Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Bowls
It’s Fall y’alllllll, time to break out pumpkin flavored everything. While everyone is twelve cars deep in the drive through waiting for a PSL, I’ve been carefully crafting a breakfast that is satisfying and also has it’s own boost of nutritional goodness to get me through the day.
These delicious, nutritious (mom and kid) approved pumpkin smoothies and pumpkin smoothie bowls are the perfect way to start your fall day. They will literally remind you of the delicious pumpkin pie served after Thanksgiving, minus all the calories.
Is Pumpkin Healthy For You?
Aside from being delicious, and evoking the smell and taste of fall, pumpkin has some major nutritional benefits. Pumpkin has an abundance of nutrients and vitamins making this a powerhouse of not only taste, but nutrients too. This article from Healthline breaks down some of the amazing nutritional properties of pumpkins that include:
- Packed with Vitamin A (which can help boost your immunity)
- Low in fat
- May protect eyesight
- Extremely nutrient dense
- High in antioxidants
- Helps promote healthy skin
A lot of people ask if pumpkin is fattening, since it’s so rich. The truth is pumpkin in its pure form does not contain any fat at all. It’s just when you add fattening things like butter, rich crusts, extra whip, etc. that pumpkin becomes unhealthy for you.
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What Is A Smoothie Bowl?
A smoothie bowl is just a way to add some umph into your breakfast routine. Essentially, a smoothie bowl is just your favorite smoothie dumped into a bowl, topped with your favorite garnishes like nuts, seeds, fruit, cereal etc.
Like cereal, a smoothie bowl is eaten with a spoon. This specific pumpkin smoothie recipe can easily be added into your favorite to-go mug, and taken with you on the go minus the toppings, or hey, be wild and add them anyway.
Smoothies and smoothie bowls are an amazing way to sneak in vegetables while your child isn’t looking. Check out my toddler smoothie bowl bar for a fun way to start the morning, and get your child used to eating/drinking a smoothie bowl.
Pumpkin Smoothie Bowl
Now that we know that pumpkins are delicious AND good for you, it’s time to chat about how to make this decadent pumpkin smoothie bowl. In order to layer the ingredients on top to create a smoothie bowl, you need to make sure that your base is nice and thick so it will support the items above it.
Next time, before your bananas start going bad or better yet when your bananas start to brown throw them in the freezer. Take the banana peel off, and throw them into a freezer ziplock bag or freezer safe container. That way whenever you are ready to make this delish pumpkin smoothie bowl, you’ll be ready to go. If you don’t have a frozen banana, fear not, you can still make this delicious smoothie with a banana off your counter. Just keep in mind it won’t be as thick and may not support your toppings.
No need to head to your local pumpkin patch, find a pumpkin and carve out the core to get the pumpkin flesh, because this smoothie bowl is made with pureed or canned pumpkin. Make sure to check the ingredients to ensure that what you are buying is in fact pure pumpkin and does not have added sugar or other icky ingredients. My favorite place to buy my canned organic pumpkin is from Thrive Market.
The secret ingredient here is the unsweetened vanilla coconut yogurt! It gives the smoothie tons of depth and the perfect amount of creaminess to really bring out the pumpkin flavor.
Blend together the unsweetened vanilla coconut yogurt, frozen banana, flax, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, maple syrup, and cinnamon in a high speed blender. The ninja kitchen system is a fantastic tool to have, it has a small extension that works great for making large or small batches of smoothies.
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Toppings
After your smoothie is all whipped up, pour the mixture into a cereal bowl, and add on your favorite fall toppings. Since the base is nice and vibrant orange, I like adding raisins or cereal and quickly form them into a jack-o-latern face for my kids’ smoothie bowls.
For the adults, you can add just about any of your favorite toppings in order to enhance the flavor. Dried fruit, nuts, peanut butter, and large chunks of whole fruit work best.
Some of the best fall inspired smoothie bowl toppings include:
- Pumpkin seeds
- Pecans
- Pumpkin granola
- A drizzle of peanut butter
- Banana
- Dried figs
Pumpkin Smoothie
Don’t have time to eat your smoothie bowl? The base is so delicious that you don’t necessarily NEED the toppings. Throw the smoothie mixture into your favorite to-go glass and bring it with you all morning.
Since its packed with so many healthy nutrients, it will give you way more energy than that pumpkin spiced latter will.
Pumpkin Smoothie Bowl
A delicious and healthy pumpkin pie smoothie that will remind you of drinking grandma's homemade pumpkin pie without the guilt!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large frozen banana
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut yogurt
- 1.5 tsp pure maple syrup
- Dash of Cinnamon
Instructions
1. In a high speed blender add pumpkin, almond milk, coconut yogurt, maple syrup,banana, pumpkin spice and blend until thick and creamy.
2. Pour mixture into a creal bowl
3. Top with your favorite toppings: such as pumpkin seeds, pumpkin granola.
Yum! This sounds really good! I need to give this a try! I bet my kids would like it, too!
Yummy! This looks delicious.