Nightly Sweet Tooth? Try This Healthy, Zero-Added-Sugar Chocolate Shake
File this under desserts that satisfy your post-dinner cravings and enhance your health.* Here's a chocolate collagen shake that tastes oh-so-sweet.
Reported by MindBodyGreen.
If your nightly sweet tooth tends to win the negotiation, you're not alone — and the usual "healthy dessert" alternatives (sad fruit plates, watery protein shakes) aren't exactly convincing. The good news: there's a blender situation that actually tastes like a peanut butter cup and clocks in with 26 grams of protein, no added sugar required.
The recipe comes from former mindbodygreen beauty editor Hannah Frye, who — worth noting — once worked in a smoothie shop. It leans on a frozen banana for natural sweetness and creaminess, two tablespoons of your nut butter of choice, a single date, a dash of cinnamon, and a scoop of chocolate collagen powder blended with 1½ cups of almond milk. The result is thick, rich, and — according to MindBodyGreen — so close to a Wendy's Frosty that reviewers have said exactly that. Total nutrition per serving: 494 calories, 55g carbs, 21g fat.
The Collagen Angle Is Worth Paying Attention To
Beyond the obvious dessert appeal, collagen is doing actual work here. Research links collagen supplementation to improved skin elasticity, hydration, and texture — meaning this shake earns its place in a skin-care routine as much as a post-dinner wind-down. The chocolate flavor in this version comes from organic cocoa and monk fruit extract, which keeps it sweet without the sugar spiral. If you don't have a chocolate-flavored collagen powder on hand, unflavored collagen plus a tablespoon of cacao powder gets you to the same place.
The formula is simple enough that it barely counts as a recipe: freeze a banana, throw everything into a blender, blend until smooth. That's it. No baking, no cooling time, no convincing yourself that three dates and some almonds count as dessert when they clearly don't.
When a craving is real, it deserves a real answer — and this shake is proof that "healthy" and "satisfying" don't have to be mutually exclusive, as long as you're actually building for flavor from the start.
Read the original at MindBodyGreen.
