Creamy Dreamy Banana Date Shake

Creamy Banana Date Shake

My friend Claire approached me several months ago with a cooking quandary. She’d tried in vain to knock off the delicious shakes she remembered slurping down in college which involved little more than bananas and milk. Her attempts with the blender hadn’t yielded anything satisfactorily lip smacking.

A healthy, creamy banana shake? I was all over it, setting to work as soon as I got home. The trick, I figured out, was freezing the banana first, which gives the shake a frothy, frozen consistency reminiscent of ice cream, all without a drop of cream or sugar. Since then, I’ve downed more banana shakes than I care to count, ultimately including the recipe in the pages of my cookbook. You’ll have to wait for that one.

Dates & Walnuts

In the meantime, I’ve continued to tinker with banana shakes, expanding my repertoire most recently to include Medjool dates and walnuts. The dates add natural sweetness and a pleasing texture, and the walnuts lend staying power (not to mention other healthy benefits).

I will tell you that when I handed a glass of this to one of my kids, accompanied by an overly enthusiastic, “it’s a date shake, honey!” the response was far more lukewarm than my frosty drink. I can imagine how such excitement over anything involving nuts and dried fruit might induce suspicion in an eight-year old.

A New Favorite

So, for now, Creamy Dreamy Date Shakes have become a household favorite for me alone, which is just fine, since I’m so crazy for them I don’t much want to share.

As for the kids, they have been quite content downing these Frozen Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Milk Shakes. I use half the amount of chocolate chips called for in the recipe and all-natural, no-sugar added peanut butter. They are shockingly decadent-tasting considering the wholesome ingredients.

4 from 3 votes
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Creamy Banana Date Shake

When the bananas get good and ripe in your fruit bowl, peel them, pop them into a sealed bag, and store in the freezer. They are excellent for texture and sweetness in shakes and smoothies. Give this creamy shake a pop of nutrition by adding a small handful of baby spinach before blending. 

Course Breakfast, Snack
Servings 1 regular or 2 small servings
Author Katie Morford

Ingredients

  • 1 cup low-fat milk (cow's milk or plant milk)
  • 1 ripe frozen banana, cut into a few chunks
  • 1 to 2 large Medjool dates, pitted
  • 6 walnut halves
  • 4 small ice cubes (or 2 standard ice cube tray ice cubes)

Instructions

  1. Pour the milk into the blender followed by the frozen banana, 1 date, walnuts, and ice. Run the blender until the mixture is blended and the dates pulverized. Taste and add a second date, if desired. Blend again. Some tiny dates pieces may remain.
  2. Pour into a glass or glasses. Serve immediately.

Comments

05.28.2012 at8:27 AM #

Pamela

thanks~~~never thought of putting walnuts in the shakes. Another great idea!

05.31.2012 at9:03 PM #

Sabrina

Sounds delish!!! I’m all over this! Time to get some bananas!

12.03.2012 at10:54 AM #

Ray

Dates shake has been served in smoothie stores all over middle east for so many years.
Also banana, date, walnut mix.

Another mix you can try is : ice, cantaloupe, banana, cherry(pitted), sweet black fig
I made this for some of friends, and they loved it

12.03.2012 at10:54 AM #

Katie Morford

That sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing.

03.06.2013 at9:01 AM #

Deb B

I make smoothies almost every morning so I actually buy bananas with the intent to let them ripen and then freeze them. I actually cut them up first, lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then freeze until firm. THEN I package them in a large freezer zipper bag. That way I can take out as many or as little as I want, when I am making my smoothies.

I love the idea of adding dates to the smoothie. I love dates!

My other favourite is a peanut butter/chocolate smoothie. Skim milk, frozen bananas, tablespoon peanut butter, heaping teaspoon of cocoa and protein powder. The peanut butter really gives it staying power.

Loving your blog!

03.06.2013 at9:01 AM #

Katie Morford

Great tip re: frozen bananas, Deb. It’s the key to a a great, creamy texture in a smoothie.

02.07.2018 at9:33 PM #

Monica

Since strawberries are out of season, I’ve been loving this shake as my strawberry milk substitute. I make it with coconut almond milk and it tastes as creamy as a dairy milkshake! Delicious!

10.07.2018 at3:38 PM #

Gloreya Clark

It’s to watery

10.07.2018 at3:38 PM #

Katie Morford

Hi Gloreya,

Thanks for the feedback! If you want, you can just cut the amount of ice to 2 cubes. Also it helps to freeze the banana before adding.

04.04.2020 at7:45 AM #

John Peters II

I really liked it. Reminds of the date shakes in Indio, CA.

04.04.2020 at7:45 AM #

Katie Morford

Glad you liked it!

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