Flavors of Fall
When fall comes around, our fresh fruit options here in the midwest begin to dwindle. I love berries, but they are more expensive and have to travel a far distance if purchasing out of season. Apples are the go-to fall produce, with apple picking as an annual tradition for many mid-west families. We often come back from our yearly apple picking trip with dozens of fresh apples. It’s nice to have a few apple smoothie recipes in your back pocket to pull out other than pies and crisps. This Warm Apple Pie Smoothie was born out of the problem of having too many apples on hand. I also like this as a warm smoothie because I crave all things warm and cozy with falling temps.
You can go with whatever apple you prefer in this smoothie. My go-to’s are usually honey crisp or Fuji. The one thing I would say is that I do always try to buy organic apples. Apples are pretty high on the EWG Dirty Dozen list of produce, meaning they are a highly sprayed crop.
This warm apple smoothie has a naturally sweet flavor with no added sugar. The optional maca powder lends a slight earthy/caramel flavor to the taste. If you’ve never tried maca before, maca is a cruciferous vegetable related to broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale. It has a long history of culinary and medicinal use in Peru and is known as a good hormone balancer and may even increase libido! Woot!! Maca root is generally dried and consumed in powder form, but it’s also available in capsules and liquid extract.
This warm apple pie smoothie features the following health benefits:
- oats-A good source of fiber and antioxidants
- dates-Dates offer a significant amount of fiber and a variety of vitamins and minerals, including iron, potassium, B vitamins, and magnesium
- spinach-Excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, and folate as well as being a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, and vitamin B2.
- apple-Full of fiber, antioxidants, One serving provides 2–4% of the RDI for manganese, copper, and vitamins A, E, B1, B2, and B6.
- protein-Necessary as building blocks for muscles, bones, cartilage, skin, and blood. Proteins are also building blocks for enzymes, hormones, and vitamins.
- chia seeds-High in fiber, protein, and omega 3 fatty acids.
- cinnamon-Good for balancing blood sugar.
- maca-High in vitamin c, copper, and iron. It is reported to be good for balancing hormones and improving libido.
Equipment
- High-Speed Blender
- saucepan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water hot water
- 1/4 cup gluten free oats
- 1 date pitted
- 1 cup cashew milk could sub another non-dairy milk but cashew is creamier
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 1 apple organic and cored
- 1 serving vailla protein powder
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp maca powder optional but adds a nice carmel flavor
Instructions
- Heat water to hot, but not boiling
- Place hot water in blender with oats, dates and chia seeds. Let sit for 5 minutes
- Add remaining ingredients. Start blending slowly, continue blending on soup function until hot
- Pour in to a mug and serve warm. Top with additional cinnamon and /nutmeg if desired
- If you do not have a soup function on your blender you can always heat up in a saucepan on stovetop for additional warming
