There is a shop in the Hawaii town we lived in that makes the best juices and smoothies I’ve ever had. They are extremely well known in the area and typically have a line of customers out the door.

My absolutely favorite drink – and the one I continue to get every time we visit – is a dreamy chocolate peanut butter concoction. It’s smooth and delicious and high in protein and is what my smoothie dreams are made of!

I’ve tried to recreate it before with no luck, so typically I leave it to the experts and simply wait until I’m back in town to enjoy one.

Not anymore!

I’ve finally perfected my own version and here are the keys:

• The right ice to liquid ratio. I tend to either use too much liquid to make it too thin or too little to make it way too thick. The key is finding the balance to your taste.
• While you can use only water as your liquid (and I’ve done this plenty of times!) milk adds a delicious creaminess (and extra protein). I use a plant-based almond or pea protein milk.
• Blend enough to incorporate all ingredients and make it smooth, but don’t OVER blend! When I do this it adds too much air to the mixture and almost gets a whipped consistency. Yucky.
• Don’t add vegetables. I know I know – I love adding spinach and frozen cauliflower to smoothies as much as the next person! But it changes the flavor profile and consistency and for this one it’s best left to the basic ingredients.
• Finally – the protein powder. I feel like I’ve finally found the holy grail of protein powder for me and my body and the best part is – it’s peanut butter flavored! This recipe uses the peanut butter protein powder to get that amazing peanut butter taste. While I’m sure there is a way to make this with vanilla protein powder and real peanut butter (and that would be delicious), this recipe specifically uses a peanut butter protein powder (this is the one I love).

This recipe is what I use for a single serving size, but it’s easy to increase it for more people. And for the record, my entire family loves it as well!

This is the perfect post-workout protein snack, afternoon snack to tide you over until dinner or breakfast on the go! I hope you love it as much as I do.