This Seasonal Pumpkin Spice Smoothie is a delicious, healthy, naturally sweetened, VEGAN alternative to those pumpkin spice blended drinks every one is carrying around this month (you know the ones…). Let’s face it – those drinks are doing nothing for the environment (plastic cups galore), our wallets, or our waistlines. And honestly, they have always tasted pretty artificial to me.
Enter: The Healthy Pumpkin Spice Smoothie.
This one really brings it with the fresh pumpkin flavor. I tried a couple different recipes for pumpkin smoothies and it took awhile to find the right combination. This one offers just the right mix of fresh pumpkin flavor, natural sweetness from the dates, roasted almonds that taste like pie crust, and warm autumn seasonings of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. The chia seeds add a health blast of omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and fiber, plus they make the smoothie really nice and thick.
I highly recommend using fresh pumpkin in this recipe. See my How To Cook and Use a Whole Pumpkin guide for how to make your own pumpkin puree. The flavor is just so. much. better.
Also, if you’ve never used dates in a smoothie before, I recommend you check out The One Thing I Always Do When Sweetening My Smoothie with Dates by Kelli Foster. This is a game changer in making sure dates are working effectively in your smoothie!
What Makes Healthy Pumpkin Spice Smoothie Revolutionary?
1. Reduces plastic waste. Making your smoothies at home with whole, fresh ingredients eliminates the need for plastic containers that would otherwise house your smoothie or blended sweet drink.
2. Uses Fair Trade spices. Spices are on the list of the foods you should always purchase with a Fair Trade certification. Check out my guide on Foods to Buy Fair Trade.
3. It’s totally vegan. No animals were harmed in the making of this smoothie. The animals and the environment thank you 🙂
4. It uses up that fresh pumpkin from How to Cook and Use the Whole Pumpkin.
Healthy Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup roasted almonds
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 3-4 medjool dates pitted
- 1/2 cup fresh pumpkin can be substituted with canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix!)
- 2 pinches Fair Trade cinnamon
- 2 pinches Fair Trade ginger
- 2 pinches Fair Trade nutmeg
- 2 tsp chia seeds
- 2 handfuls ice
Instructions
- Combine almond milk and pitted dates in high speed blender. Blend on high until dates are completely blended and no chunks remain.
- Add pumpkin, roasted almonds, seasonings, chia seeds, and ice, and blend until all ingredients are smooth.
- Optional: Top with coconut whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Notes
Enjoy!
This reminds me of a pumpkin pie in smoothie form, which is obviously a very good thing
A very good thing indeed! Thank you 🙂