Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

I had seen this "milkshake" recipe floating around Pinterest for a long while before I convinced myself to purchase the required bananas. History reveals that I'm not the biggest plain banana fan so I never used to buy them just to eat for breakfast or as a snack. The few times that I had bought them were for banana bread (a recipe that I can't replicate to the perfection of Grandmama's...yet.) As a result of this "milkshake" recipe, I now keep bananas stocked in our kitchen because I discovered you can freeze them! Pinterest leads you to several nommy recipes that require frozen bananas for different drinks and even "ice cream"!

Now I don't have to worry about consuming them before they go bad; I just slice them up, remove the peel, and pop them in the freezer for whenever I feel like a cold treat. If you leave the peel on when you freeze the bananas, it will turn brown, but the banana is still good!

I refer to these "milkshakes" as smoothies since they're banana-based instead of ice cream-based. They turn out so thick and creamy that "milkshake" is definitely an applicable description though!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothies
Ingredients
2 frozen bananas, pre-sliced before freezing
1 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp maple syrup, sugar/sweetener, or honey
1 heaping Tbsp peanut butter

Instructions
Blend all ingredients in a high-power blender until smooth. Turn off blender and scrape sides with a spoon or spatula then blend again to mix.

The first time I made these, I froze the bananas whole and with the peel. I learned quickly that it's much easier to peel and slice them before freezing! As you can see from this photo, it is quite possible to slice them after the entire banana is frozen though! Just watch your fingers!

We enjoy this chocolate-y treat in our designated "chocolate milk glasses." We registered for these glasses for our wedding because they remind me of glasses my grandparents always had for the grandchildrens' chocolate milk. Special drinks deserve special glasses, in my opinion!

One serving of this smoothie makes about twelve ounces of smoothie which contains about 496 calories. You can probably cut down on the calorie count with sweetener, and I can attest to the recipe's nommy-ness when made with honey instead of the syrup. Honestly the maple syrup is a little too sweet for my tastes. Hubby and I split one serving when we make them, and I can't imagine drinking a whole batch by myself. One banana is really filling -- let alone two!