Hazelnut & Chocolate Smoothie Bowl

After soaking the hazelnuts, I drain them and add them to my blender along with flax meal, ripe bananas, protein powder, rolled oats, cocoa powder, hemp seeds, soya milk (you can use another plant-based milk) and dates.

You can omit the protein powder if you prefer, you’ll still have plenty of protein in this bowl. To replace, and help thicken the bowl however, you may wish to double up the flaxmeal. Using frozen bananas will also do this, as will making it the night before and storing it in the fridge.

If I’m making the smoothie bowl as per the recipe and the evening before, I will actually add another 1/4 cup of milk as the bowl will thicken up quite a lot in the fridge. 

So, on to making the smoothie bowl. I’ve found that it helps to pulse the ingredients 8-10 times before then turning it up high and blitzing for 30-45 seconds.

And that’s all there is to it! You will likely find that this smoothie bowl will still have a grainy feel to it, more so than fruit smoothie bowls if you’re used to those, don’t worry, it’s supposed to be like this.

Now for the toppings. Really this is over to you to experiment and find your favourite accompaniments. Any fruits (dried or fresh), nuts or seeds will work. My favourite and usual go-to’s these days are sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and walnuts. This might sounds strange, as I’m not a massive fan of walnuts, but chopped up small and mixed in to the smoothie, they make a great addition as the texture is quite soft for a nut and they have lots of good fats and plenty of omega 3!

So, give it a go yourself and let me know how you get on and what your favourite toppings are!