Coffee Smoothie Recipe
Runners, Skip Your Coffee and Grab This Disneyland Chef's Rocket Fuel Smoothie
This past weekend I got to experience my first runDisney race: the Tinker Bell Half Marathon (ie, my dreams came true). Before the half, I attended runDisney's Lunch 'N Learn to get some tips on properly fueling up before a race in a totally gourmet way. Disneyland Resort Executive Chef Chris Faulkner — who just so happens to be an Ironman triathlete and marathon runner himself — created some delicious foods for us to try, including his go-to prerace breakfast smoothie. And . . . it tastes like a chocolate banana cream pie. Seriously, so delicious. You're going to want this every morning.
Chef Chris told us that he alters his diet leading up to a race like Ironman or before a half marathon. "I cut out coffee and caffeine three weeks before a race to cleanse, so when I drink this the day of the race, I get an instant hit. . . . It's like a high." Coffee becomes sort of like rocket fuel when you haven't had it for a while, so this strategy is an excellent idea for a prerace breakfast. Additionally, coffee can also boost your metabolism, so there's another win (and reason to drink up!).
The high magnesium content from the banana and cocoa powder will aid with muscle cramping and could calm your prerace jitters thanks to its anxiety-fighting properties (plus, coffee can deplete magnesium, so it's a good idea to balance it with these ingredients). The almonds will up your protein, fueling your muscles, while the clean, quick-digesting carbohydrates can give you the energy you need without weighing down your digestive tract.
Coffee Coco Shake
From Disneyland Resort Executive Chef Chris Faulkner
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons agave nectar
1/2 cup chilled coffee
1/2 cup almond milk
1 1/2 frozen banana, sliced
3 tablespoons unsalted almonds (roughly 18 to 20 almonds)
2 teaspoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 cup ice
Directions
- Blend all ingredients until smooth.
Information
- Category
- Drinks, Smoothies
- Cuisine
- North American
- Yield
- 1 smoothie
- Total Time
- 4 minutes, 59 seconds
