Learn how to make a coffee smoothie to kickstart your morning! Made with banana, almond butter, and more, it's a delicious healthy breakfast or snack.
This coffee smoothie recipe is perfect for busy mornings. You know those days when you have time to make a cup of coffee or a healthy breakfast…but not both? Now you don’t have to choose! Blend up this coffee smoothie, and you can enjoy coffee + breakfast in a single glass.
I love this one-and-done morning treat. Made with simple ingredients like coffee, frozen banana, almond butter, and dates, it’s super easy to put together, and it’s so delicious. The banana and almond butter give it an amazing creamy texture, and the dates make it rich and sweet. And of course, the coffee adds wonderful flavor too…not to mention a kick of caffeine!
How to Make a Coffee Smoothie
This coffee smoothie recipe is so easy to make! To start, gather these ingredients:
- Brewed coffee – I like to make this recipe with cold brew concentrate because I always have it on hand. Both store-bought and homemade cold brew work well. Feel free to use other brewed coffee if you prefer. Just make sure it’s cold or at room temp—not hot!—when you make the smoothie.
- Frozen bananas – They make the smoothie thick and creamy.
- Almond milk – To get the blender moving. Another plant-based milk, such as oat milk, would be great here too!
- Almond butter – It enhances the creamy texture and adds protein and healthy fats.
- Medjool dates – They give the smoothie a rich, caramel-like sweetness, plus nutrients like fiber and potassium.
- Vanilla extract and cinnamon – For warm depth of flavor.
- And ice – It perfects the smoothie’s frosty texture.
Blend the smoothie. Add the brewed coffee, frozen bananas, almond milk, almond butter, pitted dates, vanilla, and cinnamon to a blender, and blend until smooth, adding more almond milk as needed to blend.
Then, taste. If you’d like the smoothie to have a stronger coffee flavor, add more coffee to taste. When you’re happy with the flavor, blend in a couple handfuls of ice to make the smoothie thick and frosty.
Tip: Garnish this smoothie with a dusting of cinnamon and dark chocolate shavings for an extra-fun treat. Enjoy!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Customize Your Coffee Smoothie
Here are a few variations I love:
- Make a mocha twist. Add a tablespoon of cocoa powder for chocolatey flavor.
- Give it a protein boost. Blend in a scoop of your favorite protein powder.
- Add omega-3s. Blitz in a tablespoon of chia seeds or hemp seeds.
- Sneak in a veggie. Frozen cauliflower or zucchini would be great here. You won’t be able to taste either, I swear!
- Use another nut butter. Peanut butter and cashew butter are delicious!
- Cut the caffeine. Sub decaf coffee for regular.
Tips for Making Smoothies
Whether you try this coffee smoothie recipe or make another smoothie on Love & Lemons, these tips will set you up for success:
- Use frozen produce. Frozen fruits and veggies give smoothies a creamy, frosty texture, whereas fresh produce makes smoothies thinner and more watery. Buy frozen produce to use in smoothies, or freeze any fresh produce at least a day in advance.
- Add more liquid as needed. I like my smoothies to be really thick (I often eat them with a spoon!), and I make them in a high-speed blender. If you’re using a less powerful blender, or if you prefer a thinner texture, you’ll likely need to use more liquid than I call for in the recipe. Don’t hesitate to add almond milk as needed to reach your desired consistency.
- Start without ice. Thanks to the frozen fruit, you might not need it! Instead of adding ice to the blender right away, blend the other smoothie ingredients together first. Then, if necessary, add ice to make the smoothie frostier.
- Taste and adjust. Making a smoothie is like making any other recipe—always taste and adjust before serving! Add more of any of the ingredients in the recipe to tweak the balance of flavors to your liking, or, if you want a sweeter smoothie, pour in a little honey or maple syrup.
Happy blending!
More Favorite Smoothie Recipes
If you love this coffee banana smoothie, try one of these healthy smoothie recipes next:
- Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
- Zucchini Smoothie
- Mango Smoothie
- Blueberry Smoothie
- Avocado Smoothie
- Kale Smoothie
- Green Smoothie
Coffee Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ frozen bananas
- ½ to ¾ cup cold brew coffee concentrate, to taste
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk, plus more as needed
- 3 soft Medjool dates, pitted*
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for garnish
- 2 handfuls of ice
- Chocolate shavings, for garnish
Instructions
- In a blender, place the bananas, cold brew concentrate, almond milk, dates, almond butter, vanilla, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth, adding more almond milk as needed to blend. Add the ice and blend again.
- Pour into glasses and serve with a dusting of cinnamon and chocolate shavings for garnish.
Do you taste the banana in this? If so, is there any substitution for the banana? Thanks!
Hi Nikki, you will taste the banana. I sometimes make banana-less smoothies by freezing full-fat coconut milk into ice cubes and adding a handful to my smoothie. It’s not exactly the same as a banana but it helps the smoothie become thick and creamy.
thanks for the idea!
I tried this recipe today. Oh wow! I didn’t think it would taste so great! It was perfect even without any sweetener. Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m so glad you loved the smoothie!
Best smoothie I’ve ever made! I had to substitute a few ingredients because I can’t get to the store (#covid-19)but wow delicious! I only had chocolate almond milk, chocolate flavored protein powder and used 1tsp honey for sweetener!
Hi Lynda, I’m so glad you loved it!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. Just made my first one using all the optional extras and oat milk. I made cold brew coffee last night and made ice cubes with half of it, so I could use those instead of normal ice. It’s delicious! I’ll definitely be making these regularly. Now my goal for today, is to make your lemon muffins and banana bread 😀😋
Can’t taste the coffee which is kind of the point. Not my favorite.
This vegan cinnamon coffee smoothie looks delicious, I just want to devour it off the screen!
Hey, gorgeous pictures and amazing looking coffee smoothies! I think I’ll try this unique recipe. It’s good that I have all the ingredients:) Thanks a lot for sharing, Jeanine!
I will make this everyday.
Really delicious! I’ll be making these often with the warmer weather ahead.
Just made this smoothie and it is soooo good!! And it has so much more nutrition (and protein!!) packed into it than my usual cup of coffee! I will definitely be making this again!!
Yay, I’m so happy to hear that!
Just made this and it was exceptional! Taste so good and healthy. We loved it and will be our new smoothie for week ends and holidays! Thank you
Thanks Cecilia! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’ll try the cinnamon smoothie with dark chocolates.I’ll share this smoothie with my family.My wife will love it.
When you say 2 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee – do you mean espresso powder/instant coffee? 2 Tbsp of strong coffee brewed seems like not enough – like it would be lost in the other ingredients. Thanks for clarification!
Hi Traci – I meant brewed coffee, not powders. You can add more if you like, just use less almond milk accordingly. I used concentrated cold brew coffee (the Chameleon Cold Brew brand) which is pretty strong but it can still be adjusted to taste. Hope that helps!
what kind of vanilla protein do you like?
Hi Marianne, I used this one in this recipe: https://www.moonjuiceshop.com/products/vanilla-mushroom-protein (of course, it’s optional, I don’t always add protein powder to my smoothies)
do I have to use the protein powder?
nope! Just skip it if you want…
How many calories?
Thanks so much!!! So glad you loved it and it inspired you. How do you like the Moonjuice products?! I have debated them so many times and have never pulled the trigger.
Of course! This is the only one I’ve tried so far – I like it because it tastes good (not gritty or chalky). I haven’t tried any of their other products yet, but I’m thinking about experimenting with some others soon :).
I hope you, Mike & Hayes had a wonderful holiday!
Been making oat milk last few months, tastes great in coffee and no more wondering if a carton is really being recycled. I think this smoothie will be a good recipe for the oat milk and if I don’t strain the milk more than once will probably not need the protein powder.
Oat milk would probably be great in here, thanks for the idea!
I just bought some maca powder and added it to my açaí bowl this morning and it gave it such a lovely sweet flavour. I’m definitely going to try this as I love cinnamon too – thanks for the recipe :))
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