Hello from beautiful Scottsdale, AZ! Can I just say how good it feels to be in warm weather without a scarf, coat or mittens? I’ve been craving warm sunshine on my skin since early October.
Don’t worry though, I’m sure the rest of the country will catch up soon. March is nearly here, which for me means patio season, rooftop bars, farmer’s markets, biking along Lake Michigan, running outside, berries and ALL THE SMOOTHIES…
My love for smoothies has been wicked strong since way back in 2010 when I was a youngin’ in college. When I first started learning about nutrition and fitness, I was adamant about gaining some muscle and learning how to refuel my body after a workout. Smoothies with a little protein powder or greek yogurt were an easy way to get protein, vitamins and nutrition in!
Smoothies aren’t just for breakfast though; I’ll often have one an hour or so before bed. I especially love when you can make them taste like ice cream, which is exactly what today’s smoothie reminds me of.
Specifically I’m wondering if you remember Neapolitan ice cream? It’s a little difficult to find now, but I loved it when I was a kid. A scoop of all three wonderful flavors: strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. Oh hells yes. My version calls for banana in the middle because I kind of wanted it to be like a banana split.
This smoothie is made in partnership with Almond Breeze. Most of you already know I bake with their almond milk all the time, but this time I wanted to their new extra creamy vanilla cashewmilk almondmilk! It’s ridiculously good and perfect for smoothie-makin’. Oh and I LOVE the flavor. It’s very subtle creamy cashew goodness.
There are a few tips to making this smoothie beautiful & delicious:
-Use frozen bananas. They make a difference in the thickness of the smoothie and are critical. I like to peel my bananas, then place them in a ziploc bag and freeze overnight.
-Use a vanilla protein powder or one that you really love! I haven’t tested this recipe without protein powder so I’m not sure how it would turn out if you didn’t use it. I think you could use greek yogurt and reduce the amount of almondmilk.
-Use Almond Breeze’s Almondmilk Cashewmilk blend or their regular unsweetened original Almondmilk to add to the creaminess.
-Don’t worry about it being perfect. You can also make this into a smoothie bowl and swirl everything together!
More healthy smoothie recipes you’ll love:
Triple Cherry Berry Watermelon Smoothie
Superfood Cacao Nib Green Smoothie
Mocha Banana Protein Smoothie Bowl
Refreshing Watermelon Pineapple Smoothie
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Layered Banana Split Protein Smoothie
Ingredients
- For the chocolate layer:
- 1 frozen ripe banana
- 2 tablespoons vanilla protein powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder (or raw cacao powder)
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds
- 1/4 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla AlmondMilk CashewMilk Blend
- For the banana layer:
- 1 frozen ripe banana
- 2 tablespoons vanilla protein powder
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds
- 1/4 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla AlmondMilk CashewMilk Blend
- For the strawberry layer:
- 8 frozen strawberries
- 2 tablespoons protein powder of choice
- 1/4-1/3 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla AlmondMilk CashewMilk Blend
Instructions
- Make the chocolate layer first: In a blender, add in frozen banana, protein powder, cocoa powder, chia seeds and milk. It should be THICK. Divide between 2 medium glasses and place in the freezer.
- Rinse the blender, then make the banana layer by adding frozen banana, protein powder, chia seed and milk. Blend until thick, smooth and creamy.
- Gently layer banana smoothie onto chocolate smoothie, gently spooning it around the inside edge of the glass. Place glasses back inside the freezer.
- To make the strawberry layer: Blend strawberries, protein powder and almond milk together. Again, you want this to be pretty thick, but you may need to add in more almond milk to make it blend.
- Once strawberry smoothie is thick and creamy, gently spoon it over the chocolate layer. Place glasses back in the freezer again for a few minutes, then enjoy!
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Photography by: Sarah Fennel
This post is in partnership with Almond Breeze! I love baking with their non dairy milks and enjoy sharing dairy free recipes with you! Thanks for continuing to support AK and the brands that help make this site possible!
Ahh this is so so pretty! I’m a huge advocate of the whole “pretty food tastes better” mindset 😉 Cannot wait to try this out soon!
Neapolitan ice cream has always been one of my favorite ice creams too!! I love how colorful and pretty this smoothie is, can’t wait to make it! 🙂
Amaaaazing!! Way to perk up Monday girl! This looks perfect!
What a fun idea!! I am a smoothie fanatic and drink/eat one at least once a day. A layered smoothie sounds like heaven (:
I love that cashew milk it is so delicious! I love all the flavors of this classic! And that addition of banana is perfect!
Monique, I LOVE these – the colors, the neapolitan flavors (my favorite) and the idea of having it as my sweet treat before bed. I always need a little type of dessert after dinner and this would be perfect and one of the best things for me.
I’m excited to try this new blend! I knew they had the separate flavors, but didn’t realize they’d combined them. Thanks for the recipe and enjoy your time in sunny Scottsdale!
Jealous of your sunshine! Loving this smoothie and and all its flavors! 🙂
I like the layers, and my 11-year-old would like them even more! Which protein powder do you usually use? Have fun in AZ. Digging the snaps.
I love smoothies like this that taste like dessert but are healthy enough for breakfast! Love that this takes on the classic ice cream flavor 🙂
Well NOW I know what I’m making for breakfast tomorrow! This looks amazing! 🙂
I love these layers!!! Good tip about freezing the bananas! Can’t wait to try this.
I am loving layered smoothies right now! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
This is so pretty! I need to find that milk! Cashew milk is my new favorite.
The layers are super pretty, and it looks just like Neopolitan ice cream. Smoothies are the best, and I hope you enjoy your time in Arizona.
These look so tasty. What kind of protein powder do you suggest using? My kids don’t care for the taste of protein powder so I have to make sure it’s a good one. Can’t wait to make this.
I was so jelly of your time in AZ! Looks like you gals had a blast. And I can’t wait to try this smoothie! Genius!
I especially love when smoothies are reminiscent of ice cream too! This recipe is a total keeper!! I love it! Sharing. 🙂
Layer smoothies are so gorgeous, but I hate having to deal with cleaning the blender every time! I don’t know what difference it would make, so my solution is to just reverse the layers and do chocolate last so the colors don’t mess up! 😀 Anyways, I think that smoothies that taste like ice cream AND are high in protein are the best types of smoothies in the world!
Such a LOVELY recipe!! I need to go some of that milk ASAP!
Wow! This looks gorgeous and is sure to taste just as good, can’t believe something this yummy looking is so healthy 🙂
Finally got around to trying this and it was very tasty! I also never really use protein powder, just cause I opt for pb or yogurt for sources of protein in my smoothies, so this was a very good intoduction to the stuff! It wasnt scary at all;) now I have other layer smoothie ideas running through my head…love it.
I finally got around to trying this and it was quite good!!! 🙂 I had never really tried protein powder before ’cause I normally opt for pb or yogurt as my protein source in smoothies so this was a great introduction to the stuff. It was not scary at all;) I love how it’s sweet enough without honey or truvia.
Woops, I commented twice. Lol.
This looks so gorgeous I think it would be worth the hassle (coming from another food blogger though. Non-food bloggers would probably disagree haha). I will have to try it but I don’t usually keep cashew milk on hand so I will sub almond! Also it says serves 2, but what size are they? I usually drink pretty big smoothies for breakfast…
Is there any alternative for Banana as I don’t like it especially in smoothies or shakes
Looks yummy – I expect I will make the layers in a different order (banana, strawberry, then chocolate) so that I need not rinse the blender in-between 🙂
I loved this smoothie! I cut this recipe in half to just make one. I have a Ninja blender and was worried how it would blend the smaller amount but it was great. I did add a bit more liquid and a tiny bit of frozen cauli rice to the chocolate and banana layers. It tasted so delicious and was fun to make (and look at!)
Very yummy and creative
I drank this with chocolate covered Katie cinnamon bun with strawberry cheesecake dip and I topped the smoothie with some coconut whipped cream 😋
Sounds amazing!!
Monique, could these smoothies be made the night before? My husband even thought they would be great if made layered in a glass storage container. Then they could be sliced and eaten like traditional Neapolitan ice cream!
Yum! That should work!