3 Refreshing Smoothie Bowl Ideas For Summer

This post is a paid collaboration with iChoc.

Now that summer is fast approaching and all the bbq's are firing up, there's nothing that says summer more like a refreshing smoothie bowl - or in my opinion that is. Although I love enjoying smoothie bowls all year round, there's just something so nice about devouring one in the summer whilst outside soaking up the sun.

Smoothie bowls can be enjoyed as a meal (breakfast is my favourite) or even as a healthy snack or dessert- yeah I said it, DESSERT.

I decided to come up with three different ideas that will satisfy your belly and sneak in some added nutrients to your meal / diet.

iChoc is my favourite vegan chocolate brand so I couldn't wait to work with them on this collaboration. If you have yet to try their chocolate then I couldn't recommend it enough, they have so many flavours such as almond orange and white chocolate vanilla (my favourites) plus many more delicious flavours.

Anyways, on with the smoothie bowls...

Simple Strawberry & Banana Bowl -

- 2 frozen bananas
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- splash of dairy free milk (I use almond)

This bowl is super simple, yet delicious and you only need three ingredients to blend together. Make sure that when you're using frozen bananas, you cut them up into small chunks so that they can blend easier as your blender may struggle otherwise. Simply blend up all of the ingredients and pour the smoothie into the bowl.

Now this is where the fun begins. Toppings. You can completely make or break the bowl depending on your toppings choices and I think I've aced it with this one. My favourite topping is aways coconut, so you'll notice me using this in all of my bowls. But for this bowl in particular, I topped the smoothie with iChoc white vanilla chocolate, fresh strawberries, desiccated coconut, chia seeds and granola. The result was amazing and I highly recommend this if it's your first smoothie bowl!

Tropical Sunshine Bowl -

- 1 cup frozen mango
- 1 passionfruit
- splash of dairy free milk or coconut water

If you're not a big fan of banana, then frozen mango is your best bet at getting something to keep the texture of the smoothie bowl the same, but of course with a different flavour. Tropical smoothies are always my go to and making these in the summer makes the experience 100x better as it's just so refreshing. Not to mention, mango and passionfruit are simply the best combination out there.

Simply blend up all of these ingredients in a high speed blender and once again cutting the mango up into small chunks, just like you would with frozen banana to make the blending easier. Of course the toppings are completely optional, but I used one kiwi, cut into thin slices, along with iChoc white nugget crisp, fresh strawberries and desiccated coconut.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Bliss Bowl -

- 2 frozen bananas
- splash of dairy free milk
- 2 tsp cacao powder

Now onto my favourite bowl out of the three and the most excited I was to make. I wanted to experiment a bit more with the toppings in this bowl and try my first attempt at making peanut butter bites. Let me tell you, this was the best decision I have ever made. Since being vegan, I haven't had anything remotely close to the flavour of a snickers bar (an old favourite of mine), but I may have just discovered something very close.

If you want to try these little bites of heaven, you will need:

- 1 cup of smooth peanut butter (I used Sun-Pat smooth, no added sugar and it was perfect)
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1/2 cup icing sugar / powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 bars of iChoc choco cookie 
- 1 tbsp coconut oil

Start off by mixing the peanut butter and vegan butter together until it's a smooth consistency. Slowly add the sugar and mix. I put the mixture in the microwave for ten seconds and it really made all the difference as it was so much easier to mix together.

Put the mixture in the fridge until it's firm enough to roll into bite size balls. Leave the mixture in the fridge for around 20 - 30 minutes then roll into balls on a tray. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes.

Melt the Choco cookie bar and coconut oil on the stove or in a microwave safe bowl. I did mine on the stove so I could ensure that it wouldn't burn and so I could keep stirring the two together until it was completely melted. You'll noticed that the cookie bits in the chocolate won't melt, but this makes the perfect topping for the bites as it gives them the perfect crunch and texture. Set aside for a minute while you grab the peanut butter bites out of the fridge.

Line a tray with parchment paper and dip the peanut butter bites into the chocolate either with a fork or using your hands (messy, but does the job) and place onto the tray. I then drizzled the leftover chocolate from the bowl onto the rest of the bites once they were finished to give them a thicker coating before placing them back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.

These bites are truly delicious and make the best topping for this smoothie bowl for that peanut butter kick. As you can see, I also topped this bowl with granola, fresh strawberries, desiccated coconut and a drizzle of melted chocolate. This bowl may not look the healthiest, but it's packed with so many great things for your body and keeps you feeling full for hours and can be enjoyed either as a meal or dessert as it's really THAT good.

I'm so happy with the outcome of all of these bowls and the peanut butter bites are a hit with my family, so will definitely be making these again with the help of iChoc bars.

You may also be interested in trying these vegan chocolate chunk cookies I made with iChoc!

What's your favourite smoothie combination?

Love Always,

Shannon x