This is the 3rd brand new recipe in the AK Smoothie Series and let me tell you, it’s mind-blowingly good.
A few years back I made this super creamy, delicious Snickerdoodle Tahini Date Smoothie and loved the flavor that tahini and dates added to it. This time I had to get a little extra and add coffee and chocolate because coffee + chocolate = life, of course.
This incredible tahini coffee date shake is naturally sweetened with dates, super thick from a sneaky ingredient, and filled with rich chocolate and coffee flavors. It’s pretty much like your favorite mocha frappuccino (from Caribou Coffee — the real ones know) made vegan, dairy free, and filled with tons of nutrients.
Wake up with this creamy chocolate coffee date smoothie or enjoy it for the best afternoon pick-me-up!
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Ingredients in this tahini coffee date shake
This delicious chocolate coffee date shake seriously tastes like dessert and is sweetened without banana — just a few dates! It’s dairy free and packed with plenty of healthy fats to keep you full and satisfied. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Medjool dates: as I mentioned, we’re sweetening this smoothie with dates instead of banana. See below for a quick tip on how to soften your dates!
- Coconut milk: I love adding coconut milk to smoothies and shakes because it adds a wonderful, creamy texture and delicious flavor. I recommend refrigerating your coconut milk beforehand so that it’s cold.
- Coffee: obsessed with the coffee flavor in this shake. Feel free to use cold brew or leftover cold coffee.
- Cauliflower: hello, sneaky veggies! Adding frozen cauliflower helps to thicken the shake because there aren’t any frozen fruits. Plus it adds a boost of nutrition you won’t even be able to taste!
- Tahini: a little tahini adds extra creaminess to the smoothie that you’ll love.
- Cacao powder: because who doesn’t love a little chocolate? Adding just a tablespoon or two of cacao powder seriously makes this coffee date shake taste like a mocha. You can also use unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Vanilla extract: you’ll want some vanilla extract to bring out those sweet flavors. Learn how to make your own here!
How to soften your dates
You may need to soften your dates if they’re not already soft. To do so soak your pitted dates in 1 cup of very warm water for at least 5 minutes. This will help them soften up and perfect for blending. While the dates are soaking you can get all your other ingredients out, measured and ready.
Tips for adding coffee to smoothies & shakes
There are actually a number of easy ways to add cold coffee to your smoothie and shake recipes! Here’s what I recommend:
- Chill fresh coffee. Brew a pot of coffee like you normally would and then reserve a few cups for making smoothies. First, allow the coffee to cool completely to room temperature, then add the coffee to a mason jar or glass container and store in the fridge for up to 5 days for smoothie use.
- Make coffee ice cubes. Another option is to pour room temperature coffee into an ice cube tray and freeze them for later. This is a great option because then you are able to make the smoothie anytime you’d like, just know that you may need to add more coconut milk to the coffee date shake in order to get the ice to blend properly.
- Make strong instant coffee. If you’re in a time crunch you can simply make a cup of instant coffee like you normally would according to the directions on the package, except add an extra serving of instant coffee granules since you’ll be adding lots of ice later to cool it down. Once the instant coffee dissolves in warm/hot water, you’ll immediately transfer it to a large bowl or large glass and add as much ice as you can. This is to cool down the coffee so that you can immediately use it to make your smoothie. Yum!
- Use cold brew. Feel free to use homemade or store-bought cold brew instead of coffee. Perfect for an extra caffeine boost or for the convenience of using something store-bought.
Can I skip the cauliflower?
Yes, feel free to use ice instead of the frozen cauliflower if you don’t have any. Just note that the coffee date shake may not be as thick.
Our favorite nutritional boosters
This tahini coffee date shake is packed with vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, protein & healthy fats on its own, but here are some of our fav ways to add even more nutrition. Please note that you may need to add some more coconut milk if you add extra ingredients!
- Chia seeds: try adding in a tablespoon of chia seeds for a boost of healthy fats and fiber.
- Flaxseed meal: this is one of my favorite ingredients to add to smoothies for a little boost of fiber and minerals, and is especially great for nursing mamas as flaxseed can help increase milk supply. Usually, a tablespoon is plenty! Here’s a brand I love.
- Hemp seeds: feel free to throw in some hemp seeds for another boost of healthy fats, omegas and minerals.
- Protein: Easily add more protein to a smoothie by adding 1/2 cup of greek yogurt or 1 scoop of your favorite protein powder. I recommend Vital Protein collagen peptides or Four Sigmatic Plant-Based Protein Powder.
Make this coffee date shake ahead of time
Try making this shake ahead of time to enjoy later! I have three amazing methods for prepping and storing smoothies & shakes right in your freezer. You’ll learn the ice cube tray method, the mason jar method and the freezer pack method. Get all of my tips & tricks here!
Our go-to smoothie tools
Check out more of our favorite go-to kitchen essentials here.
More smoothie & shake recipes
- Salted Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Shake
- Knock You Naked Peanut Butter Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Ridiculously Good Wild Blueberry Muffin Smoothie
- Good Morning Coffee Lover’s Smoothie
- Coconut Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie (with sneaky veggies)
Get all of my delicious smoothie & shake recipes here!
I hope you love this incredible tahini chocolate coffee date shake! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Tahini Chocolate Coffee Date Shake
Ingredients
- 3 large Medjool dates, pitted
- ½ cup coconut milk (best if cold!)
- ½ cup cold brew or leftover cold coffee
- ¾ cup frozen cauliflower*
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1-2 tablespoons cacao powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional add-ins:
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a high powered blender: pitted dates, coconut milk, cold brew, cauliflower, tahini, 1 tablespoon cacao powder and vanilla extract. Feel free to add any optional add-ins to your smoothie if you’d like. Blend until smooth, adding more milk to thin, if necessary. You can also add another tablespoon of cacao powder if you want more chocolate flavor. Pour into a glass and enjoy! Serves 1. Feel free to double the recipe to serve 2.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
30 comments
Hi Monique! Any thoughts on how swapping the cauliflower might work?
I meant *swapping the cauliflower for banana
Hi! That’s a great idea 🙂 You can use the same amount. Feel free to reduce the number of dates to 1-2 because the banana will add sweetness.
cant wait to make this soon for me can i use maple syrup as am not a big fan of dates i never had tahini coffee date shake before perfect for hot days in Singapore love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
Love this! Another perfect recipe. I used ice instead of cauliflower and it’s not very thick but I don’t mind. It’s like an improved frappacino that I don’t have to feel guilty about. Seriously love this.
Yum!! I have been making your snickerdoodle tahini smoothie on repeat for the past 6ish months (the best!) and also have tried adding chocolate and coffee at times which is also amazing! Looking forward to trying this exact recipe too!!
I did a little something different with this one – instead of adding riced cauliflower or rice for a smoothie texture, I used the rest of the mixture as a base for overnight oats and holy cow they were amazing! I included the chia seeds as I always do with overnight oats. It was pretty thick in the morning so I thinned it out with more coffee rather than almond milk because well, I love coffee! 😂 Definitely going to try this as an actual smoothie soon too!
Woahhh that is such a brilliant idea! I bet those flavors are incredible. Thank you for sharing!!
Another great smoothie! The coconut milk made it so creamy.
SO happy you tried and loved it, Molly! I’m loving this one these days, too 😍
This tastes like a Frappuccino but I know what went in it and it makes me feel way better about what I’m putting in my body with amazing taste!
Doesn’t it?! I’m so glad you loved it, Samantha! Thanks for commenting ❤️
This is great! Was a bit hesitant about the cauliflower, but you can’t taste it at all, and the smoothie has a great consistency! Love this for breakfast on a hot day.
So happy you loved it, Emilia! Yes, it’s such a refreshing summer breakfast 🙂
10
I just made this for probably the 5th time today! I don’t add the vanilla extract since I always add my vanilla protein powder. I wanted to comment again because I used a small banana for the sweetener this time (I’m out of dates) and it worked perfectly! In case anyone else is wondering. 😉
Good call! Happy that worked well 🙂 I’m so glad you love this one!!
This tastes like pure heaven. If you are a chocolatyyyy person but not overly sweet this smoothie is for you. I added a heaping spoon of my chocolate vegan protein too. Delish! I wanted a dessert but I didn’t wanted to bake and this just hit the spot perfectly.
Perfect! SO glad you enjoyed 🙂
10/10! I just made this shake & it was so good! I used 2 dates, used cashew butter instead of tahini, added vanilla protein powder, & used a frozen coconut smoothie pack instead of frozen cauliflower or ice. Will be making again. Thank you so much Monique! Xoxo.
Yumm that sounds amazing! SO glad you loved this recipe ❤️
Coconut milk from carton or can?!
Either will work. I typically use coconut milk from the can, I find it to be a but creamier than the carton. Enjoy!
So weird! But, surprisingly good! I made the recipe as written because there’s a reason our food blogging friends post what they do (& I always roll my eyes at reviews that are like “I changed half the ingredients and I didn’t like!”) so yeah, even though I was super concerned about cauliflower, I tossed it in with the other ingredients and hoped for the best. And it was good! Thick, with a nice, if slightly odd flavor – a slightly brunt taste that I couldn’t place since none of the individual ingredients were burned, but it wasn’t bad. I did find the tahini flavor to be a bit overwhelming, so next time I might sub some cashews instead to let the coffee and chocolate shine more. I’ll probably throw in some ice cubes as well to make it even colder and maybe a bit of sweetener as the sweetness was a bit subtle to me (at least, as a dessert). But I also think it’s good/interesting as is and now I’m curious to see how cauliflower will behave in other shakes and smoothies in the future!
This is so delicious! I’ve been on a smoothie kick lately and trying a bunch of new recipes, and I think this one and your cherry lime smoothie are my favorites of yours so far. I don’t have a super great blender, so I definitely get some date chunks with this, but I’m not upset about it. Thanks again for another fun recipe.
I added collagen and flax!
Nice!! Those two are some of my all-time favs, too 🙂 Soaking the dates in warm water for 5-10 mins should help, not sure if you tried that.
I love this smoothie! Absolutely one of my favorites of yours. I always add collagen and flax seed, and it’s super delicious. I also like that it’s not an extremely cold smoothie, if that’s not a weird thing to say… It doesn’t hurt my teeth. 😂
Oh yay I’m so glad you love it, Noelle! Thank you! And haha yes I totally know what you mean 🙂
Really enjoyed this one echoing others it tastes even better than a Frappuccino, I steamed and froze cauliflower florets about 2.5 oz worth It did smell a little farty when I first opened the blender but the taste was undetectable. In the recipe it doesn’t indicate if the cauliflower should be cooked or used raw could you also include the amount by weight for the cauliflower because it was difficult to fit it into a quarter cup not sure if the amount I used was accurate? How would you adapt this recipe using matcha? I wish you would come up with more drinks using matcha!
I am glad you enjoyed this recipe. You can either steam and freeze or just use frozen cauli from the bag, either will work. I haven’t tried this with matcha so I am not sure how it world turn out!