Red Berry and Coconut Smoothie Bowl
As some of you will know, smoothies are a regular breakfast item in the Tin and Thyme household. They are a tasty way of packing in a lot of healthy nutrients and generally keep us going for hours. It was not until I had a conversation with some fellow food bloggers yesterday, however, that I heard about the smoothie bowl. As soon as the concept was explained, I realised that smoothies in a bowl were quite a different thing to smoothies in a glass.
We tend to drink our smoothies on the go, whilst we are getting ready for the day or, most often for me, when I am on the computer. I reckoned that eating a smoothie with a spoon from a bowl rather than drinking it from a glass would make it seem as though we’d had a proper breakfast and thus we’d feel more satisfied.
This morning, I struck whilst the iron was hot and made these red berry and coconut kefir smoothies. Having a smoothie bowl encouraged us to sit down together and really appreciate what we were eating – and what we were eating was quite delicious. Frozen antioxidant rich raspberries, tayberries and red currants, dried goji berries and dried barberries were blended in kefir with a banana, of course, but also coconut flakes and coconut oil. I always add whatever medicinal tinctures we happen to have on the go; at the moment it’s ginkgo and homemade hawthorn. The tartness of the berries was tempered by some honey and the creaminess of the kefir. For a vegan based bowl, the kefir can easily be replaced by coconut milk and the honey by your sweetener of choice. Are there seconds was CT’s enquiry and luckily there were.
- 750ml kefir (or coconut milk)
- 1 banana
- large handful of frozen red berries
- 1 heaped tsp dried barberries
- 1 heaped tsp goji berries
- 1 tbsp coconut flakes
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp honey (or sweetener of choice)
- required drops for any medicinal tinctures you are taking (optional)
- Leaving a few berries and flakes back for decoration, place everything in a blender and blitz for 35 seconds or so.
- Pour into four bowls and decorate with the reserved berries and coconut flakes.
- Replace the kefir with coconut milk and the honey with sweetener of choice for a vegan version.
- Can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days for subsequent hassle free breakfasts.
I am submitting this to #CookBlogShare over at SuperGolden Bakes.Other smoothie bowl recipes you might like:
- Smoothie Bowl from Hungry Healthy Happy
I used my high speed Optimum 9200A Next Generation blender which makes a brilliant job of grinding tough items such as coconut flakes into a smooth emulsion. The post contains affiliate links. Buying through a link will not cost you any more, but I will get a small commission. This helps keep Tin and Thyme blythe and blogging. Opinions are, as always, my own.
Jenny Habbal
2nd June 2015 at 1:29 pmSounds like a wonderful breakfast…I guess using yogurt instead of Kefir ( which I still haven’t got round to making!) would work…Where can you find reasonably priced coconut oil?
Choclette
2nd June 2015 at 1:40 pmYou could use yoghurt for sure Jenny. Coconut oil is not cheap, but I’ve found a large tub of Biona works out cheaper than any other I’ve come across. As it’s become a lot more popular recently, the price has definitely come down.
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours
2nd June 2015 at 7:01 pmI need to get into the swing of smmothie bowls and get using kefir too. It looks wonderful.
Choclette
2nd June 2015 at 8:45 pmIf you start making your own kefir Helen, there is no getting rid of it.
Laura @ KneadWhine
2nd June 2015 at 7:22 pmWhat an interesting idea! I do amoothies quite a bit as part of my diet and can definitely see a benefit in eating them this way. Yours looks gorgeous too.
Choclette
2nd June 2015 at 8:46 pmThank you Laura. They are not for every day, not with us anyway, but I’ll definitely be making them on days I feel we need a ‘proper’ breakfast.
Alida
2nd June 2015 at 10:33 pmOh I would love a breakfast like that. I have started using coconut oil only recently. I like it because it is antiseptic too and good for the bowel. I’d like to wake up in the morning and having such a “happy” colourful breakfast. I need to have a go at this x
Choclette
3rd June 2015 at 10:10 amThanks Alida, I like your ‘happy’ breakfast – very apt. There are so many purported benefits to coconut oil, it’s hard to remember them all. It also gives an extra smooth quality to smoothies.
Dom
3rd June 2015 at 7:30 amWhat a clever idea! I’ve never heard of this but it makes such obvious sense. I often feel bloated by smoothies but if it’s eaten this way it’s more like soup! Yours sound gorgeous and looks so pretty!
Choclette
3rd June 2015 at 3:24 pmI had the same ‘what a clever idea’ moment as you Dom and it’s much harder to gulp down served like this.
Johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe
3rd June 2015 at 12:55 pmIt looks very pretty – I like the idea of some nice toppings on a bowl of smoothie
Choclette
3rd June 2015 at 3:25 pmThanks Johanna. It makes a nice start to the day to sit down to a pretty bowl in the morning 🙂
Kerry @ Kerry Cooks
3rd June 2015 at 2:05 pmThis looks delicious! Love the flecks of coconut and raspberry on top
Choclette
3rd June 2015 at 3:26 pmThanks Kerry, we both managed to admire our bowls for a bit before we dived in 😉
Angie@Angie's Recipes
3rd June 2015 at 5:52 pmThat looks like a perfect breakfast!!
Choclette
3rd June 2015 at 6:02 pmThank you Angie, it was a lovely breakfast and made a very nice change.
Tracy
3rd June 2015 at 8:13 pmdefinitely need to give these smoothie bowls a try as it definitely seems like it would feel like a proper breakfast … thanks for sharing.
Choclette
4th June 2015 at 1:53 pmIt definitely does feel like a real breakfast and a bit of a treat too Tracy.
Kate - gluten free alchemist
3rd June 2015 at 10:54 pmWhat a pretty colour! Looks like a perfect bowl to me!
Funny though….. I made a smoothie pud a few weeks back which is still waiting to be posted…. I agree, sometimes they are much better eaten with a spoon!
Choclette
4th June 2015 at 1:54 pmOoh a smoothie pud Kate? That sounds interesting. I look forward to seeing it.
Karen
4th June 2015 at 12:08 pmSmoothie bowls seem to be all the rage now – I have just created some recipes for a cookbook! Yours looks FAB Choclette!
Choclette
4th June 2015 at 1:55 pmThank you Karen. Can’t wait to see your book.
Sylvia @ Happiness is homemade
4th June 2015 at 5:19 pmI love smoothie bowls. It actually make you feel like you’re eating proper breakfast 🙂 Yours look lovely – bright and summery with my favourite fruits!
Choclette
4th June 2015 at 9:44 pmThanks Sylvia, the flavours were lovely and it made a real treat eating it from a bowl.
ManjiriK
8th June 2015 at 2:22 pmBeautiful breakfast bowl and you have inspired me to get back to my smoothies ! Never used tayberries and dried barberries and am very intrigued by your tinctures sounds very intriguing!
Choclette
8th June 2015 at 8:29 pmThanks Manjiri, bayberries and barberries are both quite sour, but that is tempered by the kefir and banana, so it makes for a lovely fresh flavour.
Lucy @SupergoldenBakes
16th June 2015 at 11:36 amLooks utterly delicious and healthy too. Not sure about eating out of a bowl though… Have to try it I guess! Thanks for linking with #CookBlogShare
Choclette
16th June 2015 at 3:02 pmEating out of a bowl makes for quite a different experience Lucy, but well worth trying – honestly 😉
Sundari
17th August 2015 at 4:18 pmSuch a healthy recipe … Pics look cool..
Choclette
17th August 2015 at 5:11 pmThank you Sundari. I do like a good healthy start to the day – it’s all down hill after that.
Piyali
17th August 2015 at 4:57 pmWhat a pretty looking bowl that is. A look at it and you are instantly drawn towards it. Nutrient packed and visually appetizing I surely would love to make this super delicious bowl of goodness my breakfast many times a week.
Choclette
17th August 2015 at 5:11 pmThank you Piyali, it’s so easy to do and so delicious too.
Byron Thomas
17th August 2015 at 5:03 pmWhen I first looked at this, I thought it was a bowl of strawberry milkshake. Hahaha! But, this is even better. I love the combination of berries and coconut. Yum! Just one question… what are barberries?
Choclette
17th August 2015 at 5:14 pmWell you could set a trend for sipping milkshake from a bowl Byron – if you really want to 😉 Barberries are a Middle Eastern red berry that is quite sharp, but adds a nice tang to a lot of foods.
Preethicuisine
17th August 2015 at 5:18 pmI love Smoothies. This smoothie looks inviting.
Choclette
18th August 2015 at 8:36 amThank you. We have smoothies for breakfast most mornings now.
Sandhya
17th August 2015 at 6:05 pmChoclette, Love the smoothie! I also strive to eat healthy and this kefir smoothie is on that list!
Choclette
18th August 2015 at 8:37 amThanks Sandhya. Kefir is fantastic stuff and smoothies are a great way to use it.
Janice
6th May 2017 at 6:11 pmAny breakfast that results in requests for seconds is bound to be a winner.
Choclette
7th May 2017 at 4:16 pmSmoothie bowls are lovely to look at, but we rarely have them as I’m usually in too much of a hurry. We do have lots of smoothies from a glass though 🙂