pumpkin smoothie with a cinnamon rim

This smoothie took me out of my comfort zone. Normally, when I think “smoothie,” I think “fruit.” And with fruit comes a certain level of sweetness. While this pumpkin smoothie does contain banana, it struck me as a little flat at first sip. And I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way—you just need to go into this wanting a healthy, pumpkin breakfast drink, and not a summery fruit smoothie.

Taking inspiration from the countless Shipyard Pumpkin Head beers with cinnamon-sugar rims I’ve already consumed this fall at various Boston bars, I decided to add a pumpkin butter and cinnamon rim to this smoothie. BOOM. Talk about a taste improvement. Healthy pumpkin breakfast beverage turned into delicious, lip-licking autumn smoothie.

INGREDIENTS

½ cup canned pumpkin puree (or puree fresh pumpkin yourself if you enjoy overachieving and annoying others)
½ cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp pumpkin butter
1 banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp cinnamon
For the rim: a smidge of pumpkin butter (smidge is a technical term) and a pinch of cinnamon

Mix everything together in a blender.

Invert a glass in pumpkin butter to coat the rim. Alternatively, just dip your finger in the pumpkin butter jar and smear it around the rim. I did the latter because I am a Neanderthal. Next, dip the rim in cinnamon, or just sprinkle it around the edge on top of the pumpkin butter.