Rich, creamy, peanut butter and chocolatey goodness packed into this perfect frozen yogurt. Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Frozen Yogurt is loaded with protein, healthy fats, and antioxidants, and is incredibly good for you. Scoop up a huge bowl of this cool, refreshing and unbelievably healthy dessert, and savor the perfect ending to your summer day.
Happy Sunday! How was your week? Ours was, well, you guessed it, another busy one! Although, I suppose that’s to be expected with a two-month-old (Charlie turned turned two-months-old on the 30th!), a two-year-old, and a four-year-old. Actually, looking back on it, I guess this week was rather packed. Monday was fairly calm, and a fun little day around the house and in the yard. Tuesday, we had our friends over for a playdate in the morning. Charlie had his two-month check-up on Wednesday, and now weighs 12 pounds 12 ounces. (He’s doing great and is one healthy little guy. He has also been smiling a bunch lately!) Since the older boys were already home with a babysitter, I managed to sneak in a quick little grocery store trip on our way home, with only one kid! I mean, is that a treat or what?! 🙂 I guess it’s the little things! Thursday we met Andrew for lunch. (Weekly lunches with Andrew have become a tradition that we all really enjoy.) Friday morning we drove Andrew to the office, so that later that I could pick him up after work for our early date night out on that side of town.
We had a great dinner, a fun shopping trip, and were home by 9:15! The perfect little date. Saturday, I had a SOLO shopping trip in the morning, (thanks to Andrew for holding down the fort for two hours while I was gone). In the afternoon, we headed to the park for a little ice cream social. James had the BIGGEST ice cream sandwich, and was downright adorable eating it. William opted for the push up and said “this is a good choice!”. Lol 🙂 They even got to take a ride on the cute little train. Today, with the sun shinning, and after all of the fun from the week, we decided to have a relaxing, yet productive family day.
Here are a few pictures and a little movie from all of the fun at the ice cream social yesterday.
This recipe became one of my very very favorite desserts while I was pregnant with Charlie. I created this recipe months ago, practically in the dead of winter. However, when you’re pregnant, all bets are off as to which season is the ideal time to make frozen yogurt. Just because the snow was piled high outside, that didn’t stop me from creating a fun treat to fulfill a major chocolate peanut butter craving. The “mix-in” idea of this recipe reminds me of the summer before our wedding. There was a great little ice cream place, Ritter’s Frozen Custard, that was a little less than a mile from us. They had some seriously GOOD and dangerously delicious ice cream desserts. Our favorite item on the menu were their Glaciers, which were very similar to a Dairy Queen blizzard. They had a mountain of soft-serve frozen custard, swirled together with whatever candy toppings you choose. Our favorites were Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, followed by Snickers, Oreos, and Heath Bars. Sometimes just one, sometimes all. NEVER healthy 😉 But always amazing.
It might not be custard, but this creamy dessert won’t weight you down. Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Frozen Yogurt will certainly stand up to any Ritter’s Glacier. Sweetened mostly with dates, and a touch of agave and honey, it’s amazing how “not good for you” it tastes! Seriously, I know it looks a bit on the “weirdly healthy side”, especially for dessert, but once you give it a try, I bet you’ll be hooked like we are!
This recipe is pretty simple and easy to make. Just toss everything in the blender, let it chill for an hour, and then let it churn in the ice cream maker. A few easy steps and you’re on your way to enjoying the perfect summer dessert. I let my blender and ice cream maker do most of the work for me with this one!
I know that by now you’re probably quite familiar with me talking about how much I love my Vitamix. Yep, I still love it and use it almost daily. However, I’m finding that there are quite a few kitchen gadgets that I have that are simply amazing. I’m (overly) passionate about them and feel the need to share them with you! I’m even finding that it’s not necessarily the most expensive or high-end items that are always the best, either. I guess at some point I’ll have to do a post on “My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets”, but in the meantime, here’s one thing that I find myself using at least once a week, if not much more. My Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker has become one of my new favorite kitchen appliances. It’s fairly inexpensive and super easy to use. The only catch is, that it comes with a canister that has to be pre-frozen before you can add the ice cream or yogurt to it. HOWEVER, here’s my trick. I always leave it in my freezer. Every time I finish making ice cream, I quickly wash it out, dry it off, and stick it right back in my freezer. That way, I can whip up a fresh batch of frozen yogurt, sorbet or ice cream whenever my little heart desires. (And on hot summer days, that’s pretty often!)
Grab your blender, ice cream maker, and your sweet tooth, and be prepared to indulge in this incredibly healthy, decadent delight.
Also, stay tuned THIS THURSDAY, when I launch my TBT (throw back Thursday, incase you’re not familiar), post! It will definitely be a post you won’t want to miss! A great summer recipe and a chance to revisit our trip to Rome, what’s not to love?! So be sure to check back 🙂
Ingredients
- 8 medjool dates, pitted
- 2 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 cups skim milk
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons agave
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 dashes salt
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (plus more for dusting)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- To make frozen yogurt base: Add dates, yogurt, milk, cocoa powder, peanut butter, agave, vanilla and salt to blender or Vitamix. Blend until mixture is smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes, scraping down sides of blender as needed. Pour yogurt base into bowl or container, cover and chill in refrigerator for one hour, or up to two days. (If short on time, mixture can be added directly into ice cream maker, but will not be as firm.)
- To make the fudge chunks: In a small bowl, add peanut butter, cocoa powder, honey, water, vanilla and salt, and mix together with a metal spoon. Form fudge into a ball, and then flatten into a thin pancake, about 1/2 inch thick, using additional cocoa powder to coat hands and fudge as needed. (Fudge will be very sticky). Place fudge on a piece of plastic wrap dusted with cocoa powder, and wrap tightly. Place fudge in freezer for at least one hour to firm up. Once fudge has firmed up a bit, remove from freezer and plastic wrap. Place on cutting board and slice into chunks, about 1/8 or 1/4 inch in size, depending on preference. Store fudge chunks in bowl in freezer until ready to use.
- When ready to churn the ice cream, carefully pour frozen yogurt base into ice cream maker, turn on and allow mixture to churn for about 20 minutes, or until yogurt looks soft, but not fully churned.
- While yogurt is churning, gradually add the chilled fudge chunks to the frozen yogurt in the canister, and continue churning for an additional 5 minutes.
- Yogurt can be served immediately (text will be very soft), or scoop yogurt from canister into an airtight container and place in the freezer for 20 minutes, or until yogurt reaches desired firmness. (If yogurt gets too firm, especially the next day, place on counter for 20 minutes to thaw before serving.)
You might also like this Light Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!
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When it comes to eating a bit on the healthier side, chocolate cupcakes are probably the farthest thing from that thought. A few months ago I had an idea to try and come up with a healthy solution to James’ request for “chocolate cupcakes for my birthday!”. I figured that starting well in advance would allow me to perfect them enough before the big day, and incase my idea was a total bust, I’d still have time to do something else. Well, I am super excited to say that since these were such a HUGE SUCESS, we have made quite a few batches over the last couple of months. I even made these again as a surprise birthday dessert for a special friend, and she raved about them!
