I’ve had a massive obsession with cocoa nibs recently. I am basically trying to craft recipes solely so I can top them with cocoa nibs. It’s a chocoalety life I live 🙂 In the last week, I’ve topped banana bread with cocoa nibs, put them on protein shakes and eaten them straight up with a spoonful of cashew butter. Hard recommend on that last one. You won’t even miss the sugar in the unsweetened cocoa nibs, with the creaminess of the cashew butter.

So if I was going to put cocoa nibs on a shake, I needed to find some complementary flavors. Hello, cherry. Boom, the chocolate cherry protein shake was born. And fun fact for you… there are numerous research studies that have shown a correlation between cherries and decreased inflammation in the body, specifically following strenuous exercise. So you can help your body decrease it’s oxidative stress levels (directly correlated with inflammation) AND have a tasty treat 😉 

Sounds like a win, win to me!

Chocolate Cherry Protein Shake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup frozen cherries
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 cup spinach (yay for an extra serving of veggies that you won’t even taste)
• 1 serving chocolate protein powder
• 1 Tbsp cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Dump all ingredients into your blender.
2. Blend until smooth.
3. Top with cocoa nibs for the perfect little crunch.