Toasted Coconut Espresso Smoothie

A rich yet healthy smoothie made with three kinds of coconut—coconut oil, coconut milk and toasted coconut—for the ultimate Coconut Espresso Smoothie recipe. 

It’s Monday morning, so I say bring on the espresso smoothie! What can I say? I’m a smoothie lover through and through. 

This smoothie was created purely because I wanted coffee one day, and I’m so over hot coffee these days. I mean, I’m always over it, but after forcing myself to drink it most mornings in the winter, I start craving cold coffee again when the weather is nicer. The obvious choice is cold brew, but I didn’t want to wait eight hours for the coffee to steep, so an espresso smoothie was the obvious second choice. 

I’ve made a handful of coffee smoothies before—like this peanut butter espresso smoothie and this coffee turmeric smoothie—so I figured why not try out a toasted coconut version? Because coconut is my JAM. 

ESPRESSO SMOOTHIE INGREDIENTS

• banana
• cocoa powder
• espresso powder
• chia seeds
• toasted coconut
• coconut oil
• vanilla extract
• coconut milk

As you can see, there are THREE kinds of coconut in this smoothie: toasted shredded coconut, coconut oil and coconut milk for optimal coconut flavor. I made this a second time and forced Miguel to try it to make sure he approved. Luckily he did—I mean, how could he not?! Triple the coconut=triple the flavor. Ever since making this bread recipe, I’m all about using all three forms of coconut when creating a coconut-y recipe. It’s necessary!

Tip: I recommend using espresso powder rather than instant coffee, though instant coffee will work too. Espresso powder has a stronger and overall better flavor to it in my opinion. 

HOW TO TOAST COCONUT

Fact: toasted coconut has a stronger/better flavor than regular shredded coconut. No seriously, it’s true! But, toasting it can be a little tricky. Let’s walk through how to perfectly toast coconut.

Step 1: Heat oven to 350° and pour shredded coconut out onto a baking sheet.

Step 2: Toast coconut in the oven for 5-7 minutes. You want to keep your eyes on the coconut, so after 5 minutes, open your oven to see the status of the coconut. You want the coconut to be slightly golden in color. Be careful though–it goes from slightly golden to burnt quite quickly. Basically, the trick is to keep your eyes on the coconut–don’t forget about it and allow it to burn like I’ve done!

This espresso smoothie is quite possibly the best on-the-go breakfast option and it’s an awesome afternoon pick-me-up, too! I hope you give it a try. 

MORE SMOOTHIE RECIPES

• peanut butter espresso smoothie
• coffee turmeric smoothie
• raspberry pistachio smoothie 

Toasted Coconut Espresso Smoothie

This toasted coconut espresso smoothie uses toasted shredded coconut and espresso powder for a tasty pick-me-up!

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Drinks

Cuisine: smoothie

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 1

Author: The Almond Eater

Ingredients

• 1 frozen banana*
• 1 tbsp cacao powder
• 1 tbsp espresso powder**
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup toasted shredded coconut
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut milk***

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Spread shredded coconut out onto a baking sheet and toast coconut for 5-10 minutes, or until slightly browned; set aside.
• Place all ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth.
• Enjoy!

Notes

*If you don't have a frozen banana, use a room temp banana and then add 4-6 ice cubes to the blender **You can also use 1 tsp instant coffee if you don't have espresso powder ***I used coconut milk from a carton (like the So Delicious kind), but canned coconut milk should work too, as long as you get a mixture of the cream and the liquid within the can (aka, not JUST the creamy part)