Coffee Smoothies Recipes: Get that Buzzy Boost 🚀

Coffee smoothies recipes aren’t easy to come by, in my opinion. At least not good ones.

This is my smoothie story.

(Yes, this is one of those posts where you’re going to have to read through some nonsense to get to the recipes. Don’t hate the player, hate the game!)

I’m a bit of a smoothie snob, I suppose. But it’s only because I love smoothies! And if I see a smoothie that looks good, I will try it. And I will follow the recipe. A lot of the time? They’re pretty horrible. Or mediocre. I would honestly guess that many of these smoothie recipes have not been actually tested. Or that the recipe author has not had the pleasure of having an amazing smoothie before.

This post is all about coffee smoothies recipes.

How I Fell in Love with Smoothies: A New England Tale

Have you ever fallen in love with a smoothie?

The first incredible smoothie experience I had was in Beverly, Massachusetts- north of Boston, in what locals call the “North Shore”. There’s a little restaurant in Beverly Center called The Organic Garden. I lived in NYC at the time, but would come to Mass to visit my then-boyfriend, now-husband and we would go up to the beach in the North Shore, and stop in at the Organic Garden for lunch.

It’s a cool little place, all vegan. Everything from acai bowls to baked mac n cheese (cashew cheese, of course) and fresh juices and ginger shots. Also amazing desserts! This place inspired me to get one of my favorite vegan dessert recipes cookbooks, Sweet Gratitude- created by the chefs at the iconic Cafe Gratitude in San Fransisco).

But what really got me at the Organic Cafe was the smoothies. Namely: The Velvet Elvis.

What’s a Velvet Elvis Smoothie?

A thick, creamy, date-alicious vanilla heaven drink, if you will.

It began with the opening of a fresh young coconut. The friendly longhair behind the counter would dump the juice into the blender, along with some freshly-scraped meat. Then it was date rolls (more on date rolls below), almond butter, and banana.

The cafe also offers a ton of cool add-ins. Goji berries. Cacao. Maca.

I’ve made a million versions of this smoothie at home- it’s my go-to base.

And I’ve tried it with coffee. For me, it just didn’t work. I tried it with instant coffee. With cold brew. With chilled brewed coffee. It just never hit right. Personally, I don’t like the banana-coffee combo. But it’s actually pretty hard to find coffee smoothies recipes without bananas.

Why Coffee Smoothies Recipes?

Smoothies don’t have to have coffee, obviously. I like a good green smoothie – especially one with matcha (check out my favorite matcha here, it’s seriously amazing and has the best clean buzz, I will do another post with matcha recipes soon).

And a Velvet Elvis style smoothie is always delicious, especially on a hot summer day (it still reminds me of the beach), or when I’m trying to impress anyone who’s skeptic about smoothies.

But I am a coffee fanatic. Have been forever. I love the taste of coffee. The buzz. I enjoy trying different coffees and drinking coffee with friends.

So a coffee smoothie? For me, it’s the best of both worlds. I find them energizing and, well, fun! They’re more nourishing than a plain coffee. Straight up coffee or espresso can make me feel jittery and wiry. These smoothies provide a boost without the crash.

Ingredients for Coffee Smoothies Recipes

These recipes are highly adaptable and you can definitely play around with ingredients. And most/all can be bought at the grocery store, obviously. But personally, I like to stock up on these essentials and have the delivered. The price is usually better, and having a decent amount on hand is just easier.

Here are some ingredients I get on Amazon for my coffee smoothies recipes:

Cacao

Cacao goes in almost of my smoothies, and especially my coffee smoothies. Even a little bit of cacao gives a really nice mocha flavor that I love. Plus, I like having a lot of cacao around for various kitchen adventures. I order this one because it’s organic, well-priced, and delicious. It comes fast with Prime, too (I can get it same-day, usually).

Dates

Dates are a must-have for my coffee smoothies, because:

• They provide the creaminess! They’re my absolute favorite for giving a smoothie that thick, satisfying texture. Other ingredients- even almond butter and nuts- simply don’t blend up as nicely.
• Dates bring the sweetness, but I don’t experience the spike-and-crash that regular sugar can cause. (See study below)
• They’re full of nutrients. Some research even suggests dates promote good gut health and make even lower blood glucose levels.

I do buy my dates online, and these Jooiles dates are my favorite because they always come soft and fresh feeling (beware of moldy dates!).

Cold Brew for Coffee Smoothies Recipes

You’ve got some options when it comes to cold brew, and any you like will work for these recipes!

I’ve tried them all I think 🙂 By far my favorite cold brew is Chameleon’s vanilla cold brew. It’s organic and comes in glass bottles. The vanilla adds the *perfect* flavor that’s totally natural tasting and not overbearing.

This is a concentrate- so it’s strong! You may want to cut it 50/50 with water for these recipes when first using it.

Brazil Nuts

I use brazil nuts in my smoothies most of the time- even if a smoothie calls for cashews or almonds, I’ll often replace those with 1-2 brazil nuts. Brazil nuts are a good source of selenium, which has a lot of benefits, like promoting thyroid health. It can be hard to find good brazil nuts in stores- I order these on Amazon and this is my favorite brand. Their quality is excellent, and the company promotes regenerative farming and small farms.

Coffee Smoothies Recipes Tips

• Dates have to be blended well. If they’re dry, you may want to soak them a bit beforehand.
• To kick it up a notch, you can make ice cubes from cold brew or coconut water.
• For protein – I personally prefer the creami dreami without protein powder. If I were to add protein powder, I would go with Truvani’s vegan chocolate protein powder and I would order it from Amazon, because Truvani as a company drives me nuts (endless emails! no deal on monthly subscriptions!). As far as vegan protein powders go, I do think theirs tastes the best and has clean ingredients and NO STEVIA. I strongly dislike stevia.

Coffee Smoothies Recipes #1: The Creami Dreami – A Cold Brew Shake

This is my signature smoothie currently. Like, my mom texts me with “Did you have your creami yet?”

It’s a vegan coffee smoothie recipe if you leave out the marine collagen. The collagen is totally optional- I think it adds a nice frothy texture and the Vital Proteins collagen has zero taste.

Coffee Smoothies Recipes #2: The Chia Frosty – A Coffee Protein Smoothie

This one is more of a meal replacement. I’ve only ever made it with grass-fed whey protein powder, stolen from my husband (linked below). I think it would work with vegan protein powder, but I would add dates to make it creamier.

The chia seeds add a lot of fiber and protein (and healthy fat) here, but I do find that it’s important to drink a lot of water after having chia seeds in anything. It’s actually one reason why I like them- they encourage me to drink more water 🙂

Coffee Smoothie Recipe #3: Hakuna Giada – A Cacao Coffee Smoothie

This is a take on the coffee-avocado smoothie Giada De Lorentiis shared on her Tik Tok. She used a banana, which I replaced with 2 dates. Definitely worth trying with the banana though! If you’re into that sort of thing.