So you’ve spread yourself some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and your peanut butter cheesecake with an oreo crumb is contentedly chilling all alone in the fridge, and you’ve sat yourself down and are ready to surfeit on a delicious dinner – but hold on, you doofus, don’t you need something to drink?

After all peanut butter has a propensity for sticking to the roof of one’s mouth, especially spread thickly to soft white or brown bread, and without drink your body won’t absorb all those good nutrients. So although it might seem like a hassle, you’re going to have to get up to wash down. And that is precisely where peanut butter smoothies come in.

A good peanut butter smoothie is just as much of a classic as any other foodstuff encompassing peanuts: sandwiches, cheesecakes, bowls, and satay sauce. In my version the sickly sweetness of the peanut butter is complemented by the tangier sweetness of some fruit. What’s more, whipping up this peanut butter smoothie sure will be quick.

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 1 banana (preferably frozen)
  • Around 8 moderately sized strawberries (more or less in accordance with your taste)
  • 2 heaped tablespoons or 4 unheaped tablespoons of your favourite peanut butter (isn’t it nice when you can use things which are your favourite?)
  • 250 ml some sort of milk

Notes on the ingredients

The first question you should be asking yourself having perused the above is: good lord and good heavens, just what sort of milk? I would suggest cow’s finest: I tried almond milk with this recipe, but it detracted significantly from the taste. Still if you prefer almond or some other milk go right ahead, and some people even make peanut butter smoothies with plain water, coconut water, or pineapple juice.

Options are aplenty when it comes to this drink. If you would like, incorporate Medjool dates, honey, maple syrup, oats, coca powder, or vanilla or Greek yoghurt. The consequences of adding cocoa powder will inevitably be chocolatey, and yoghurt is okay, but I find syrup and especially honey can divert from the peanut butter and make this smoothie too sweet.

Method

You have preferably already peeled your preferably frozen banana, so just let it soften a little and slice it right up. Put everything into a blender – there’s an argument you should add at least some of the liquid first – and press play. The result should be fairly creamy and thick. If not, add another strawberry or dollop of peanut butter, or part of a separate banana should you have one to spare.