These creamy hibiscus berry smoothie bowls taste like soft serve ice cream kissed with tart hibiscus and floral honey. They're packed with nutrients from hempseed, chia seed, oats, and cashew butter to keep you going long after breakfast.

Jay and I have been eating these red berry smoothie bowls for breakfast every day for the last month. They're an ideal way to fuel up before a hike. So I'm sharing the recipe along with photos from our happy place: Marin County's Mount Tamalpais, home to Muir Woods National Monument, where Jay and I have been hiking every other weekend this year.

If you're looking for not-boring gluten-free breakfast recipes, you're going to love these nourishing berry smoothie bowls.

Apparently, the theme of our hikes this year has been "hikes that are longer/harder/not on actual trails than they appear." Our first was in January during a break from California's wettest year on record. Craving some waterfall action, we headed down Cataract Trail on Mount Tam. We'd eaten a big breakfast, but we grabbed a few snacks just in case we became peckish on the trail. As we descended, the trail became more and more steep, but we were so dazzled by the falling water that we barely noticed our knees complaining. When we reached the base, though tired and ravenous, we realized we needed to make good time or else get caught in the dark. As the sun set, we booked it back up the hill – about 700 feet in elevation spanning several miles – and made it to the car at dusk.

Another hike saw us teetering along the face of a cliff, goat-like, as hang gliders soared above us. And another, in Redwood Regional Park, started as a tree-lined saunter but ended in steep switchbacks and extended a good 2 hours longer than planned.

I bought Jay a book on hiking trails for his birthday because clearly we need help.

Last weekend's jaunt was also on Mount Tam, though the climate felt drastically different than the lush, tree-covered Cataract Trail. The terrain was dry and exposed. We had hoped for wildflowers, and we found a few. We also found the last leg to be more like a boulder-filled gorge than an actual trail. We ran out of water, wore the wrong shoes, but somehow we survived long enough to celebrate with a few beers on the porch of the Mountain Home Inn afterwards.

If all of this makes me sound outdoorsy and tough, don't be fooled – it's all just an elaborate excuse to load up on smoothie bowls.

I used to think smoothie bowls were just thick smoothies, but Dana showed me the path to smoothie bowl perfection. The trick is to keep them super thick by adding very little liquid – just half a cup for over 2 cups of frozen fruit. Rather than adding the liquid to the blender first as with regular smoothies, you blend the frozen fruit on the lowest speed until, in her words, it resembles Dippin' Dots. Then you add a touch of liquid and blend until smooth and thick, like soft serve.

I added some cashew butter to make the smoothie bowl extra creamy. Same with ground oats, hemp, and chia.

And the magic ingredient is ground dried hibiscus blossoms, which are packed with vitamin C, vibrant magenta in color, and brimming with a sweet-tart flavor that pairs perfectly with the strawberries and raspberries that are just coming into season here in California. Sarah from Snixy Kitchen inspired me to grind the hibiscus in a coffee grinder to a fine powder to add to the smoothies, and I like to sprinkle a little on top for a pretty dusting.

And the coup de grace of this overly thought out smoothie bowl is the drizzle of cashew cream.

drizzling honey on Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls

The result of all these lovely ingredients blended together is something akin to incredibly flavorful soft serve ice cream (or "nice cream") that you can eat for breakfast because it's healthy. In fact, I've even whipped these up for dessert in lieu of chocolate, which was previously unheard of around here. This particular combination of ingredients produces our ideal smoothie bowl, but the recipe is versatile, so feel free to change things up according to your tastes and what you have on hand. I've given some suggestions below.

two bowl of delicious Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls

spoons in bowls Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls

Let's keep our parks safe havens for wildlife, endangered species, and endangered hikers who don't bring proper snacks and footwear for generations to come.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Earth Day!

*Thanks for reading! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make these hibiscus berry smoothie bowls, I’d love to see! Tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.*

5 from 4 reviews

Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Alanna Taylor-Tobin

Prep Time: 10

Total: 10

Servings: 2 servings

Ingredients

Cashew Cream Drizzle (makes more than you need for 2 servings):

¼ cup (60 ml) cashew butter
1 tablespoon (15 ml) mild honey
pinch salt
2 tablespoons (30 ml) hot water, more as needed

Smoothie Bowls:

1 ½ teaspoons hibiscus powder (or 2 tablespoons lightly crushed hibiscus blossoms, or 1 tablespoon hibiscus tea from about 3 tea bags)
2 tablespoons (10 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tablespoon (15 g) chia seeds
1 tablespoon (15 g) hulled hemp seeds (a.k.a. hemp hearts)
1 cup (150 g) frozen chopped strawberries
1 cup (150 g) frozen raspberries
1 small sliced banana, frozen (1/2 cup)
½ cup (120 ml) almond milk or other plant milk, more as needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) mild honey
2 tablespoons (30 ml) cashew butter (or other nut butter)

Toppings:

fresh berries
bee pollen
hempseed
berries
hibiscus powder
honey

Instructions

Make the drizzle by stirring together the cashew butter, honey, and salt. Work in the hot water until the mixture is the consistency of thick, smooth cream.
To make the smoothies, in a coffee grinder, grind the hibiscus, oats, chia and hempseeds until finely ground.
Combine the frozen berries and banana in a blender and blend on low until broken down into tiny pieces, scraping down the blender bowl occasionally. Add the almond milk, honey, cashew butter, and ground hibiscus mixture and blend on low, scraping down the blender frequently, until it reaches the texture of soft serve, a few minutes. At first it will seem like the mixture needs more liquid, but resist the urge to add more than another ¼ cup or you’ll end up with a thin smoothie. As the fruit softens, it will begin to blend together better.
Divide the smoothie mixture into two bowls and top with a good drizzle of cashew cream and your toppings of choice. Serve right away.

Notes

Hibiscus comes in several forms: fine hibiscus powder, tea-grade hibiscus which is a bit finer than the consistency of red pepper flakes, and larger blossoms and petals that measure a centimeter or two long. You can find hibiscus tea bags in most grocery stores; look for hibiscus flowers and powder in the bulk section of health food stores. I’ve included measurements for all three forms. If using hibiscus powder, there’s no need to grind it with the oats and seeds.

Feel free to vary this recipe as you like; I’ve tried swapping in blueberries, blackberries, and frozen cherries in place of some of the berries, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder in place of the hibiscus, and almond butter in place of the cashew butter, and all were delicious.

If you’re going completely vegan, use maple syrup in place of the honey.

A high-speed blender works well here, but a sturdy food processor would probably also do the trick.

Nutritional values are based on one of two servings without toppings.

Nutrition

Calories: 593kcalCarbohydrates: 73gProtein: 15gFat: 31gSaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 108mgPotassium: 723mgFiber: 11gSugar: 40gVitamin A: 75IUVitamin C: 63.9mgCalcium: 171mgIron: 5.4mg

Making this? I'd love to see!Tag your snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet!

bowls of delicious Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls

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Comments

5 from 4 votes (2 ratings without comment)

Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls