Strawberry Smoothie Bowls with Walnut Crumble

Strawberry Smoothie Bowls with Walnut Crumble – a healthy, filling, and delicious way to start your day. These are easy to throw together on busy mornings, and most importantly, fun for kids and parents to eat. They’re packed with frozen strawberries, bananas, flax, and walnut milk and then topped with any easy oat and walnut mixture.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie Bowls

I finally jumped on the smoothie bowl train. And guys, I’m hooked.

I’m all about texture when it comes to food, so the fact that smoothie bowls combine silky-smooth, ice-cold fruits, nut butters, and other yummy ingredients with tons of texture, well, I’m sold. 

Today’s smoothie bowl is simple, but so delicious. It’s a classic combination of strawberries and bananas, packed with healthy flax, and whipped up with walnut milk (yes walnut milk!).

Each simple smoothie bowl is topped with an easy walnut crumble (hi texture!), lots of unsweetened shaved coconut, and plenty of chia seeds for an extra boost of healthiness, and let’s be honest, prettiness. 

What are smoothie bowls?

Ok, so if you’re not familiar, a smoothie bowl is actually as it sounds. A smoothie in a bowl.

What’s great about them, is instead of it sticking to a liquid-only composition, you can top the smoothie bowls with an endless amount of toppings. My favorite toppings are of course, fresh fruit, but I also love topping them with chopped nuts, a drizzle of agave or honey, even crunch banana chips. 

Ingredients in Strawberry Smoothie Bowls

Frozen Strawberries. Not much to explain here. I like to use whole frozen strawberries. Any brand will do.

Frozen Bananas. I always have a huge stack of bananas just on the brink of too ripe. I throw them in the freezer and pull them out as I need them for smoothies, muffins, and such. If you don’t have any frozen bananas or didn’t think to put the bananas in the freezer, no worries, you can just throw in a ripe unfrozen banana. 

Ground Flax Seed. This is my favorite secret healthy ingredient to throw in smoothies. It’s virtually tasteless and blends into smoothies wonderfully so my kids can’t detect it. It’s packed with fiber and good-for-you omega-3 fatty acids, which I love. 

Mariani walnut milk

Marini Walnutmilk. Ok, so walnut milk is now my new-found favorite dairy alternative. I was sent Mariani walnutmilk to try a few weeks ago, and I’m a convert. I’ve been using it in my coffee instead of creamer, in our oatmeal in the morning instead of milk or water, and now, in our smoothies. 

Fun fact: Mariani is the first brand out there to put a true 100% walnut milk on the market on the West Coast. I was sort of taken aback by that realization, because with all of the milk alternatives out there, surely there had to be a walnut milk. There isn’t. 

I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to drink calories, especially in smoothies, but I also want them to taste DELICIOUS. I love that Mariani Walnutmilk tastes great, but has only two (TWO) grams of sugar per eight-ounce serving. Even their vanilla walnut milk has only four grams of sugar per eight-ounce serving – much less than the vanilla almond milk I was using. 

I also really appreciate the fact that Mariani is a family-run company, in business for over 35 years, and they truly care about their products. If you want a little cheat sheet on all things Mariani walnutmilk, here ya go:

• 35% of recommended value for calcium 
• 25% recommended amount for vitamin D
• Vitamin A and E
• low-cal 
• 0 grams of saturated fat
• 0 grams of sugar in the unsweetened (great for savory cooking in place of creamy or milk), 2 grams in the original, and 4 grams in the vanilla. 
• Vegan 
• Non-gmo
• Great source of omega-3 (great if your kids are picky eaters) 

If you’re interested in trying it for yourself, you can take a look here and see where you can get it locally if you’re on the west coast. Plus there’s an handy coupon for $1.50 off the purchase price. 

Walnut Crumble

I’d equate this crumble to a paired down version of granola with only four simple ingredients. 

Walnuts. Chop them to a similar size as the oats. 

Oats. Any type of oats will do – rolled oats, quick cooking oats, organic.

Honey. Agave or maple syrup also works great! This is what will obviously sweeten the crumble, but it will also help achieve a crispy, sticky granola-esque texture. 

Coconut oil. Also an ingredient that helps the crumble bind together. 

How to make Strawberry Banana Smoothies with Walnut Crumble

Make the crumble. Add honey and coconut oil to a small saucepan. Heat the pan to a medium heat. Once the oil has melted, add the walnuts and oats. Toss to combine. Continue to cook the walnut and oat mixture until until the nuts are lightly toasted, about 3-4 minutes. 

Transfer the crumble to a plate to cool while you make the smoothies. 

Make the smoothies. Add strawberries, bananas, ground flax seeds, vanilla extract, and walnut milk to a high-powered blender. Blend until smooth. If needed, add a little bit more walnut milk until you reach your perfect consistency. 

Assemble the strawberry smoothie bowls. Divide the smoothies between four small bowls. Top each bowl with sliced strawberries. Break up the granola with your fingers and then evenly divide it between the bowls. Arrange coconut on top. Sprinkle with chia seeds. 

Watch them disappear! 

Variations on Strawberry Smoothie Bowls

• Our favorite 5-Ingredient Stovetop Granola or our White Chocolate Granola would be a great addition to these smoothie bowls instead of the crumble. 
• Top with sliced bananas, blueberries, or blackberries if they’re in season. 
• Frozen mango, pineapple, and banana would be a delicious combination as well. 
• Sprinkle with ground flax seed. 
• Add in spinach, it will alter the color, but not the taste.

Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success

• Be sure to keep a close eye on the crumble as it cooks. Burnt nuts do not bode well in strawberry smoothie bowls. 
• Use whatever oats you have on hand, just don’t use steel-cut oats.
• I always put the largest frozen ingredient at the bottom of the blender. Follow up with the flax, spinach if using, and finally, the walnut milk. 
• Serve right away! Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend making the smoothies in advance, but absolutely make the crumble in advance! It can be made up to a week ahead of time. Store in an airtight container in the pantry.