How to Make a Healthy Smoothie Taste Like Dessert

Dessert for breakfast. It sounds too good to be true, right? But what if I told you that you could have apple pie, strawberry cheesecake or Wild Blueberry cobbler as your first meal of the day? When it comes to smoothies, anything is possible. With the versatility of smoothie making, you can transform your favorite desserts into your go-to morning beverage or afternoon pick-me-up.

How do you mimic the indulgent taste of dessert in a smoothie while keeping it healthy? There are a few tricks of the trade to make a healthy smoothie taste just like dessert.

• Keep it sweet. Be sure to add enough fruit, like Wild Blueberries, which have an intense blueberry flavor, to keep your smoothie sweet enough for a sweet tooth craving. For extra natural sweetness, add dates, bananas or spices like cinnamon that enhance a sweet taste profile.
• Make it rich. We love desserts because of their indulgent taste and texture. The good news is you can add rich flavor to smoothies using healthy ingredients like Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, avocado, frozen banana, soaked cashews, silken tofu, oats or canned coconut milk.
• Capture the flavor. Think about the ingredients that give your favorite dessert its unique taste and add them to your smoothie! Not sure how this works?

Let’s create some dessert smoothies together and you’ll get my gist.

Apple Pie Smoothie

Apple Pie, a classic rustic dessert we all know and love. What goes into an apple pie? Apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and butter. How can we translate this to a smoothie using the checklist above?

• Keep it sweet. Add apples! The cinnamon will also help to enhance the sweetness of the apples. If you need additional sweetness, add a date or two.
• Make it rich. Add Greek yogurt or cottage cheese for a creamy, indulgent texture. Dairy-free? Try adding soaked cashews, silken tofu or oats to do the trick.
• Capture the flavor. We know that apple pie gets its distinct taste from those delicious warming spices so be sure to add cinnamon and nutmeg to your smoothie!

Wild Blueberry Crisp Smoothie

Let’s try another one. Wild Blueberry Crisp. Who doesn’t love a fresh fruit crisp during the summer months. How do you make Wild Blueberry Crisp? Frozen Wild Blueberries, lemon, flour, oats, cinnamon, nuts, butter and sugar. Let’s translate this to smoothie speak.

• Keep it sweet. Frozen fresh Wild Blueberries have a more intense blueberry flavor than regular, cultivated blueberries, imparting a delicious sweet flavor for your smoothie. Not enough for your sweet tooth? Add a little more cinnamon or a couple dates to boost sweetness.
• Make it rich. Once again Greek yogurt or cottage cheese is going to give you that creamy, rich mouth feel we crave. Vegan? Try soaked cashews or silken tofu! Since oats are a staple ingredient in fruit crisp, be sure to add them for extra thickness.
• Capture the flavor. Don’t forget to add those distinct ingredients like lemon zest and cinnamon and for a nutty flavor, add almonds, walnuts or pecans.

Got the hang of it yet? It’s super easy to transform your favorite desserts into healthy smoothies you can feel good about. Now here’s another one: Wild Blueberry Coconut Cream Pie Smoothie. You get all the elements of a classic dreamy coconut cream pie with a sweet Wild Blueberry twist.