Sweet Dark Cherry ((+ Almond)) Yogurt Smoothie

This little smoothie has recently become my favorite quick breakfast — it’s pretty much the best smoothie I’ve ever had! And because I can control the amount of added sugar, I feel like this smoothie is actually a healthy choice!

It has a short list of ingredients, is packed with flavor and really is a breeze make. But as you can imagine, there are a couple of tricks to making this the best smoothie you’ll ever eat. 

First, let’s talk ingredients ::

• Dark Sweet Cherries (frozen)
• plain yogurt (I only use Straus Plain (whole milk) European Style yogurt)*
• honey or sugar (brown or cane or raw – or whatever is your favorite sweetener)
• pure vanilla extract
• almond extract
• pink sea salt
• 8-10 raw almonds (totally optional)

*I find the yogurt at Sprouts, it’s produced in Petaluma , CA – near Napa FYI.

Once you have gathered your ingredients, simply place them in the food processor and pulse until smooth.

As far as quantities go, the ratio between fruit and yogurt is purely up to you, but I have found a 50:50 ratio creates more of an ice cream texture and 30-40% fruit to 60-70% yogurt is a more drinkable consistency.

Every other day or so, I’ll add a handful of raw almonds to my other smoothie ingredients and then pulse in the food processor as usual. The raw almonds add some extra crunch and sweet nuttiness.

You can even add a handful of spinach or a scoop of protein powder or powdered collagen. And obviously – the fruit can be switched up too!

There are two (okay 3) things that make this smoothie a real winner ::

• frozen fruit; helps the smoothie to be chill and thickened
• vanilla and almond extracts; add a hint of flavor without added sugar
• salt; helps to round out all of the flavors and really highlight the natural flavors of the fruit