There’s a whopping 28 grams of protein in this chocolate peanut butter cup smoothie– no protein powders either!
Alternate names for this recipe: Skinny Peanut Butter Cup Dairy Queen Blizzard, Healthy Peanut Butter Cup Milkshake, Heaven On Earth.
If you’re anything like me, when life throws you a curveball, the only thing to keep you afloat is a spoonful of peanut butter studded with chocolate chips. And/or a sale on boots at Nordstrom. Peanut butter and chocolate is a winning combination no matter how it’s paired. I mean a batch of dreamy Reese’s Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies could probably change lives. Don’t believe me? Try them.
I’m a self proclaimed peanut butter chocolate addict. Don’t send help.
Despite the 3 degree temperature outside (with -15 degree windchill – it’s even colder in the midwest!) I’ve been drinking my weight in cold, creamy smoothies. Earlier this week I made a concoction with blueberries, frozen bananas, strawberries, almond butter, spinach, and everything but the kitchen sink. Purely delightful.
But today? I wanted life’s most comforting flavor combination after my workout this morning. And it just so happens this drink is full of protein. Well, it’s actually pure protein. A whopping 28 grams of protein in 1 huge smoothie.
I am not a fan of protein powder at all because it tastes like chalk dust to me. Maybe I haven’t found a good brand yet? I’ve been searching for years. And to be honest, it’s quite pricey! I’d rather take in protein from pure sources.
Here’s the protein breakdown of my new favorite smoothie:
- 6 oz greek yogurt → 18 grams
- 3/4 cup skim milk → 6 grams
- 1 Tablespoon Skippy natural peanut butter → 4 grams
28 grams. Unreal, right? Because of all the protein, this smoothie will not have you starving 5 minutes later. It held me over for hours. And the best part? It tastes so damn good. There, I said it. Damn good, you guys.
It’s like a drinkable, protein-packed peanut butter cup.
Like most of my healthy smoothie and milkshake recipes, you’ll start with frozen banana chunks. What’s so great about frozen banana chunks? It makes the healthiest, purist, creamiest base for a super thick smoothie. In fact just the other day I had a giant bowl of blended frozen “banana whip” (just 2 frozen bananas cut into chunks then blended with a touch of milk) and sprinkled mini chocolate chips on top. Tastes like ice cream, not kidding. Try it!
So today’s smoothie starts with 1 ripe banana, cut into chunks and frozen. Don’t worry, you won’t be able to taste the banana with the chocolate and peanut butter. Blend the banana up with some Greek yogurt, milk, cocoa powder, honey, and peanut butter. The 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup swirl you see is just because I was feeling fancy. 🙂
And for the peanut butter? Use homemade honey-roasted, natural style, crunchy, creamy, flavored, any of the 20 jars of peanut butter I know you have in your pantry right now. Or is that just me? Moving on…
Blend it all up into creamy oblivion. And by creamy, I mean out of this world creamy. So creamy and thick, this smoothie should really be called a milkshake. If you want the smoothie a little thinner, add a little more milk. If you want it more chocolate-y, add more cocoa powder. There’s a lot of ways to play around with this recipe.
And hey, guess what? Feel free to go all green on me. Add a handful of greens like spinach or kale. You absolutely won’t be able to taste them underneath all the peanut butter and chocolate tastes. (Or to really go green, try my favorite green smoothie!)
So go ahead, indulge in life’s best flavors swirled together. Fuel your muscles, please your tastebuds, brighten your day (because you never know when your life will be turned upside down), and jump for joy. Cheers!
Print
Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 large smoothie
- Category: Drinks
- Cuisine: American
Description
There’s a whopping 28 grams of protein in this chocolate peanut butter cup smoothie– no protein powders either!
Ingredients
- 1 large banana, peeled, sliced, and frozen
- 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 oz Chobani 0% Greek yogurt (or 2%, flavored or unflavored)
- 3/4 cup skim milk (or your favorite kind of nondairy or dairy milk)
- 1 Tablespoon honey, maple syrup, or agave
- 1 Tablespoon peanut butter (any kind you like)
Instructions
- Make sure you have a strong, powerful blender that will blend up the frozen banana. I like this Ninja or this Vitamix.
- Put all of the ingredients into the blender, in the order listed, and blend on high until thick and smooth. I would start with only 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder, blend, and then add 1 more for a stronger chocolate taste. You may need to stop and stir/scrape down the sides of the blender a few times.
- Drizzle glass with 1 teaspoon of chocolate syrup (optional) and enjoy!
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Blender such as this Ninja or this Vitamix
- So many ways to play around with this simple smoothie! If you prefer a less sweet smoothie, you can leave out the honey. Add more peanut butter for a stronger peanut butter taste. Add more milk to make the smoothie thinner, if desired. Add 1 cup of your favorite greens for added nutrition.
Keywords: chocolate peanut butter protein smoothie
I am allergic to banana but this otherwise sounds amazing. Can I just omit it and follow the recipe accordingly? Maybe add some ice for thickness? Thanks so much!
Hi Tracy! Bananas add sweetness and creaminess in addition to flavor and thickness. We haven’t tested this recipe without them but adding ice for thickness may help! You may want to add extra sweetener as well. Let us know what you try!
Love it
★★★★★
This is my favorite! I love it and keeps me full. I always find myself back to this recipe and it never disappoints
★★★★★
Roughly how many calories are in this recipe please
My daughter is trying a vegetarian diet, and I wanted to make her a “Dessert” smoothie to get some protein in – holy smokes, this is amazing. I doubled it bc life is hard. Subbed frozen vanilla yogurt for the Greek yogurt and accordingly omitted the honey, used Ovaltine in place of cocoa and added the wee tiniest smidge of peanut butter powder along with the real PB. I’ll use the cocoa next time bc I sacrificed some flavor by using the Ovaltine. And there will definitely be a next time!
★★★★★
I just made this smoothie and it is delicious! I used your exact recipe but added 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder.
★★★★★
Do you think it would last in the fridge overnight?
It should, yes!
Hi, I just made it and it was lovely! I didn’t have any banana, so I used avocado instead. It seemed like a really big smoothie, so I only made half, and it was enough for one. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
This chocolate smoothie is really great! This looks delicious and I’m sure I’ll like it! Thanks for share..
I’ve tried plenty of peanut butter smoothies in my time, as a few others have said they’re one of the best snacks if you’re working out at the gym a lot! Protein is key for building muscle AND weight loss!! Your recipe looks incredible Sally, Thumbs up!! 🙂
Tried the chocolate peanut butter protein smoothie today and I wasn’t as thrilled with it as everyone else. I had to make slight modifications, but once I did, it’s delicious! I only used 2T of cocoa powder instead of 3 and I used vanilla chobani instead of plain. I thought the plain made it taste too sour for my liking. Best things about it are that it’s easy to make and easy to modify.
Peanut butter chocolate smoothie is one of my favorite and I have to try this version of yours. It looks so yummy! Thank you Sally!!!
Just wondering how strong the peanut butter taste in this is. I know that sometimes the peanut butter gets overwhelmed by the other flavours and well the peanut butter is my favourite part!
Quite strong. Love my peanut butter too Hayley. You’ll love this.
Absolutely delicious, I increased the peanut butter to two tablespoons and added some spinach. I was only planning to eat half, but it is so good I am going to eat the whole thing!
This is seriously my favorite, go-to smoothie. It’s perfection. Thank you, Sally! :>
Hi Sally! What a great recipe, I love chocolate, peanut butter, and banana so why not combine them. YUM! After making homemade peanut butter in my Vitamix it is very difficult to get the peanut butter out from the bottom of the blades, so I decided to make this smoothie. Not only was the smoothie delicious but the clean-up was much easier. No more scraping the bottom of the blender for 10 minutes. Thanks and I love reading your stories and recipes daily!
OMG, this is so good, I think I died and went to heaven!! I used 1 frozen banana, half cup unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 c plus a couple spoons of vanilla greek yogurt, 1 T PB, 2 T cocoa powder. Amazing! I haven’t tried adding spinach yet but it seems like it would cover the flavor since it has a nice strong flavor itself. I am freezing more bananas as we speak!
This was great! Tasted just like a peanut butter chocolate milkshake. I’m thinking tonight calls for another one…
Thanks for another great recipe
This is my new absolute favorite smoothie! I love that I can get plenty of protein without adding any of those weird powders! I know people say that there are some great tasting ones, but ew! I even added some ground flax powder that I had laying around looking for a home and it was still delicious, just with added texture!
I made this tonight as a treat. It was so good, didn’t even taste the banana. I also only made half of the full recipe. It was the perfect combo of creamy, chocolate and peanut butter.