Have Your Carrot Cake and Drink It, Too

Carrot cake is one of my favorite desserts so I've been toying with the idea of making a carrot cake smoothie for a while and finally sat down and wrote out a recipe.  I used my Oatmeal Raisin Cookie smoothie recipe as a base, added shredded carrots, and changed the spices a bit.  The resulting flavor was sort of a mix between the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie and the Pumpkin Pie smoothies.  Yum!

This was my first time making a smoothie with carrots.  I used shredded carrots because I knew my Vitamix could handle them.  If you don't have a high-powered blender and don't want to be chewing bits of carrots, you could use carrot juice instead - probably about ½ cup.  (If you try it with juice, post a comment to let me know.)

Carrot Cake Smoothie
(printable recipe)
 
Ingredients:

1 cup shredded carrots
3 tbsp. old-fashioned oats
2 tbsp. raisins
1 tbsp. hemp protein powder (optional)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. agave
1 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla)

1 cup ice cubes
1-2 frozen bananas (peeled and sliced before freezing)

optional: 1/8 tsp. each xanthan gum and guar gum (to make it thicker and creamier)
 
Directions:

1. Combine first 8 ingredients in a container with a lid.  Add vanilla, agave, and almond milk; stir to combine.  Place the lid on the container and put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

2. Remove the smoothie mix from the refrigerator and dump into your blender.  Add xanthan and guar gums, if using.  Blend until smooth.

3. Add ice cubes and frozen bananas.  Blend again until smooth.  

Makes 1 large smoothie.

Have you ever made a smoothie with carrots or carrot juice?