This Gal Cooks

Banana Almond Mocha Shake

Today we’re going to talk about this Banana Almond Mocha Shake. And epic blender disasters.

Banana Almond Mocha Shake on This Gal Cooks

The year was was oh, 1993 or 1994. My younger brother and I were home alone. We were dying for milkshakes and since neither one of us were old enough to drive, we decided to drag out the blender and make our own. Chocolate milkshakes. The perfect afternoon snack on a hot summer afternoon. Chocolate milkshakes. The perfect substance to make the perfect epic mess.

One of us decided it would be a good idea to stick a spoon into the blender while it was in full force blend mode. I’m going to point all fingers towards my brother on this one. Although, I could have easily been the mastermind of spoon meets blender. I’m not really sure what my his intention was. Who sticks a spoon into a blender that’s hard at work, blending up delicious chocolate shakes?

Teenagers. Bored teenagers.

The moment that spoon hit the blade of the blender, our walls, and even some of the ceiling, turned the chocolatey shade of milkshake brown. No joke, there was milkshake sludge everywhere. We were laughing our butts off. Seriously rolling on the floor, dying of laughter pains. Until we realized that mom and dad would be home soon. Then we went into full cleanup mode. O.M.G. We cannot let mom and dad know about this. If they find out, we’ll never be able to make milkshakes again. Oh the horror.

Enough of this talk of epic messes. Blenders don’t always create messes. They happen to create great soups and smoothies too.

I’ve always had a weird issue with blenders. No expensive blenders. And no plastic jars allowed. BUT, I think my new Ninja Ultima may have changed my mind.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to score a free Ninja Ultima Blender, courtesy of Ninja Kitchen. I was pretty excited to try it out. I had never used a fancy blender before. All of my previous blenders were bargain bin blenders, costing less than $30. I was a cheapo when it came to blenders. Heck, I’m a cheapo when it comes to other things too. Dishes, clothes, sheets, other house hold appliances. But not food. And probably not blenders anymore, either.

The Ninja Ultima is kick ass! I hope they don’t mind that I said kick ass. But seriously, that’s what I said after I made the first drink with it. That’s one kick ass smoothie makin’ machine right there. I love that it makes smoothie shop quality smoothies. And I love that it comes with individual blending cups as well. Grab and drink on the go.

UPDATE (June 2015): After 1 year of use, the Ninja Ultima Blender motor quit working. I contacted Ninja and they offered to repair the blender if I shipped it to them. Ultimately, I decided to purchase a Blendtech blender instead. 

I decided to make one of the Ninja recipes to share with you today. I made the Bright Side Mocha Shake, with a few changes. More coffee. Frozen Banana. No agave. Sugar free caramel coffee syrup. Lactaid milk instead of almond milk. I love almond milk but the almond milk in my fridge is a bit questionable so I didn’t want to use it. True story – that questionable almond milk is still sitting in my fridge. I may be a little lazy from time to time.

Since I made a few changes to the Ninja recipe, I renamed the recipe to Banana Almond Mocha Shake. The almond butter flavor really shines in this shake. But it’s good! The consistency of this shake reminds me of the Starbucks Frappuccinos. And that’s a huge win right there. Enjoy the recipe.

Banana Almond Mocha Shake

Banana Almond Mocha Shake

Banana Almond Mocha Shake

Yield: 2
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 C of your favorite brewed coffee, cooled
  • 1 frozen banana, peeled
  • 3 tbsp creamy almond butter
  • 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 C milk (I used Lactaid)
  • 2 C ice cubes
  • 1-2 tbsp sugar free caramel syrup

Instructions

  1. Place all of the ingredients into your blender. Blend until smooth.
  2. If using the Ninja blender, Pulse a few times and then gradually increase the speed to speed 6 and blend until smooth. The consistency should be similar to a frappuccino.

Notes

Serving size is approximate

Recipe adapted from Ninja Kitchen Recipes


Banana Almond Mocha Shake on This Gal Cooks

Banana Almond Mocha Shake on This Gal Cooks

Oh and in case you were wondering, things went ok with mom and dad. We were able to make milkshakes again.

I received a super cool, free Ninja Blender from Ninja Kitchens. This product was free and was mine to keep in exchange for a fun little review. With that being said, please note, all opinions are my own. 

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37 comments on “Banana Almond Mocha Shake”

  1. Ha, yeah I don’t think you have to be a teenager to make a mess with a blender. But I wouldn’t know from experience ;) I’m still looking for a new blender so I definitely need to check out the ninja blenders and then make a batch of these shakes!

    • I was surprised at how good this blender is. I really like it a lot. And they have pretty good drink/smoothie/soup/food recipes on the Ninja site too. I’m pretty impressed!

      Heh, and I am sure I could get into a mess with blenders, even being in my 30s. Sometimes messes are fun, right? ;)

  2. This milkshake looks amazing, Julia! I’m all about coffee and chocolate so I know I would love this. Your photos of this shake are lovely. :)

  3. I am dying for this shale right now, Julie. LOVE the flavors!!

  4. Oops, I meant, “shake”! Love this.

    • Haha, it’s ok! I do stuff like that all the time. I like to blame my phone or my iPad. But it’s really just me being lazy and not proof reading until after the fact. :)

  5. It does look like a kick ass machine!! Can’t wait to get my hands on one…been on my wish list for a while. As for this shake man…super delish!!! Banana almond and mocha sound so delicious together.

  6. Yum! This shake looks super delicious!

  7. These sound so wonderful, Julie. It is all hot and sticky up in here and I need one of these to cool off! Nothing beats a good blender!! Pinned!

  8. Love the spoon story. Totally need this shake right now!

  9. I’ve heard great things about the Ninja, and it would be perfect for whipping up this delicious shake! I always have almond butter in the house, so this is happening!

  10. Julie, this milkshake sounds so good and I’m really happy to hear about this blender, because I really need a new one. However, I am in tears laughing over the blender story!!! Hilarious and I can absolutely picture it! Too, too funny! Thanks for sharing such a great story, the recipe and the blender! :)

    • I’m glad you enjoyed the story, Cindy! I still think about that little event quite often. It was a very funny time when that happened!

      Thank you so much for stopping by. Hope you have a great week! Yay, the weekend is getting here super fast this week!

  11. Spoon in a blender? That is too funny! I have heard awesome things about these blenders, and need to get my hands on one. My current blender is 14 years old and needs to be put out of it’s margarita making misery. ;) Your shake looks delicious, maybe I could substitute the questionable coconut milk that is currently hanging out in my fridge!!

    • Yep, you read it right – spoon in blender! Whoa, your blender must be a warrior. 14 years? That’s excellent!

      And I think coconut milk would be great…but not questionable coconut milk. It could make for one un-fun aftermath. ;)

  12. Don’t you love the Ninja? We got one for our wedding and I will never go back to cheap blenders again. Your milkshake looks delicious – I have been making something similar but without the almond butter. I’ll definitely have to try adding some.

    • I sure do, Vicky! I’m still impressed at how great it blends. I’ve only had it for a few weeks so I’ll have to see if it stands the test of time but I sure am enjoying it right now! My next experiment will be soups. I usually purée my soups in a blender because I cannot stand immersion blenders!

      Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you have a great week!

  13. Haha, I have friends who have told me similar stories – its all fun until clean up begins! ;) I love my blender and smoothies. And I recently tried coffee and banana together and ohmygosh, it was amazing. I can’t wait to get home and try this, its so easy and dairy free! Pinned!

  14. These. look. awesome. I can’t wait for it to be *warm* enough for these kinds of smoothies!

  15. Holy yum! And I have had many a blender-fails like the one you and your brother had all those years ago :) My life definitely got better when we got a Ninja!

  16. That is a funny story Julie! And now we know what happens when a spoon is inserted in a blender!! This is a fabulous shake! Love the almond butter and LOVE the coffee!

  17. Julie, Your story is a funny one! I can just imagine the two of you in the kitchen with your spoon! This recipe looks fantastic – I love the flavors in it… and the photos are just great ;-)

  18. Haha such a funny story – I’ve totally had blender fails even as an adult ;) Love this refreshing shake – it sounds perfect to cool down with on these hot days we’ve been having lately. Love the almond butter in here and the Ninja sounds like an awesome blender :)

  19. Oh yum – I’m totally going to try this!

  20. Yum, this looks delicious! Happy New Year :)

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