hot days, cold drinks: vanilla peanut butter banana shake

have you noticed a pattern so far in my recipe series? most of my deliciously frozen drink recipes call for frozen bananas. frozen bananas are perfect for this kind of drink because they make the shake thick, cold and creamy (almost like ice cream) and add natural sweetness without refined sugars. i almost always keep frozen bananas in our freezer, especially in the summer. with bananas in the freezer, you are only minutes away from a delicious, healthy dessert any time you want it.

my secret for keeping our freezer stocked with frozen bananas is to buy the old, brown, sale-priced bananas whenever i see them at the store.  not only does this save money, but the over-ripe bananas are sweeter, giving them a better flavor for frozen drinks.  in the freezer they will last a long time, but they never stay around for that long because i use them in so many recipes!

slicing the bananas before freezing them can make
them easier to separate, but i usually don't have
time and skip this step!

vanilla peanut butter banana shake

1 frozen banana
1 cup milk
3 Tblsp peanut butter
2 tsp ground flaxseed (optional- this adds healthy fats)
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until mixed. add more milk to make it thinner or more banana to make it thicker.

yum!

click here for the next recipe in the series: fresh squeezed lemonade