Easy as Pie: Pie in a Glass Smoothies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Skip the food coma this year with these convenient, healthy pie-in-a-glass recipes from The Blender Girl, Tess Masters. These taste like the real deal, so they'll get gulped down real quick!

Get your pie fix faster than you can preheat the oven this holiday season with these three pie in a glass smoothies from The Blender Girl Smoothies app. These delectable shakes are so rich and creamy, they’re reminiscent of that perfect bite--a la mode, of course. They’re healthy, made with whole foods, contain no refined sugar, and you can even add some veggies into the mix (and kids will still love them)!

Here's some tips for making amazing dessert-style smoothies:

• Start with a base of 1 cup of water or milk or your choice. I like almond milk because it’s rich and creamy with a mild flavor. You may need to add more depending on your other ingredients.
• Use raw cashews to replicate the taste of buttery pastry. As a general rule, use 1 cup water or almond milk to ½ cup raw unsalted cashews. Add more to taste. If you want to approximate the flavor of batter for a muffin, cake, or pop tart effect add ¼ cup rolled oats with the cashews.
• Add your base flavor: 1 cup of stewed fruit like apples, peaches, or apricots, 1 cup of canned or mashed vegetables like pumpkin or sweet potato, 1 to 2 cups of frozen fruit like berries or bananas. Add more to taste.
• Use fresh ginger and ground spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves to add some magic to the mix. Always start small with a pinch and add gradually to taste so as not to overpower the star flavors.
• A splash of natural vanilla extract can help boost flavor. I always start with ½ teaspoon and add to taste. Sometimes a blend can handle 1 teaspoon up to 1 tablespoon.
• Add a small pinch of natural salt like Celtic sea salt to bring out the natural sweetness and flavor of fruits and vegetables.
• Boost dessert-style smoothies with ¼ cup of frozen or fresh raw cauliflower or broccoli. You won’t even taste it, and it’s a great way to get some extra veggies into the kids.
• Boost the nutritional content of these sweet shakes with 1 teaspoon of healthy cold-pressed flax oil without altering flavor.
• Sweeten your pie with liquid stevia (start with 5 drops and add to taste) or pure maple syrup, coconut nectar, or coconut sugar. Start with 1 tablespoon and add to taste.
• Balance the natural sugar content of these decadent shakes with ½ teaspoon probiotic powder. If you have capsules, simply break open the pods to release the powder. These powders are milk in flavor and slip in undetected.

Eat, sip and be merry for the holidays!

Pecan Pie Smoothie

(makes two 16oz.servings)

Ingredients

1 ½ cups filtered water

1 cup raw pecans (soaked, if using a conventional blender)

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon natural vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 medium frozen sliced bananas

1 cup ice

Optional Boosters

½ cup (60g) frozen raw cauliflower florets

1 tablespoon shelled hemp seeds

1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

Throw everything into your blender and blast on high for 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth and creamy. 

Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie

(makes two 16oz. glasses)

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened rice milk or almond milk

1 1/2 cups mashed cooked orange sweet potato

1 frozen banana

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch natural salt (optional to bring out flavors)

1 cup ice

Optional Boosters

1 tablespoon hemp seeds

1 tablespoon flax oil

1 teaspoon goji powder

Throw everything into your blender and blast on high for 30 to 60 seconds until smooth and creamy.

Apple Pie Smoothie

(makes two 16oz. servings)

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 cup unsweetened applesauce or stewed apples

1/2 teaspoon probiotic powder (optional)

1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews, soaked

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more to taste

1 chopped, pitted, and soaked date, or 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (optional)

1 cup ice

Optional Boosters

1 tablespoon lucuma powder

1 cup firmly packed raw spinach

½ cup frozen cauliflower

Throw everything into your blender and blast on high for 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth and creamy. Tweak flavors to taste (you may want to add more vanilla, cinnamon, or sweetener).

Note: Use the soaked dates with high-speed blenders and the maple syrup with conventional blenders.

~Tess Masters

Tess Masters (theblendergirl.com) is a presenter, cook, and author of The Blender Girl cookbook and The Blender Girl Smoothies app. 

Recipes from The Blender Girl Smoothies app © Tess Masters, copyright (c) 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House LLC.

Photos by Erin Kunkel from The Blender Girl Smoothies app © 2014.