (Or smoothness, really.)
Blend it all up, and drink away. You’re such a smoothie pro! You should saunter into Smoothie King with your homemade creation and brag to them about your mad skills!
Side note: I don’t always add vanilla. Sometimes I want just the pure taste of fruit. It’s nice to have this little trick up my sleeve and be able to switch it up, though.
Try it, I think you’ll like it – Graham thinks you’ll like it, too. Let me know what you think if you give this a spin!
My secret ingredient is frozen sliced bananas. And it uses up all those over ripe ones. My favorite is frozen bananas, almond milk, 2T cocoa powder, 2T no-fat peanut butter powder (like PB2). Healthy milkshake!!! Tomorrow I will try vanilla. I bet bourbon would be good to- I’m just saying’!
Ooo, thank you for that easy recipe! Sounds DELICIOUS. I know Bobby would flip for that with the combo of chocolate and peanut butter – maybe I’ll make that for our dessert tonight! Ha, love the idea of bourbon!
I love to add almond extract, especially when peaches are involved in the mix!
I never thought about adding different extracts, but that makes total sense – will have to try that one next! Thanks for the tip!
Huh. Who knew? Thanks for the smooth tip, Grace! We’ll try it out. xoxo
Yeah, put that Vitamix to use and let me know what you think!
Going to have to try this tomorrow morning! I’ve actually not been making as many smoothies since winter set in (the mornings are cold enough without getting bananas out of the freezer and chopping them up). However, after reading your entry, I’m craving a smoothie with vanilla!
I’ll let you know how it turns out. :)
Adore the pictures with Graham in them!
Ha, I can see how smoothies are much more suited to winters in Miami than winters in Japan! If you braved the freezer, though…please do let me know what you thought of the vanilla addition!