Fairy Tale Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Fairy Tale Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Ready for a fun new treat this fall?

How about a delicious and healthy pumpkin spice smoothie?

A little background on our recipe…

At the end of long day of driving on a road trip last summer, a Google search kindly came up with a healthier option when we searched for “ice cream near me,” and we found ourselves enjoying delicious and unique smoothies at The Maca Root cafe.

The Maca Root has a great variety of healthy smoothies, but the one we all loved most was the blue power smoothie… it tasted like eating a delicious cinnamon cookie… in a smoothie!

When we got home, we wanted to recreate this amazing smoothie… it took a few tries, but we finally got it, and our whole family loves it. We hope you will too!

Spirulina can be green or blue – the blue power smoothie at The Maca Root was a vibrant blue, but the spirulina we bought turns out to make the smoothie green. The calm green color of the smoothie reminded us of fairy tale pumpkins, hence our name for the smoothie. We also decided to use pumpkin spice in our smoothie, while the smoothie we had this summer just used cinnamon (both are great options).

Our fairy tale pumpkin smoothie recipe makes 4 small servings or 2 large servings. The recipe fits nicely into a 24 oz. Ninja blender cup. Simply check out the ingredient list, then follow along with our video to make this delicious and healthy treat! It’s full of protein and makes an energizing afternoon snack.

Ingredients:

4 scoops KOS vanilla protein powder

1/2 cup almond butter

1 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. maca root powder

1/2 tsp. KOS organic spirulina powder

1 banana (fresh or frozen)

12 ice cubes

1 cup almond milk

Please note, spirulina and maca root are touted as superfoods, but please do your own research to see if they are right for you and your family.

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Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Paleo Donuts {baked, gluten-free}

Paleo Donuts {baked, gluten-free}

On a recent trip to Nashville, we had the opportunity to go to Five Daughters Bakery. What a treat! They have delicious paleo donuts that we all sat down to enjoy one sunny afternoon… and perhaps the best part is that everyone was happy afterward (rather than the cranky behavior effect of regular donuts). We love the sweet theme of love and family at Five Daughters Bakery, so we had to snap a picture of the donut box…

5 daughters bakery box

Nashville is way too far away for us to be able to get these delicious donuts again any time soon (though a 10 hour drive might almost be worth it!), so upon arriving home, we experimented with recreating these delicious donuts. Our daughters (who are quite the food critics) actually said they think our homemade donuts are even better… Mama thinks the Five Daughters Bakery donuts are the winner, but then again, for a mama, it’s quite a treat to be able to find a healthy gluten-free snack for everyone without having to make it.

In this post, we share with you our recipes for chocolate chip donuts with chocolate ganache, and fresh raspberry donuts with creamy frosting.

* Plus – scroll down for a fall favorite we just added – apple cinnamon donuts *

The donuts can be made strictly paleo, using coconut oil, or the version our children like best, with butter.

paleo donut recipe

Ingredients for 12 donuts (for complete instructions, please scroll down):

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/3 cup coconut flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3 Tablespoons tapioca flour

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup melted butter (or melted coconut oil)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup milk of choice

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips or fresh raspberries

Frosting/topping of choice

If you are looking for a donut pan, we recommend this one from Nordic Ware:

Let’s make donuts!

Step 1: Measure dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/3 cup coconut flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3 Tablespoons tapioca flour

Step 2: Stir dry ingredients together well.

Step 3: Measure liquid ingredients into a separate large mixing bowl.

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup melted butter (or melted coconut oil)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup milk of choice

Step 4: Whisk liquid ingredients together well.

Step 5: Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir together well.

Step 6: Add mini chocolate chips or fresh raspberries.

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

or

1/3 cup washed fresh raspberries

Step 7: Grease donut pan and generously pipe in donut batter.

Cut about a 1 inch opening at the tip of the piping bag prior to filling the bag with batter.

This recipe makes 12 donuts. 

Need a donut pan? We love this one from Nordic Ware.

Step 8: Bake in 350 degree oven for 13-15 minutes.

We have found 13 minutes is enough. Try not to overbake.

Step 9: Let cool slightly in pan, then transfer to cooling rack.

Step 10: Top with chocolate ganache or raspberry cream

Once donuts are completely cooled, top them with chocolate ganache or raspberry cream. This is optional, the donuts are great even without topping.  (See instructions below.)

Chocolate Ganache

For the chocolate ganache in the photo, we made a super simple microwave version using just dark chocolate, butter and stevia. Simply place a dark chocolate bar in a microwave safe bowl. Melt chocolate in microwave (about 1 minute and 30 seconds). Add a few Tablespoons butter (or coconut oil), and stir with warm chocolate until well combined. Stir in sweetener to taste. Dip the top of donut into the ganache, then lift up the donut and place on a plate. Beautiful and so fun!

Raspberry Cream frosting

For the raspberry cream frosting in the photos, we used coconut cream. Refrigerate a can of coconut cream over night (make sure it is cream, not milk). Pour off the liquid and discard it. Place the cream (should be solid) in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip until fluffy.  Add sweetener to taste (such as stevia or honey). Add a small amount of fresh raspberries. Whip again until well incorporated. Use a piping bag to frost the donuts. You could also use whipped cream instead of coconut cream, or use our low sugar butter cream cheese frosting.

Try a fall favorite – Apple Cinnamon Donuts!

Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/3 cup applesauce to the plain donut batter. Once donuts are baked and cooled, dip the tops in a mixture of ground cinnamon and stevia powder. This makes a yummy apple donut, like you might find at an apple orchard or fall festival, but our version is gluten-free.

ENJOY!

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Note: Sparkles and Sprinkles is not affiliated with Five Daughters Bakery. Our four daughters are big fans of Five Daughters Bakery, though, so we tried to create some similar donuts at home.

Note:  Some links on this page are Amazon Affiliate links.  Sparkles and Sprinkles is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Other links may or may not be affiliate links.  We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.