I’ve had a bag of frozen cranberries in my freezer since the holidays. I tried making a cranberry muffin/bread/cake thing and it turned out looking like a leopard with a blueish tint– tasty but not pretty at all!
This is a must more attractive looking use of cranberries– a creamy sweet tart smoothie made with frozen banana and frozen cranberries. I added a scoop of protein powder for a hint of vanilla and extra staying power. You could sweeten this drink up with a drizzle of your favorite liquid sweetener if preferred but I enjoyed this a little on the tart side. I used coconut milk as my non-dairy milk but apple juice or orange juice could be substituted for a sweeter smoothie and a different flavor.
Cran-Nana Sweet-Tart Smoothie
Ingredients
1/3 cup frozen (or fresh) unsweetened cranberries
1 large frozen ripe banana, cut into chunks (you could use fresh and add ice cubes but will not be as creamy)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tsp chia seed (or flaxseed meal), optional
3/4 cup non-dairy vanilla milk (coconut, almond, soy) OR (could use no-sugar-added apple or orange juice for different flavor or a combo)
drizzle of agave or honey for sweeter, optional (I omitted this but just in case you want a slightly sweeter drink)
Directions
1. Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a glass and enjoy!
Serves 1
Natural Noshing 
This is one of my very classic combinations, although I usually go the apple cranberry route, and throw in half a banana from time to time. I always keep fruits in the freezer to make smoothies with, and cranberry happens to be one of the fruits that I like to have on hand at all times.
But tell me, Nora, ever tried eating them just like that, whole and frozen rock solid? They are AMAZING! Sometimes, I’ll just grab a little bowl of frozen cranberries as a snack. I just plain love ’em. But mind you, I happen to really like fresh cranberries too, and I understand that not everyone does, so maybe it’s the same with the frozen ones…
Now you’ve made me crave a cranana smoothie. Thing is I was planning on having carrot pan cakes for brekkie.
Hmmmm… decisions, decisions!
oh, and ps… a leopard with a blueish tint? I’d have loved to see that! 🙂
OK, I need to try this. Making any kind of creamy smoothie with a banana is almost a daily thing, but I was just thinking of trying some cranberries in a smoothie. I was a little scared, but it looks so good! And I guess you’re right, if it’s too sour I can always add a little honey or something. Plus, I majorly stock up on cranberries around thanksgiving so I need some way to use them up!
No need to be afraid of the cranberries, you can always sweeten it up a tad if it’s too sour for your tastes like you said 🙂 I think banana and cranberries blend well together, maybe it’s because the banana is so sweet and the cranberries are the opposite! Hope you like it if you get around to whipping it up!
I’m buying some cranberries and putting a nana in the freezer tonight! I love all your smoothie recipes.
You are too cute, I hope it turns out well for you!
I, too, have had a bag of cranberries in my fridge since last Thanksgiving! To be honest, I’ve never had a fresh cranberry until I bought that bag and had no idea what I was getting into. I’m not a fan of the tartness (I should give one to my dad and see how he reacts)! I’ll give this smoothie a try tomorrow :]
The tartness is definitely an acquired taste but it pairs well with other sweet ingredients like apple, banana, cherries etc so I think it’s fun to experiment with! I hope you like this one!
This is perfect. I have two bags of frozen cranberries that I found on clearance over the holidays and have thought to myself every time I look in the freezer, “What the heck do I do with those?” And smoothies are always the first thing to cross my mind, but still haven’t tried them in one yet. Thanks for the push.
glad to help you out a bit 🙂 I hope you like it!
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