PUMPKIN PIE SMOOTHIE

Hi there! I hope you had a good weekend! So - I know I don't normally start the week off with a recipe, but I wanted to post this early in the week for one particular reason. If you are like me, you hate grocery shopping at the very last minute before Thanksgiving. All the people and picking over the leftover items on the shelves that have questionable freshness - totally not my thing. So if you find yourself interested in making this oh so good smoothie, I wanted you to see it early and be able to shop for the ingredients if you don't already have them on hand! 

Anyway, this pumpkin pie in the form of a smoothie would be the perfect quick dessert the day of or the day after Thanksgiving. It tastes good and can be made a number of ways and STILL be good. You can make a light version with almond or skim milk or a full fat version (like the one in the pic) with whole milk and whipped cream. Here is how I made this one along with a few variations:

What you need: (makes 8 servings)

3 cups whole milk

1 can pumpkin pie filling

1/2 cup plain vanilla yogurt (you could use Greek yogurt, but it's a little too tangy here in my opinion)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 banana, peeled and diced

Optional Toppings:

1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

Whipped cream

What to do:

If you have time beforehand, freeze individual servings of the pumpkin pie filling in muffin tins. Cover the muffin tin with foil before putting it in the freezer. If you don't have time to freeze the filling, you can add ice or use frozen bananas to make the smoothie cold. 

Add the milk, yogurt and 4 pieces of frozen filling from the muffin, banana and the cinnamon to a blender (in that order) and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and top with one or none (or both!) of the optional toppings. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Optional Ingredients:

Slices of pumpkin pie instead of the filling (yes!)

Almond milk

Skim milk

Honey

Pumpkin pie spice (if using the pumpkin pie puree instead of filling)

Recipe adapted from the Pioneer Woman

Image by me