Banana Muffin Smoothie
This Banana Muffin Smoothie tastes like eating a loaf of fresh banana bread…through a straw.
My love for banana bread is well-established. You see, banana bread was one of my mother’s specialties, and I could almost always count on finding a loaf of banana bread hanging out in the kitchen. Lightly toasted with a bit of butter…oh yeah, now that’s something special right there! Mom would occasionally mix it up and make the bread in muffin form, and that was equally delicious when toasted with butter.
I still make that same exact banana bread, and there is almost always a loaf of it hanging out in our freezer…just in case I get a sudden banana bread craving. Trust me…it happens!
But seeing as how it’s hot outside, I decided to go a whole different direction with the banana bread this time. I decided to turn it into a smoothie. That’s right. A Banana Muffin Smoothie. It’s like eating a loaf of fresh banana bread…through a straw.
As I was making this smoothie, I was seriously wondering why we don’t make more smoothies. They’re crazy easy, and they’re crazy delicious. (Maybe I’m just lazy and don’t want to wash the blender each morning?) Every summer, we make a trip down to Maryland to visit Laura’s family, and we always make smoothies for that road trip. It’s kinda like our summer road trip tradition.
Whenever we hit the road, we like to get an early start. I’m not one to sit around half the morning when I know I’ve got a 6-7 hour drive ahead of me. Nope, just roll out of bed, shower and climb into the car. But that’s where the road trip smoothie comes in. It’s the perfect way to enjoy breakfast on the go. Plus, we like to add extra ice to make that smoothie super thick…that way it lasts for a solid hour or more while we’re out on the road.
I added some oats into this Banana Muffin Smoothie to bulk it up a bit. But not just any oats. I took a couple of extra minutes to toast the oats, and that adds really a nice depth of flavor to the smoothie. Add in some vanilla extract and a dash of cinnamon, and you’ve got one heck of a delicious smoothie. Whether you’re sitting at home, at your desk or in your car on the open road, this Banana Muffin Smoothie is a great way to start a warm summer day. Cheers!
Banana Muffin Smoothie
Ingredients
- ¼ cup old-fashioned oats
- 2 large ripe bananas
- 1 5.3 oz. container vanilla Greek yogurt
- ½ cup milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup ice cubes
- 2-3 vanilla wafers for garnish
Instructions
- Spread oats on a small baking sheet. Toast at 300°F for 6-8 minutes, or until you can smell the toasted oats.
- Place toasted oats, bananas, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon and ice cubes in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Garnish with crumbled vanilla wafers before serving.
Hi David! How about this AND a slice of banana bread! Sounds good to me! Have a great weekend! PS Still eating peach coffee cake!
Hey there, Dorothy! I think a smoothie with a slice of banana bread sounds like a great combo! In fact, I should have done that this weekend as we have a loaf of banana bread in the freezer! (We always have at least one loaf in the freezer…haha.) Thanks so much…I hope you and Gary had an amazing weekend, too! 🙂
This Banana Muffin Smoothie sounds and looks fantastic, David! I’ve got one question though. Why Muffin? Why not Banana Bread Smoothie? Does it exsist indeed? If yes, how could we distinguish between Banana muffin and Banana bread smoothies? Is there any difference? Are you biast against Banana bread smoothie? I guess it’s a little more than one question – I’m in a nerdy kind of mood today haha:) I love adding oats into smoothies (My favorite combo is with peanut butter), and now it’s time to try Banana bread…I mean muffin smoothie:) Love the idea of toasting oats too. Well done!
Hmmm…good question, Ben. I guess Banana Bread Smoothie would’ve made more sense. Perhaps it’s because my mom has started making her banana bread in muffin form, so that’s how I always think of banana bread now? I don’t have a good answer for you there! But I do know this is one delicious smoothie…both in bread and muffin form! 🙂
this sounds fantastic! what a great idea to make banana bread smoothie, yum! and I am just like you, I don’t make enough smoothies and even if I make them, they never make it to the blog! That clearly needs to change.
Yes! I’m with ya on the smoothie thing, Manali! I have no idea why I don’t make them more often. I need to change that for sure! 🙂
I’m with you… Lightly toasted with a bit of butter! Then I’d drop it in the blender with your ingredients here (sans the wafers) and BAM!
Haha…that sounds like a waste of a perfectly good piece of banana bread, Kevin! How about that lightly toasted + butter and then served WITH the smoothie? It’d be like a double banana bread feature!
Love that you added oats to this to bulk it up! So yum 🙂
Yes! And toasting the oats for a few minutes before putting them into the smoothie adds a whole new layer of flavor, Medha. Give it a shot sometime!
This does sound delicious. Super easy and super quick! You just can’t go wrong with that combination!
I totally agree, Kathy! Sometimes I forget just how easy and tasty smoothies can be. I need to make them more often for sure! 🙂
Yummy! That looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks, Linda! I need to start making smoothies more often for sure. I appreciate you stopping by and leaving a comment! 🙂
Banana bread in a glass – that’s genius! Since breakfast is my favourite meal of the day this is just right for me! Love the idea of going on a road trip with a delicious smoothy ♡
That’s exactly what this is! All of the delicious flavors of banana bread…just in liquid form. 🙂 Thanks so much, Miriam…I hope you had an awesome weekend!
For those mornings where I can’t decide if I want some kind of baked goods or a smoothie, I shall be making this!
Smoothies are totally our thing at the moment, and if it tastes like dessert then that is even better.
Exactly! I mean I’d love to eat baked goods for breakfast every morning, but well I’m not sure I’d be able to fit in the door after a few weeks of that. And that’s where this smoothie comes in. Totally delicious! Thanks, Dannii! 🙂
I totally agree with you that banana bread is where it’s at!
I make a smoothie just about every day! I find that they’re easy to throw together, filling, healthy, and refreshing when it’s hot out. I use an individual blender cup to minimize my washing duties 😉
Word! We always have at least one loaf of banana bread in the freezer. In fact, I think it drives Laura kinda crazy…but it’s banana bread!! 🙂
Ooo…good call on the individual blender cup. I might need to invest in one of those. Washing the whole blender isn’t that bad, but it’s kindof a pain. Thanks, Nicole!
Dude, I’m totally loving this recipe- A muffin like texture in smoothie form?! I love the addition of oats, they give such an epic texture!
I’ve been eating so much actual banana bread lately, especially out- With a slab of butter 😀
To be fair, I’m not sure this one has the texture of a muffin. It does have oats, but it’s more like a smoothie. But the taste…the taste is spot on! After all, if you wanted to eat a muffin with a straw, then just stick a straw into the top of a muffin and start sucking. 🙂
I like the idea of using toasted oats rather than untoasted, I bet it gives a great flavour!
Toasting those oats totally adds a deeper level of flavor…and it only takes a couple of minutes. Do it! 🙂 Thanks, Caroline!