Giada De Laurentiis Ditches Plain Coffee For This Hearty Breakfast Drink

There's nothing like the buzz of cup of Java to kickstart a slow morning. However, if you're after something more filling, you need to follow the advice of chef Giada De Laurentiis who ditches plain coffee for a heartier breakfast smoothie that has the same energizing lift of an Americano but also features a serving of chocolate (and heaps of fiber).

Showcased in this TikTok video, Laurentiis's recipe is easy to prep — combine some ice, a whole banana, a handful of fresh spinach, a cup of almond milk, a dash of salt, and half a ripe avocado in your blender. Then scatter in some ground coffee and a little chocolate before whizzing it all up until smooth and creamy.

This rich, pale green smoothie has a luxurious texture, courtesy of the ripe avocado, which is packed with good fats that boost satiety (particularly when combined with a source of fiber). Plus the spinach lends it a pretty flecked appearance. However, the star of the show is the coffee, which imbues this breakfast drink with an energizing, caffeinated buzz that increases feelings of alertness and curbs fatigue. Surprisingly, the chocolate contains caffeine too (the darker the variety, the higher the concentration), giving this healthful smoothie a perky personality with a welcome earthy quality. You can even ditch the chocolate for a spoonful of cocoa for a tasty way to add caffeine to your morning smoothie without coffee if preferred.

Giada De Laurentiis doesn't add sugar to her smoothie because the sweetness comes from the ripe banana and a small handful of chocolate. However, feel free to squeeze in some honey, agave, or maple syrup — like this one from Maple Grove Farms — to give your drink some rounded sweetness if your banana is underripe. You could also add in vanilla to lend it a dessert-like aroma or switch the almond milk for regular cow's milk, or coconut milk; there's plenty of bandwidth to experiment. Having said that, the coffee and chocolate combo is not to be messed with. These two ingredients are often combined in Italian desserts, such as cocoa-dusted Tiramisu, because they make such a delicious pairing. In fact, they have symbiotic relationship — the coffee enhances the flavor of the chocolate and vice versa, which suffuses the smoothie with a satisfying complexity and depth. 

Another idea is to spike your favorite smoothie recipe with a dash of coffee and chocolate as you'll likely already have the ingredients on hand. This healthy black forest smoothie is a perfect place to start because it already contains cocoa. Moreover, the ground flaxseed swells up as it absorbs the milk, creating a drink with a thick, almost gel-like consistency that will help you to feel fuller for longer.