Frozen Hot Chocolate - Or Something Similar

Personally, I don't like hot chocolate, but my family sure does.  I think my issue is that warm or hot beverages bother me, I have no idea why, but that's how it is.  When I found this recipe, I figured I'd go ahead and make it because it is super easy and requires absolutely no cooking or baking experience and I knew that my family would enjoy it.  It's also much healthier than a hot chocolate or an equivalent recipe, because the only ingredients that are used to sweeten it are the bananas and dates which just so happen to be fruit.  Basically the only sugary, unhealthy part of the smoothie is the cocoa powder, and even that can be decreased to suit personal preference.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of milk (skim, soy, or almond)

1 1/2 bananas, frozen (peel before freezing)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 dates, pitted

Ice (optional)

Instructions

Throw all the ingredients in a blender, and blend on high until smooth.  It really couldn't get any easier.

Notes

~  I added ice because it was too soupy for my liking.  If you are going to add ice, don't do it to the end.  Only add a couple cubes at a time.

~  Despite the name, it doesn't taste exactly like a hot chocolate, but according to my brother it's pretty close.

~  This made two glasses, but I used relatively skinny glasses so if bigger ones are used it could easily be a single serving recipe.  It probably made two glasses because I added ice to thicken it up.

~  Apparently dates are by the raisins, oops. (I spent a while looking for them and I'm too socially awkward to ask for help, so I wandered around and called my mom until I found them)

~  Before freezing the bananas, peel them.  I wasn't thinking and ended up whittling away the peels with a very sharp knife, peeling before will save a lot of time.

~  If you don't want a super rich and chocolaty smoothie, then decrease the cocoa powder to something like 1 1/2 teaspoons.

~  I made mine with plain skim milk, but I think it would taste really good with almond milk.

~  It doesn't matter in what order you add the ingredients, but I usually add the frozen and solid ingredients first.