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Tart Cherry Fro-yo {with White & Dark Chocolate Chips}

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The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of the Cherry Marketing Institute.

Ultra thick and creamy tart cherry frozen yogurt loaded with dark chocolate and white chocolate chips. So decadent, you’d never guess the base is FAT FREE!

Tart Cherry Fro-yo with White & Dark Chocolate Chips: Easy, ultra creamy and healthy!

After an incredible summer in Portland, I’m back in Phoenix. Back to real work, and back to 100++ degrees. And again I’m wondering…WHY DON’T I LIVE IN PORTLAND? Well, a fantastic husband, my puppies and an entire life time of family and friends make the heat livable I suppose.

Tart Cherry Fro-yo with White & Dark Chocolate Chips: Easy, ultra creamy and healthy!

Totally unreasonable amounts of frozen yogurt don’t hurt either. šŸ˜‰ You may have noticed that before I left I was on a bit of an ice cream kick. IĀ finallyĀ figured out my ice cream maker, and I just couldn’t stop. The real deal, full fat ice cream is just so hard to recreate that I was a little nervous to go back to homemade fro-yo. I mean, I am a HUGE fan of soft serve, and I will eat it any time, any day, but it is just so hard to make something at home that doesn’t turn into an icy mess.

Tart Cherry Fro-yo with White & Dark Chocolate Chips: Easy, ultra creamy and healthy!

The good news? This isĀ by far the BEST frozen yogurt I have ever made! The base is so rich and creamy, and packed with tart cherry flavor. You may remember a little bit about the benefits of tart cherries from this Tart Cherry Lime Elixir. They are said to reduce soreness and oxidative stress,Ā and aid in recovery. Also, they are delicious. I’ve been drinking tart cherry juice plain for the 7 Day Cherry JuiceĀ Challenge, and it is the perfect amount of sweet and tart.

Tart Cherry Juice Challenge

This challenge is great leading up to a big race or event, and it’s incredibly easy to incorporate! If you love the taste of tart cherry juice, just drink 8 ounces a day, or you can use 2 tablespoons of the concentrate as a shot–college flash backs anyone? Except I like the idea of actually feeling better the next day instead of worse (the woes of getting older)–or diluted in another beverage.

Tart Cherry Fro-yo with White & Dark Chocolate Chips: Easy, ultra creamy and healthy!

Okay, back to the fro-yo. We all know that cherries pair magically with chocolate. White chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate syrup, you name it. I went for a combination of white and dark chocolate to create more flavors, but you are free to use whatever you’d like. Or, if you’d like to keep this 100% fat free, feel free to skip the chocolate all together, and it will still be delicious!

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Tart Cherry Fro-yo {with White & Dark Chocolate Chips}

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Tart Cherry Fro-yo {with White & Dark Chocolate Chips}

Ultra thick and creamy tart cherry frozen yogurt loaded with dark chocolate and white chocolate chips. So decadent, you'd never guess the base is FAT FREE!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/3-1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon tart cherry juice concentrate
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Ā½ tablespoon bourbon or vodka, optional
  • Ā¼ cup dark chocolate chips
  • Ā¼ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, tart cherry juice concentrate and vanilla extract until combined and sugar is fully dissolved. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  2. Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions. Add bourbon or vodka in the last 2-3 minutes of freezing. This is optional, but recommendedā€”it keeps the frozen yogurt from freezing hard and icy. Fold in chocolate chips. Frozen yogurt is best served immediately, but can also be stored in a freezer safe container, just allow 10-15 minutes thawing time before scooping.
https://arismenu.com/tart-cherry-fro-yo/

To learn more aboutĀ tart cherries and their benefits, check outĀ ChooseCherries.com, or follow theirĀ FacebookĀ /Ā TwitterĀ /PinterestĀ /Ā YouTube!

 

Beer Floats

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I have a few favorite things in life. Puppies, my husband, Seinfeld reruns, fro yo, beer, peanut butter, cilantro…. The list goes on. I’m not really someone who feels luke warm about things. There’s “OMG I freaking love ____ so much, I would poke my eyeballs out of my head if I could never see/have/eat it again!!!” and “Ew, gross.” Yes, I have the love scale of a teenage girl.

I don’t want to live in a world where my favorite things can’t go together. In my world, which is a little bit like Neverland–all whimsical and idealistic with no real sense of grown-up-ness, all the things I love fall magically into place, so that after a 15 mile run, I can sit down to pour myself a delicious dark, sweet beer.

I can scoop fro yo on top, and enjoy a grown up rootbeer float.

Okay, so you might think I’m a total freak, but listen, my first beer float experience was at The Ale House in Moscow (Idaho, not Russia) with my college bestie and foodspiration, Heather. We were both skeptical, and in true fashion of both of our tastes, she ordered hers with the huckleberry ale, and I ordered mine with the vanilla bourbon stout (oh my gosh, vanilla boubon stour, PLEASE COME BACK INTO MY LIFE!!). They were both absolutely delicious, but I’m guessing you know which one was my favorite…

Celebratory dessert done in about 90 seconds, and gone in about an equal amount of time. You better believe this baby will be reappearing after my very first 17 miler that’s coming up this Friday! What can I say? I’m a girl who likes to celebrate šŸ˜‰

Beer Float

yield 1

  • 1 bottle ice cold sweet beer of choice; stouts and porters work great (I used oatmeal stout. You can also use a lighter, fruity beer, but for the love, please do NOT use Bud Light, or, worse, Ā PBR. Just don’t do it.)
  • 2 scoops (approx 1/2 cup) nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt

Directions:

  1. Chill your beer glass in the freezer for 30min-1 hour.
  2. Pour beer until glass is 1/2-2/3 full. Top with 2 scoops frozen yogurt.

In case you needed an example of my interpretation of 1/2-2/3 full šŸ˜‰

Heath Bar Fro-yo

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Well, I guess whether or not we had a perfect 85 degree Memorial Day weekend, that is long gone, and summer is here to stay. Although, I’m not. Come Sunday, I will be on a plane to Oregon where I will be spending most of the summer! I get to do theatre in a beautiful location with some of the most amazing people. I cannot wait! But while I’m still here “enjoying” the triple digits, you better believe I am getting my fro yo fill.

Not that I need warm temperatures to eat frozen yogurt. We all know that it’s my weakness in any temperature. But there is something special about the cool treat in the hot weather, especially when it’s made at home.

And can we talk for a second about Heath toffee bits? Is there anything more delicious to put into a cookie, cupcake, bowl of cereal ice cream? They’ve always been one of my favorite additions. I used to make these super unhealthy cookies filled with white and dark chocolate chips, and ridiculous amounts of toffee bits that gave it a slight crunch, and made the whole thing taste like toffee. You should try it sometime. But keep them far away from me, because I will eat the whole batch. Then make more.

It’s okay, I have this bowl of deliciousness to keep me occupied. And it has Greek yogurt, so I can eat it for breakfast, and call it healthy. I love dessert for breakfast. I am totally my mother’s daughter. She never likes to eat her dessert at night. Instead, she saves it, and eats it for breakfast the next morning. She also loved ice cream. And chocolate. She’s basically me, with a New York accent.

Mom, come over and eat fro yo. Okay, actually, it’s all gone (I’m sure you’re shocked), but it honestly is the easiest thing to make ever, and it is basically fool proof. Even I can’t mess it up!

So, I know my house is not Yogurtland. I will never forget the first time I made frozen yogurt for my friends, and they asked me where the toppings were. But, I would say Heath and chocolate are among the best of toppings. And Yogurtland’s sprinkles suck. I love my sprinkles crunchy. I can’t stand a soft sprinkle. Is that weird? Do other people out there have a sprinkle preference?

Rainbow and crunchy. Or pink and crunchy. No chocolate sprinkles. Those are lame, and boring. Apparently, I’m a sprinkleĀ connoisseur. That is because sprinkles go on fro yo (they may not be in the picture, but you better believe they made it onto my bowl), and I am, without a doubt, a fro yo connoisseur. And this fro yo is creamy, filled with delicious vanilla bean (if you’ve never used one, you don’t know what you’re missing!!), and the delicious crunch of one of the best candy bars around.

Heath Bar Fro-yo

yield 12 4oz servings

  • 3 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, split length wise
  • 1/3 cup Heath toffee bits
  • 1/3 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, and sugar. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into the bowl, and combine. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
  2. Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions.
  3. When yogurt is frozen, gently fold in toffee and chocolate chips before serving, or transferring to a container to freeze for later.

Nonfat Brownie Batter Fro Yo

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Friends, it is getting hotĀ in Phoenix. The high today is something gross like 105, and it’s only May. Not a fan.

Okay, let’s be honest for a second–I eat fro yo year round. It could be snowing and I would still want fro yo. In fact, no other dessert really satisfies my craving the way frozen yogurt or gelato does.

And when it’s hot outside, it is even more refreshing. I could eat frozen yogurt for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In fact, today when I came back all hot and gross from my run, all I wanted to do was eat this for breakfast.

Remember when you were a kid and you had parents to tell you that you weren’t allowed to eat dessert for breakfast? That’s what I need. MOM LOOK! I am actually asking you to tell me what to do! That is a far stretch from my teenage years, right?

All I’m saying is watch out Yogurtology! You may have the best self serve in Phoenix, but I can also serve this myself, and it is creamy, chocolatey and also packs quite a bit of protein! HOW MUCH PROTEIN DOES YOUR YOGURT HAVE YOGURTOLOGY???? HMMMM???? Sorry, I love your yogurt, really. I just really love mine too šŸ˜‰

Brownie Batter Fro Yo

adapted from my BBFF Nicole

  • 3 cups nonfat Greek yogurt (I used TJ’s vanilla bean)
  • 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
  • 2-3 tbs Splenda
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbs No Pudge or Reduced Guilt brownie mix (or gluten-free brownie mix if desired)

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl combine yogurt, sugar, Splenda and brownie mix, stirring together until well combined. Chill mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  2. Pour chilled mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and freeze according to the ice cream makers instructions.

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