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    Home / Breakfast & Brunch

    5 from 4 reviews

    Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls {gluten-free, vegan}

    By Alanna Taylor-Tobin on Apr 22, 2017 (updated Feb 8, 2022) / 22 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    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. 

    delicious Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls

    Happy Earth Day! Jay and I are headed to Washington DC next week to join the climate march, and we'll be there in spirit with our Science Marching brethren today. Speaking of activism, I'm extra excited to share today's post for two reasons. First, we've been eating these smoothie bowls for breakfast every day for the last month – that's way longer than I like to withhold favorite recipes from you! And second, I'm sharing photos from my 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. A bunch of Mother Earth-loving bloggers have banded together in celebration of our national parks and Earth Day thanks to Eva and Sasha; you'll find links to loads of national park love at the end of this one. And what better way to fuel up for a day in nature than with a nutrient-packed hibiscus berry smoothie bowl?

    ingredients on table

    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.

    Mount Tam

    log

    waterfall

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

    flowers

    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.

    river

    glasses of beer

    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.

    berries in blender

    berry mix in blender

    berry mix

    Inspired by Renee's magical ways with cashew butter, I added some 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 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, which Laura showed me how to make during a retreat in Cambria, CA earlier this year.

    mixing liquid in bowl

    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

    Check out more national park love, gorgeous photos, and recipes to nom on the trail in the links below. If you want to take action to preserve our parks, you can call your representative (find yours here) and urge them to keep the parks out of state hands, where they could be destroyed for industrial uses such as fracking and logging. 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!

    a bowl of Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls

    More Smoothies:

    • Persimmon and Tangerine Smoothie with Vanilla, Ginger and Turmeric
    • Fall Greens Smoothie
    • (Vanilla-Maple) Almond Milk, and a smoothie

    *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.*

    Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls
    5 from 4 reviews

    Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls {gluten-free, vegan}

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    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. 
    Alanna Taylor-Tobin
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Total: 10 minutes minutes
    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

    Check out more National Parks love at #OurWild:

    • The Bojon Gourmet:  Hibiscus Berry Smoothie Bowls
    • Healthy Nibbles and Bits: Leek and Kohlrabi Fritters and Pinnacles National Park
    • Husbands That Cook: Point Mugu State Park
    • Brooklyn Supper: Shenandoah National Park
    • Wholehearted Eats: Happy Trail Bars and Into the Universe
    • The Broken Bread: Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
    • The Year in Food: A Church in the Wild
    • Fresh Off the Grid: Weekend Escape: Planning an Impromptu Camping Trip
    • Vanilla and Bean: Lemon Tahini Cashew Granola and Ebey's Landing National Historical Preserve
    • Wu Haus: Joshua Tree
    • Will Frolic For Food: Glacier National Park
    • The Modern Proper: Trail Mix Pancakes
    • With Food and Love: Roasted Sugar Snap Peas with Mint and Sea Salt and Scenes from Joshua Tree

     

     

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    the cover of the award-winning cookbook, Alternative Baker

    Hungry for more?

    Alternative Baker celebrates the unique tastes and textures of 14 gluten-free flours, from buckwheat flour to almond flour to sorghum and coconut! This cookbook will fill your kitchen with sweet treats that burst with flavor every month of the year.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sasha Swerdloff says

      April 22, 2017 at 7:56 am

      So beautiful! Thanks for joining in today! XO

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        April 24, 2017 at 9:57 am

        Thanks to you and Eva for putting this together - such a sweet ode to our parks and very timely. <3

        Reply
    2. Kimberley says

      April 22, 2017 at 1:12 pm

      I'm in love! (And I've been really skeptical about smoothie bowls - but I like the idea of this as a dessert. Sold.) And your hiking adventures make me sorely nostalgic for my old CA stomping grounds. I loved getting lost in Mt. Tam.

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        April 24, 2017 at 9:56 am

        Aw, that means so much to me coming from you Kimberley! These bowls work great as dessert. Come back to CA so we can go hiking!

        Reply
    3. Trisha Hughes says

      April 22, 2017 at 1:21 pm

      So stunning! I loved all the styling & scenery images as well. That's such a good tip for the smoothie bowls too - kinda like 'nice' cream! And I think everything is a touch better with that BOMB cashew cream.

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        April 24, 2017 at 9:55 am

        Aw, thank you Trisha! So glad Laura showed us that cashew cream - so easy and so good!

        Reply
    4. Laura | Tutti Dolci says

      April 22, 2017 at 9:49 pm

      Just gorgeous, these bowls are almost too pretty to eat!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        April 24, 2017 at 9:54 am

        Aw, thank you Laura! That's what I think about EVERY ONE of your posts. <3

        Reply
    5. christine desroches says

      April 23, 2017 at 10:56 am

      These are the type of smoothie bowls I love, super thick and creamy. I think there's just no point if the toppings sink to the bottom! Hibiscus powder (along with that cashew drizzle) sounds like the perfect smoothie topping to me. All of this is so pretty!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        April 24, 2017 at 9:52 am

        Totally - thanks Christine! I hope we get to have a smoothie bowl party IRL someday soon. <3

        Reply
    6. Emelen says

      April 23, 2017 at 5:32 pm

      Have you tried it with the addition of almond butter, or would that greatly affect the overall taste?

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        April 24, 2017 at 9:51 am

        Almond butter works great!

        Reply
    7. Eva-Mi Jungefeldt says

      April 24, 2017 at 4:04 am

      Love all your recipes. And by all your fantastic photos.
      As my daughter is vegan, I collect vegan recipes for the occasion’s that she visits me.

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        April 24, 2017 at 9:52 am

        Aw, thank you! Let me know if you and your daughter give this one a try. :)

        Reply
    8. Lindsay | With Salt and Pepper says

      April 28, 2017 at 6:08 am

      Gorgeous! Smoothie bowls are one of my favorite ways to pack in tons of nutritional value!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        May 19, 2017 at 4:47 pm

        My feelings exactly! Thanks so much Lindsay. :D

        Reply
    9. Natasha @ Salt & Lavender says

      May 09, 2017 at 10:02 am

      This is definitely one of the prettiest smoothie bowls I've ever seen! Just gorgeous.

      Reply
    10. Caterina Snyder says

      June 22, 2017 at 10:48 pm

      Om nom nom I was so in need of some breakfast eats!!! And your stream pic is absolute magic! I would love to see some outdoor food shoots!! Xoxoxo

      Reply
    11. Jaime says

      August 12, 2020 at 5:13 pm

      this was so delicious and beautiful, and i loved your technique to keep it nice and thick!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        August 17, 2020 at 9:44 pm

        Aw thanks for trying my recipe - I'm so glad you liked it! <3

        Reply
    12. Jula says

      January 25, 2022 at 3:17 am

      Omg, that is such a nice smoothie bowl! Love the pink colours together with the white!

      I have created my smoothie blog (hip-hap-healthy.com), and it's not always easy to create SUCH beautiful bowls, like yours.

      Love it! xx Jula

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        January 29, 2022 at 12:52 pm

        Aw thanks for saying so. I really enjoyed shooting (and eating!) these!

        Reply

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    Gluten-Free #treslechescake (DF option) Last week Gluten-Free #treslechescake (DF option)

Last week I shared my favorite gluten-free sponge cake recipe, and here's another fun way to use it. Add an extra egg white to the batter and soak the cake with sweet milks (or coconut milks) for a gluten-free (and optionally dairy-free) riff on the beloved Latin-American sweet. 

I developed the gluteny version of this recipe during my years as a pastry chef at a Latin-American restaurant here in SF. I would bake the cake in a large hotel pan, cut out rounds to make individual cakes for plating, and promptly devour all the cake scraps. 

While I don't recommend having cake for lunch, I do recommend whipping up a tres leches cake for your next gathering. They're brilliant for parties because they can be made a day or two ahead and refrigerated until ready to serve. 

Top slices with whipped cream (or whipped coconut cream) and fresh berries or, more traditionally, a layer of cinnamon sifted over the top. Creamy, comforting deliciousness. 

The last shot is the coconut flour tres leches cake from #alternativebakerbook topped with lime-kissed mango. So fresh!

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#glutenfreebaking #glutenfreecake #glutenfreetresleches
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It would be an ideal addition to weekend brunch or potlucks, and it takes well to variations. I've made it with rhubarb instead of berries, for instance - so good!

Here are a few things readers have said about this cake:

"Better than any gluten-full coffee cake I ever had. This recipe is a keeper. THANK YOU!!" 

"So this is the best coffee cake I’ve ever had, GF or otherwise! Another genius recipe!"

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"This coffee cake is so good - a light, tender crumb and with a pleasant touch of lemon. If I didn’t know it was gluten free I wouldn’t even suspect so."

Recipe linked the_bojon_gourmet. If you make it, please let me know how you like it! 

https://bojongourmet.com/gluten-free-blueberry-coffee-cake-streusel/

#singluten #glutenfreerecipes #glutenfreecake #blueberrycake #coffeecake
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    If you liked the gluten-free scones that I shared If you liked the gluten-free scones that I shared recently, you're going to love these gluten-free strawberry #shortcakes! 🍓

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