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Years ago, I spotted the most amazing smoothie ever on the menu board at a local Salt Lake City coffee house. Since it combined two of my biggest loves: coffee and peanut butter, I knew I was going to be in big trouble. Oh, was I in trouble.
My hedonistic side got hubby James addicted to them, too. Yay! I’ve got a partner in guilty indulging! We became regulars at that coffee house for about a month, until right about the time when I noticed my workout clothes getting tighter (and my wallet getting lighter). Something had to give, and it sure as heck wasn’t going to be my waistline. On top of that, the staff at this particular coffee house were SO SLOW. Sure, you’d get your amazing cup of brain-freeze heaven eventually, but you’d need to plan an entire afternoon of waiting around to get it. Patience is no friend of mine.
Which brings us to this recipe.
I started googling healthy coffee peanut butter smoothie recipes and experimenting with different versions until I had this winning concoction. I can happily declare this recipe is even better than the one from the coffee house, plus only half the calories! And even though I usually encourage you all to take my recipes and modify away, don’t change a thing this time. You protein addicts will try to add protein powder: don’t. You chocoholics are going to play with adding chocolate. Don’t! Guys, I’m telling you, this smoothie is perfection in a cup. One taste and you are going to LOOOOVE it (and then love me by proxy). Besides, I’ve tried adding chocolate and protein powder already. Not as good. Okay, okay, FINE, if you must make any changes, swap out the peanut butter for almond butter. Not as good in my opinion, but hey. To each his own. One tip, though. Make sure the banana you choose is fresh. If it’s overly ripe, the banana flavor can sort of overpower the peanut butter and coffee yumminess. Still a winner, but you don’t make this one for the banana flavor, let’s face it.
This smoothie makes a great breakfast or post-workout recovery snack. It has about 300 calories, a hefty 5g fiber (which is about 20% RDA), and 8g protein. It also has 18g fat, but remember, fat is not the enemy! Current research shows that all the anti-fat hype from the past was unfounded and unnecessary. We need healthy fats, especially in the morning. This smoothie also has a great filling effect. You’ll feel full for a long time, thanks to the peanut butter. And for the love of God, PLEASE use real peanut butter. Check your label, make sure there are only peanuts and nothing else! Most commercial brands are only about half peanuts and then half sugar. Not cool.
Coffee Peanut Butter Smoothie Recipe
- 1 cup cold coffee (either brewed or instant)
- 1 banana (small to medium-ish)
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter (the real stuff…no Jif or Skippy)
- 1 tablespoon ½ and ½ (it’s only 20 calories, don’t freak out and substitute skim to cut cals!)
- 1 packet Stevia
- 6-10 ice cubes (add till it’s to a texture you prefer)
Step 1: Blend.
Step 2: Drink.
Step 3: Come back here and leave a comment to tell me how much you loved it!
Keep eating healthy on the road, RV friends!
Stef, what kind of a blender do you travel with? I got a little USB one, and while it works it’s only big enough for half a smoothie, so I don’t use it. Thanks.
I’ve been using a Magic Bullet for years. I’m not sure it’s the best option out there, but I’m happy with mine so I haven’t bothered replacing it! I even use it in my sticks and bricks when we’re home, and I also have a big VitaMix! The Bullet is much more convenient than the VitaMix for a single smoothie so I tend to go for it instead. 🙂
Hi Stefany,
Still working on the wife to get an RV as I retire in June. We shall see…
We are big breakfast smoothie drinkers and use dates to sweeten ours. Have you ever tried it? Do you think it would work with this smoothie. I am anxious to try it. Will brew up some extra coffee tomorrow morning to have the next day.
Thanks for the great website!
We use dates all the time! I’ve never tried it in this one, though. If you do, let me know! 🙂
Want to try with vanilla almond milk
We are about to become full time RVers. We love smoothies and this recipe looks scrumptious but we wonder: How do you blend it? Do you actually carry a blender with you? Seems like a heavy & bulky travel companion. Or do you have some other technique? We would love to see a posting about the non-food items you have in your kitchen. We are healthy eaters and are trying to figure out what to take with us from our home kitchen (before we sell our home of 25 years in two weeks). Thanks! Love your postings.
Wow, how exciting for you taking the big leap to full-time! As healthy eaters full-timing, yes, you’ll definitely want to carry a blender. There are lots of small sized options out there that also function as a food processor…and the food processor is the part we can’t live without on the road. Making raw snacks, grinding oat flour, nut butters, etc. You gave me a great idea to do a post about this! Best of luck on your new adventures, hope you’ll check in and keep us posted!
This is a real winner. Thank you. Also, we are big fans of using stevia as a sweetner…. are there published articles concerning its safety?
Great question! The general consensus seems to be that Stevia is a safe sugar substitute, and James and I use it without hesitation. Though I’d caution from drinking extremely large amounts of it, and here’s why.
Natural stevia gets chemically altered to become the powdered sweetener that’s sold commercially. Stevia goes from its original plant form and then gets molecularly transformed, to snip out the bitter part and bring out the sweetness. So, it’s technically not a “natural” sweetener by the time we use it.
Here’s a quote from Kevin Spelman, PhD (a scientist at Herb Pharm): “Once you extract a molecule from a plant, the plant’s safety profile changes. If you extract a single molecule from a plant, you are potentially bypassing the inherent safety mechanism that is typical of whole-plant extracts.”
Take that as you will…I simply keep it in mind, use Stevia AND sugar in moderation, and do my best to eat as healthfully as possible!
After having heard you on the Roadtreking podacast and on the Family Travel Atlas podcast, we bought the Bodylastic set for our RV and just today made this unbelievably delicious smoothie. My wife came into the kitchen and saw me staring morosely into my glass. “What’s wrong,” she wanted to know. “I thought there was some left, but it’s all gone,” I told her. “Same,” she said, holding up her empty cup. Tomorrow will not come too soon.
I TOTALLY understand, Tom and Patti, and have done that morose-staring-into-empty-glass myself MANY times,LOL. I make a lot of smoothies, but there’s nothing like this one. And I’m thrilled to hear you bought a resistance bands kit for your RV! The poster that comes with it makes it so easy. Pick one exercise from each of the 7 categories. Do 3 sets of 10 reps of each, and TA DA! Check strength workout off the To DO list for the day. So glad you found us and I hope those resistance bands get tons of miles in on the road!
I JUST made this…oh my, SO GOOD! Thanks for the recipe. Definitely a keeper!
This looks pretty interesting, we’ll have to try it on the weekend. Thanks!