If you follow me on
Instagram you probably already know how much I like to post pictures of my breakfast. First thing in the morning I have the full day ahead of me, the most energy and all the time to be a little more playful and creative with my food, and of course to photograph it as well! I only really eat either one of two things for breakfast - a loaded smoothie, or a breakfast bowl. As a result, I've come to love trying out different versions of yogurt and smoothie bowls, sometimes planned and sometimes thrown together with whatever fruit I have that at the time, but I still never get tired of coming up with different combinations. I love the textures, flavour and aroma that putting together yogurt, fruit, granola and various toppings gives when you make a parfait. Cool creaminess from the yogurt or smoothie base, sweet juiciness from the fruit and that wonderful crunch which comes with granola, seeds and nuts.
I nearly always use full-fat natural yogurt because I find the texture of Greek yogurt too heavy and filling for me personally, but the great thing is you can substitute as you please - flavoured yogurt works just as well too. I also normally add a little local honey to my bowls - this usually helps to cut out any tartness from sour fruits, but of course you can choose to omit this or use any other sweetener instead such as agave. As you'll see below I use a lot of berries, mostly because they don't require any cutting up; just a quick wash and they can be tossed into the bowl.
To make things more healthy and nutritious I like to mix chia seeds and ground flax seed into the yogurt or smoothie base, add a few drops of natural coconut oil, plus a dash of cinnamon powder when I can remember!
There are no real rules. Switch out fruit toppings depending on whats in season and what your taste-buds prefer, and experiment with making your own granola mixes or toppings too. The combinations are endless.
Here are some of the ones I've created in recent months, and I hope they inspire you to create your own too!
1. My go-to and favourite smoothie is a banana base blended with coconut milk, raw cacao powder, ground flax seed and some peanut butter. I've been making this for a few years now and I can't get enough of it. Here I've topped it with some sliced banana, raw cacao nibs and chopped walnuts. See my post on
Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Breakfast Smoothie for the base recipe.
2. Yogurt with strawberries, papaya, and blueberries, topped with a drizzle of honey, slightly toasted almonds, dried goji berries and a sprinkle of cinnamon powder. Adding another fruit to my bowl of berries helps to switch things up slightly to keep me from getting bored.
3. I love to add figs into my yogurt bowls when they're in season and here I've added it with blueberries and pitted cherries too. The dried rose petals give a lovely floral hint. This is a great combination to enjoy during late summer.
4. The second smoothie I love to make often is a banana and coconut milk base with berries. Here I used mostly blackberries and raspberries, topping the smoothie bowl with homemade matcha granola, sliced strawberries, chia seeds and bee pollen.
5. For those days when you have a little more time on your hands, why not layer your ingredients (granola, yogurt and fruit) into glasses? This is especially nice for when you have guests or family staying around or over for breakfast, or even just as a little weekend treat. I blended some mango puree to compliment the sourness of using passion fruit pulp, and added raspberries to make presentable mini parfaits.
7. Figs make a lovely addition to breakfast bowls when roasted in the oven for a couple of minutes with honey drizzled over. The caramelized aroma makes a great pairing with pistachios and they taste great added to a warm bowl of porridge too.
8. I love this combination of strawberries, pomegranate, orange rind and mint with yogurt for a cool and refreshing start to my mornings in the summer.
9. What I love about layered fruit smoothies is that its likes tasting two different types of smoothies in one. Eventually it all mixes up too so you end up with a mix of two flavour combos. Here I combined a layer of mango and banana with raspberries and banana. Another combo I really love is avocado and milk with strawberry and banana. Yum!
10. A great way to sweeten your breakfast bowl is by making fruit 'jam'. Simply boil together your choice of fruit (berries work best) with a little sugar and water. Once it has thickened slightly to a syrup like texture leave to cool for a few minutes before pouring on top of your smoothie or yogurt. Alternatively you can simply blend some berries to drizzle over. I've been loving 'strawberry chia jam' lately by blending strawberries and mixing in chia seeds.
11. Here is another example of a more colour-driven smoothie bowl I made recently - blackberry and banana smoothie base, topped with overnight chia coconut milk, berries, blood orange slices and bee pollen. How gorgeous is that orange?!
12. Last but not least, my go-to combination on most days - yogurt and whichever berries I can find in my fridge! I like to switch up the granola, add different nuts and seeds and a dash of cinnamon powder.
Do you enjoy smoothie or yogurt bowls for breakfast, and what is your favourite combination to make?
