Thick Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie with a Toasted Peanut Butter Swirl

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A juice-bar-style smoothie built to be eaten with a spoon as much as drunk through a straw. Frozen banana coins and a couple of soft dates do the sweetening, Greek yogurt and a spoon of oats give it real body, and a quick pass of peanut butter in a hot skillet turns it deeply roasty before it gets swirled down the inside of the glass. Flaky salt on top keeps the whole thing from tasting like dessert.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp creamy natural peanut butter
• 2 tsp honey or maple syrup
• 1 pinch fine sea salt

• 3 medium very ripe bananas, sliced into coins and frozen solid
• 2 Medjool dates, pitted and torn
• 1/3 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter
• 2 tbsp old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 cup cold whole milk or unsweetened oat milk, plus more as needed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 ice cubes

• 2 tbsp roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped
• flaky sea salt

Instructions

1. At least 4 hours ahead (or the night before), peel the bananas, slice them into 1/2-inch coins, spread them in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and freeze until hard. Frozen banana is what makes this thick enough to stand a straw in — do not skip it for fresh banana plus extra ice.
2. Put the torn dates in a small bowl, cover with 3 tablespoons of hot tap water, and let them soak 10 minutes to soften. Reserve the soaking water.
3. Make the swirl: combine the 3 tablespoons peanut butter, honey, and a pinch of salt in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat. Stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture loosens, darkens a shade, and smells toasty like fresh-roasted peanuts. Pull it off the heat immediately — it goes from roasty to scorched fast — and scrape it into a small bowl to cool for 5 minutes. It will thicken as it sits; if it gets stiff, stir in 1 teaspoon hot water.
4. Chill two tall glasses in the freezer while you blend. Using the back of a spoon, streak the toasted peanut butter in thick ribbons down the inside walls of each cold glass.
5. Load the blender in this order: milk, yogurt, the 1/4 cup peanut butter, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, oats, the soaked dates with their soaking water, then the frozen banana coins and ice on top. Liquid on the bottom lets the blades catch.
6. Blend on low for 15 seconds to break up the banana, then run on high for 45 to 60 seconds, using the tamper or stopping to scrape down the sides once, until completely smooth with no flecks of oat or date skin. The mixture should be thick enough that it barely moves when you tilt the jar; add cold milk 1 tablespoon at a time only if the blender stalls.
7. Pour into the swirled glasses, top with the chopped peanuts and a small pinch of flaky salt, and serve immediately with wide straws and spoons — it thins out within about 10 minutes.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

Dark Roux Seafood Gumbo with Quick Shrimp Stock

One-Skillet Blackened Cajun Chicken Pasta

Char-Grilled Oysters with Garlic-Worcestershire Butter

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem