More Power Gingerbread Smoothie
I must’ve had this smoothie at least 8-9 times over the course of the last 2 weeks. Funny that I should say this, right after I mentioned in my previous post that I tend to get bored after eating the same thing 2-3 days in a row…
You see, I was trying to create the PERFECT gingerbread smoothie, so I kept trying different combinations. Alas, none of them seemed to do the trick.
One of my biggest issues was with bananas. I found that, no matter how much ginger or spices I added, the taste of the banana would always come back on top and frankly, I didn’t really want to taste it at all, or at least, only very little.
I tried not using any, but then the texture suffered big time. You know how I like my smoothies to be thick and chewable. They HAVE to have some texture to them, and a bit of a crunch, too.
Lucky for me, I stumbled upon a blog post where the author* would peel her bananas and cut tear them into 4 pieces before to put them in the freezer, so they would always be readily available to make smoothies. Hmpft. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I’ve always put mine in the freezer whole, with peel and all, so I’d have to thaw them before to use them. Not very convienient for smoothie making. Plus, their flavor is even stronger when they’re thawed like that.
Anyway, this, to me, was a true revelation. Bananas, when frozen that way not only give you a crazy thick and creamy, close to frozen consistency, but their flavor also seems to really mellow out.
Then, the fact that I had leftover cooked white beans came into play… had to throw some in there. Hello chewability! 
A few days later, I discovered and got completely, totally hooked on this cereal… it was only a matter of time before it became the crunch to my gingerbread smoothie. (Disclaimer: I didn’t get paid to say that. I’m just expressing my personal opinion here! And I bet if you’ve ever tried it, you know exactly what I am talking about!)
The final and probably most important piece of the puzzle in the success of this smoothie was probably the fact that I came to the conclusion that ground ginger just wasn’t cutting it. I switched to fresh and EUREKA!
I had finally created my perfect gingerbread smoothie!
This is now my ultimate favorite smoothie ever. I can’t seem to get enough of it and always look forward to breakfast when I know that it’s on the menu.
I think that means I’ve finally found the winning combination.
Hope it’s a winner for you as well.
MY FAVORITE GINGERBREAD SMOOTHIE
INGREDIENTS
(serves 1)
- ½ cup cooked white beans
- ½ frozen banana
- 35g fresh ginger, chopped (no need to peel, just remove dry parts)
- ¼ cup 0% fat Greek yogurt
- ½ to ¾ cup unsweetened soy milk
- ½ scoop (2 tbsp) vanilla flavored whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp flaxseed meal
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 1-2 tbsp flaked cereal (I used Heritage Flakes by Nature’s Path)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add all ingredients, except flaked cereal, to your food processor and process until smooth. Add cereal, pulse 2-3 times and transfer to serving glass.
- Garnish with a handful of crushed cereal, if desired.
*My most sincere apologies to the author of that post. I do remember commenting on it, but can’t seem to recall which blog it was on. Please, if you are the author, let me know so that I can link back to you! After all, you sort of saved the day, here! 
Kankana
WOW 8 to 9 times! Happy you finally nailed it
and I tell you what i never use ground ginger .. it’s the fresh one that I always need.
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
I know that now. Call me silly, but I thought powder was more concentrated. Boy was I wrong. I doesn’t even come close. I think I’ll just throw it away. From now on, it’s fresh all the way!
Yadsia @ShopCookMake
Beans in a smoothie? I’m gonna have to try this!
Juls
This literally looks like the perfect gingerbread smoothie and the absolute effort you went to to get it perfect seems well worth it! It sounds divine.
Jackie
Mmm sounds delicious and it’s perfect with the season
Mellissa (sevimel on flickr)
I saw the pictures of this on flickr and couldn’t wait until you posted the recipe! It looks awesome and when I saw that you had white beans in it I was impressed with your creativity as always! Can’t wait to try this!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Thank you Mellissa. I never knew that people looked at my pictures in that way on flickr. I use it mainly as a way to make my albums fully portable (since I don’t have a laptop) and thought I might as well let people look at them… But I never thought that people would actually look forward to the recipes. That’s just cool!
Glad you liked that one, and thanks for your nice comment re my creativity. You just made my day! 
Jenné @ Sweet Potato Soul
Wow, this is a serious smoothie! I LOVE the idea of a Gingerbread smoothie; now you’ve got me ready for the holidays!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Hehe, just wait ’til you try it Jenné. You’ll think the holidays just got here early!
leaf (the indolent cook)
This looks luscious! So thick and creamy and full of flavour.
Kalyn
Hey love. Great recette, however soy (in all forms) depetes the body of zinc and Trypsin (your bodies natural cancer-fighting enzyme), plus adding additional, unneeded and often detrimental hormones to your body (given that they are already in our water, etc., we don’t need anymore) Try almond, rice or hemp milk!
Oh and p.s. Blackstrap molasses is sooooooo good!!!!
Kalyn
Oops spelling errors!
Sook
Wow the color of the smoothie is amazing! Yum!
Alexandra
mmmm! making this!!! it’s the perfect way to drink a smoothie on a cold and rainy day!
Julia
OK, I’m REAL intrigued with beans in a smoothie. What a great idea for thickness and protein. I can’t wait to try it.
Lauren @ www.cravingsgoneclean.com
Wow! I’d starting sneaking beans into all kinds of baked goods…but never thought of a smoothie! Great idea! And I love the gingerbread flavor.
jill conyers
Another must try recipe! I can’t keep up with all that I want to try from your blog. This sounds particularly tasty. Pinning it now.
Nora @ Natural Noshing
I love beans in almost anything and have tried them in pancakes, brownies, cookies, cakes, and of course in many savory dishes but I haven’t tried them in a smoothie! AWESOME! Plus I adore ginger! Home run Sonia! : )
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Thanks Nora! I find the beans add a lot of texture to smoothies. I get the feeling that they will get added to many more! Hope they work for you too
hannahmarie
This looks amazing, especially as I am a molasses fiend! Bring on the gingerbread! I will probably add some spinach to this since I can’t seem to resist thrown green, leafy things in my blender.
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Adding spinach is a great idea! Of course, it will change the color quite a lot, but for sure, you won’t be able to taste them at all!
Ali
this looks amazing, just what i need to kickstart my day. I think I can have this smoothie all week long too without getting tired of it.
Sonia
This gingerbread smoothie is looking awesome and i guess tastes wonderful. really interesting recipe i found at xialou’s space and simply loved it… !
Alex
I LOVE this smoothie (I’m having one right now
. I’ve been doing variations on it for the past few weeks, using whatever compatible bits I can find in my pantry. Frozen bananas are fantastic, but the addition of the white beans is great. Lately, I have been putting in pumpkin, too, which is sooo good. It gives a silky texture to the smoothie, sort of like banana, and it goes perfectly with the ginger, molasses and cinnamon. Not to mention, it gives a great smack of vitamins and fibre.
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
Too funny Alex, I just did a pumpkin pie smoothie this week-end that is fairly similar to what you describe! You are so right about pumpkin giving smoothies a super silky texture. Glad you enjoyed the white beans in your smoothies too! I think they are a great addition!
Thank you for your awesome feedback, I always appreciate that!
Joann
I was unsure about beans in a smoothie but I just made this today and it was so good! I had to use regular milk and chocolate soy powder in place of the vanilla whey but it was still delicious! I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the tip about freezing the banana too! I have been doing that for my other smoothies since I stumbled upon this post on Pinterest last week.
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
I hear you Joann. I was very unsure about it too, until I gave it a try. I really love the texture that it adds. Really glad you liked it too. And now you got me all curious. Chocolate must be VERY good in that smoothie. Too bad I don’t have any beans ready in the fridge, I’d give it a try right this morning. Guess what though? I’ll definitely get some beans going.
Joann
I love it with the chocolate! You’ve also inspired me to start cooking my own beans. They were the one thing I was still using cans for because I didn’t want to go through the hassle of cooking them but I use the soak overnight method and it’s really not that bad. Thanks for the inspiration! So glad I found your blog through Pinterest!
Sonia, The Healthy Foodie
YAY! Glad to hear, Joan. Home cooked beans are so much better. Not at all mushy like most canned ones. At least, you can keep a certain “crunch” to them, which I really like. I’m really glad you found my blog too!
katie
wow beans, by white beans do you mean butter beans?
Sonia! The Healthy Foodie
Not sure what butter beans are, Katie… I actually used Navy Beans. Cannellis work beautifully too!