Berry Frozen Yogurt Cake

Happy Sunday!  It's that time of year where the days still feel as hot as the summer months, but it gets busier and busier with school, work, and family.  The last thing I want to do is get stuck in a hot kitchen baking a cake for dessert, so I came up with this deliciously easy Berry Frozen Yogurt Cake!

In about five minutes, with no special equipment or fancy techniques, you can throw this dessert in the freezer lickety-split.  However, the final product looks like it took a lot of time and effort, even though it is super easy.  :)  The cake is easy enough for a weeknight dinner, but so pretty that you could serve it to party guests.

It is light and refreshing, like an ice cream cake, but made with tangy frozen yogurt instead!  So it is sweet, but not too sweet, especially with the addition of tart raspberries.  The blueberries are my personal favorite, but you could add blackberries or boysenberries instead.  Add to that a crust made with crushed ice cream cones, and you have a pretty dessert that is both colorful and delicious.

The bonus is that these are ingredients you can keep on hand all year round in the freezer and pantry.  Yes, only 5 simple ingredients, and you have a lovely dessert!  Just two flavors of my favorite protein-packed yogurt, ProYo, two kinds of berries, ice cream cones, and that's it!  By the way, you could use fresh berries, but I used frozen ones since I already had them on hand.

Basically, this is a dessert that requires no prep, a handful of ingredients, looks gorgeous, and can be made from ingredients available in your freezer or pantry year-round.  You're welcome!  :)

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of ProYo.  All opinions are mine alone.

Berry Frozen Yogurt Cake
A Vintage Zest original recipe

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Minions Whoopie Pies

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MinionsAtTarget #CollectiveBias

Recently, we had a good old-fashioned movie night at home with Minions, and I baked up some adorable whoopie pies to go along with it!  This recipe is kid-friendly, so everyone can enjoy baking and decorating them.  :)

The cookies in the whoopie pie are a luscious lemon flavor, with bits of lemon zest throughout.  The filling is a light and airy blueberry and lemon zest whipped cream cheese frosting.  You know that cream cheese frosting is my favorite kind, so I had to include it!  I used blue food coloring in the filling because I thought it would look like their little pants.  Right?  :)

Lastly, I think the Minions Whoopie Pies look adorable!  It's so much fun decorating them by choosing one or two eyeballs, deciding on if they'll smile or look shocked, and designing their goggle straps as well.  :)

Are you ready to take a bite now?

But first, back to the inspiration for this sweet dessert...

I must admit that I'm one of those adults who loves cartoons and sometimes borrows nieces and nephews just to have a reason to see the movie in theaters.  Actually, I was bummed that after seeing both Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 with the little ones, I missed out on Minions in theaters.  That's why when the movie came out on 12/8/15 on DVD, I rushed to Target to buy it!  I bought the Target-Exclusive Deluxe Minions Metalpak Blu-ray/DVD, which has 40 minutes of extra content.  The DVD case was just too cute not to buy!  There was also an exclusive $5 Target gift card deal upon purchase, so it was a total no-brainer.  :)  Besides, I was able to pick up all of the ingredients from my shopping list.  Easy peasy!

Now, let's get to the recipe!

Minions Whoopie Pies
Adapted from this recipe

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Yogurt Panna Cotta (dairy-free)

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SilkDairyFree #CollectiveBias

Every holiday season, I get busy with holiday parties making dessert after dessert spending a TON of time measuring, baking, and hovering around my oven.  Well, this time I decided to try a different recipe that would save me a lot of time and would result in an unexpectedly light treat: Yogurt Panna Cotta!  Just a few minutes of prep and you get this gorgeously smooth and creamy dessert.  It tastes rich and indulgent, but it does not leave you feeling heavy.  Absolutely delicious!

I went one step further and made it dairy-free because I have a few family members that do not handle lactose well.  That means that absolutely everyone can enjoy this dessert by using Silk Dairy-Free Yogurt!  My panna cotta recipe is also gluten-free, egg-free, low in sugar, and (with a couple of simple swaps) can be vegan.  Like I said, this recipe can satisfy nearly everyone, even with a special diet.  With my huge family, that is a feat in itself!

You would think it would be difficult to find a dairy-free yogurt, right?  WRONG!  At my local Walmart, it was literally right underneath the yogurt sign in the display.  Ha!  It cannot get any easier than that!

Also, before we get into the recipe, I made two versions of the recipe with the Vanilla and the Peach & Mango flavors.  At first, I was a bit hesitant to use one of the flavored varieties, because it has bits of real fruit in it and I didn't want the dessert to be anything less than silky and smooth.  Actually, I loved it!  My favorite flavor for an everyday breakfast or dessert is black cherry, so next time I am definitely making a Black Cherry Panna Cotta.  It even sounds fabulous!

Yogurt Panna Cotta
A Vintage Zest original recipe

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Peppermint Mocha French Macarons

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DelightfulMoments #CollectiveBias

People, I did it.  I finally crossed a recipe off of my bucket list.  I made French macarons!  Honestly, I'm pretty impressed with how well they turned out, especially after hearing all the ways they could possibly go wrong.  Even better than how they look, the flavors in this Peppermint Mocha variety are just amazing!  Not to toot my own horn, but the filling I came up with is chocolatey, minty, and tastes exactly like the holidays.  I plan to make them again for my upcoming fall and winter baking parties, and I hope you try them out too!

Need more convincing before trying out the recipe?  There's nothing like a fresh macaron with the crisp outer shell and chewy center.  Here's a secret... even if they end up a bit cracked (yes, they didn't all turn out perfect), they still taste great.  For the shell, I decided to leave it pretty normal in flavor, but I did add some red food coloring to make it a peppermint-y color.  I could have added some peppermint extract, but I knew the filling would stand out as it is.  I nearly made a buttercream filling, but I wanted to complement the peppermint flavor with even more chocolate.  I had a bit of leftover after the macarons... and let's just say not a single bit went to waste.  :)

My recipe was inspired by the Peppermint Mocha flavor of International Delight Creamer because it feels exactly like the holidays to me.  Once fall hits, I crave anything fall related.  In fact, all of the other flavors (Pumpkin Pie Spice, Frosted Sugar Cookie, and White Chocolate Raspberry) are just wonderful!  If you want to try them out for yourself, see if your local Walmart will have a tasting demo on this list.  That would be a yummy trip!

I found my Peppermint Mocha creamer in a center display in the Dairy area.  It's only $2.98 for an entire quart!  Imagine how many macarons you could make with allll that... :)  Also, I made sure to pick up the Caramel Macchiato individual creamers located in the Tea & Coffee aisle for a quick morning cup of coffee on the go.  It's a lovely accompaniment to all those macarons you're about to make!

Now, let's get to the recipe!

Peppermint Mocha Macarons
A Vintage Zest original

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Easy Sweet Potato Pie (without a crust!)

One of my favorite holidays is coming up... Thanksgiving!  You all know about my sweet tooth by now and that I used to live in Nashville, so there's only one dessert I make every year and that's the traditional Southern Sweet Potato Pie!  You might be thinking, "don't you already make a fantastic sweet potato casserole?"  Yes, I do!

There's quite a few differences between the two, so I end up making both for my family.  First of all, the casserole is much sweeter with all the brown sugar and marshmallow topping.  It's a bit healthier for sure!  Also, I tend to make the souffle just a bit chunkier while the pie is silkier in texture.

Now here's something that might turn you off: the pie has no crust.  Wait, wait, hear me out!  At the end of a Thanksgiving meal, my family always wants something sweet but not super heavy.  It's my way of making sure we don't completely overdo it by making up this delicious, lightened-up version! Of course, you can make the same easy filling and pour into pie crusts as well.  It's great either way!

Let's get to the recipe!  (P.S. - For more Thanksgiving recipes, check out my menu & tips post!)

Sweet Potato Pie (without a crust!)
slightly adapted from SparkPeople

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Bananacue recipe (Sweet Asian Plantain Skewers)

Remember last month when I shared two recipes for both savory and sweet plantains?  Initially, I had this dish in mind for my sweet recipe, but when I went to look at the recipe, I was shocked to find out that Bananacue used a completely different fruit!  But let's back up for a second.

Bananacue is a sweet dish found in the Philippines, and it's also sometimes known as banana cue or banana q.  The banana is fried, covered in brown sugar, skewered, then enjoyed as a tasty snack or dessert!  Personally, I love having this in the summer time along with some grilled kabobs for a complete meal on a stick!

The fruit is sweet and almost slightly creamy after frying, but the outside sugar hardens into a sweet, crunchy shell.  So delicious!

The surprising thing is that even though it is called bananacue, you probably shouldn't use a regular banana.  Then what should you buy at the grocery store?

The banana that they use in the Philippines is called saging na saba, Cardaba banana, or Asian plantain.  After working with them, I can safely say that they are somewhere between a soft regular banana and the harder plantain.  You can use a regular plantain for this recipe if you can't find this at your international store.  However, as you know from my plantain tips post, make sure that they are ripe!

Bananacue (Sweet Asian Plantain Skewers)
Adapted from here

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Raspberry Recipe Round-up!

This week I am sharing twelve lovely and delicious raspberry recipes!  After I started with two sweet round-ups of blueberry and strawberry recipes, I followed it up with Mason jar projects and Unique Lasagna recipes.  I'm so happy that I decided to go with more desserts, because there were so many beautiful links from Do Tell Tuesday.

I have a love-hate relationship with raspberry recipes because I wait all year to eat fresh raspberries during the summer, and then I usually end up eating the whole basket before I can make a recipe with them.  :)  These gorgeous recipes look so amazing that I can definitely exercise some willpower.  Or, I could always buy two baskets: one for snacking and one for cooking!

Before we get to the round-up, remember to link up at tomorrow's Do Tell Tuesday party because next week I will be featuring... BURGER recipes!  Yum!

Now, to the sweet (and tart) raspberry recipes!

Raspberry Macarons

No Churn Peach & Raspberry Ice Cream

Raspberry Mousse Cheesecake Brownies

Coconut, Raspberry & Blueberry Ice Cream

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50+ Delicious Strawberry Recipes!

This week's roundup has recipes for more than 50 delicious ways to use strawberries in season.  There were so many wonderful dishes linked up to Do Tell Tuesday for the past few months.  This collection has breakfast recipes (including a few variations on strawberry muffins), beverages, pies, cakes, frozen treats, and even a strawberry soup!  Next week's round-up will be completely different because I will be featuring MASON JAR projects.

Now, for the strawberry recipes!

Jump to:

• Breakfast
• Jams/Preserves/Sauces
• Beverages
• Soup & Salad
• Simple Desserts
• Single-Serve Desserts
• Unique Desserts
• Cakes
• Pies
• Frozen Treats

Breakfast Recipes

Greek Yogurt, Granola, and Berry Parfait

Baked Strawberry Cake Doughnuts

Strawberry Muffins

Fresh Strawberry Muffins (with cinnamon)

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15+ Blueberry Recipes

This week's roundup has recipes for more than 15 delicious ways to use blueberries throughout your day, from breakfast to dessert!  I pulled these recipes from our Do Tell Tuesday link party for the past few months, and they all look ridiculously good.  Next week's round-up will be for STRAWBERRY RECIPES, so make sure to link up your favorite strawberry recipes to this week's party.

Now, for the blueberry recipes!

Breakfast

Blueberry Flax Granola

Unbelievably Yummy Blueberry Smoothie 

Blueberry Peach Coffee Cake

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25 Creative Ice Cream Flavors + 6 Serving Ideas & No-Churn Recipes!

You might have know this, but tomorrow is National Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day!  It's the start of a new month, so why not try a new ice cream flavor?  I assembled this round-up of 25 amazingly creative flavors of ice cream and sorbet from lovely linkers at Do Tell Tuesday, plus a few recipe sharing groups.  By the way, next week's round-up is going to feature Blueberry recipes, so make sure to share those at tomorrow's link party!

At the end of the post, I am sharing a few serving ideas once you whip up one of these delicious recipes, if you want something a little fancier than eating it out of a bowl.  Yum!  Plus, I included a couple of methods on how to make ice cream for all of you without a ice cream maker.  Now there's no reason that you won't be able to make one these unique desserts!

And yes, I did place them in rainbow order (à la my closet) because that's the kind of person I am.  :)  Click on each title or the photo to be taken to the recipe.

Enjoy!

Creamy Coconut, Raspberry & Blueberry Ice Cream (Dairy-free!)

Strawberry FroNana "Ice Cream"

Salted Watermelon Ice Cream

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20 Recipes for July 4th!

Have you decided what is on the menu for your July 4th party?  It's only a week away!  Fortunately for you, I put together a round-up with a bunch of dishes for you to make complete with appetizers, salads, easy entrees, grilled entrees, desserts, and even a kid-friendly dish!

Appetizers

Red Pepper Spread with Roasted Eggplant & Garlic

Creamy Jalapeño Poppers with Sausage

Lettuce Wraps

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TWIX® Bites Coconut Macaroons

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. #EatMoreBites

For today's recipe, I have a new favorite to share!  Just about a year ago, I passed on a recipe Raspberry Coconut macaroons, which I love but can only bake during raspberry season.  I had some shredded coconut packages sitting in my pantry, and I was racking my brain on how to use them... and it came to me.  Chocolate!  Coconut and chocolate are perfect partners, and so I made up a recipe these awesome macaroons with TWIX Bites!  This is such a delicious cookie, and there are so many occasions for making this cookie because they keep well and look super enticing: bake sales, bridal showers, cookie swaps, road trips, and so on.  And of course, they are a fantastic every day cookie because they are super simple to make.  Want to know what they taste like?

You know when coconut is perfectly toasted and crispy?  Well, the outside of the macaroons satisfy that craving.  :)  The inside is chewy, moist, and sweet studded with pieces of the TWIX Bites.  Now, as for the chocolate, remember how a TWIX is pretty much the best candy bar?*  The chocolate and caramel melt together to create an oozy, delicious surprise.


* Seriously, during chocolate sale fundraisers in school, the TWIX always sold out first.  They were the "cool" candy bar!

Instead of unwrapping a ton of regular-sized TWIX, there is a new favorite way to enjoy TWIX...unwrapped Bites!  And remember last week, when I shared this Social Twist coupon?  Right now, you can still receive $1.00 off when you buy two 2.83 oz. (or larger) bags OR $3.00 off when you buy two 6 oz. (or larger) bags.  Score!

As always, I hit Walmart with my trusty coupon in hand.  Remember to print it out before you get to the store!

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Sweet 16 - Delicious Desserts for World Baking Day!

Did you know that yesterday was World Baking Day?  Well, I found out late yesterday but any day is good for baking, right?  With all of my studying, I have not been coming up with new recipes, but I did not want to leave you hanging without my usual delicious Monday post!

Since I can't wait until next year to put my oven to work, I rounded up together 16 recipes that are sure to please your sweet tooth!

Sweet 16 - Delicious Desserts for World Baking Day!

1.  Healthy Banana Muffins

2.  M&M's Chocolate Crackle Cookies

3.  Mixed Berry Cobbler

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Ginataang Bilo-Bilo: Tropical Fruit & Coconut Milk Dessert with Tapioca Pearls (Gluten-Free, Lactose-Free & Vegan!)

So this is going to be a unique post for a few reasons.  First of all, I usually share recipes that are tried and true, family favorites, or from professional cookbooks.  If I develop a recipe, it is usually a twist on an old favorite or a recipe I just know will be a hit!

Today, I have a recipe for a dessert from the Philippines that I am sure many of you are unfamiliar with.  I did a bit of research on this, since I love long Wikipedia-clicking sessions.  :)  There are 3.4 million Filipino-Americans, which makes them just over 1% of the population, mostly concentrated in California and Hawaii.  Oh, then it makes sense that you would not have eaten in a Filipino restaurant or shopped at a Filipino supermarket like I have, right?

********************

Shockingly, there are more persons of Filipino heritage in the U.S. than those of Japanese, Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese backgrounds.  In fact, the only Asian group that is more represented in the U.S. are those of Chinese heritage.  Then why do people not know more about Filipino food?  Well, for one thing there are very few Filipino restaurants.  Also, it is difficult to find recipes, partially because Filipinos rarely cook using recipes and exact measurements, which Lindsay from Pinch of Yum noted.  That means, whenever I ask someone, "Well, how do you make this dish or this dish?," I never get a straight answer!

Therefore, I made it my mission one day to hover over the shoulder of the "chef" whose dish I wanted to copy, in order to time and measure everything before it was added (with her permission, of course).  I finally had a recipe that I could start with, and after a bit of tweaking, I finally have a recipe to share with you all!

Now about the dish itself!  After all of that talk about traditional Filipino food not being represented well in the U.S., I admit that this is a non-traditional version of Ginataang Bilo-Bilo.  The word ginataan refers to a multitude of dishes, all of which are cooked in coconut milk.  The word bilo-bilo refers to the sago or tapioca pearls, although some people make glutinous rice balls instead, called palitaw.


Basically, here are the ways that my version of the dish differ from traditional Ginataang Bilo-Bilo:

• I use sago (tapioca pearls) instead of palitaw.  I like palitaw, but it is time intensive to make.
• Traditional versions include ube, a purple yam.  It's good but I didn't have one on hand.
• My version is considerably more chunky.  Traditionally, it looks like more of a soup, but I prefer a higher fruit to liquid ratio, like a stew.
• I eat it cold, like pudding, but it is traditionally eaten warm like porridge.  Try it both ways to see what you prefer!

I like this dessert because it is a fruit-filled, colorful, flavorful, and relatively healthy.  As much as I love cake, sometimes I need to lay off the refined carbs a bit, and this is perfect.  :)  Also, this is great for anyone who is gluten-free, lactose-free, and vegan, so it is pretty versatile!

Are you ready to see how to make this?  Then let's get started!

(Non-traditional) Ginataang Bilo-Bilo
A Vintage Zest original recipe, adapted from an anonymous chef's family recipe  :)

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Simple, No-Fail Hand Pie Crust!

Remember last year when I went to Europe?  For the first few legs in London and Paris, I was joined by my friend, who shares my love of pies and sweets!

So that meant when we had some free time in the kitchen one weekend, we were ready to tackle a fun project...making our own pie crust from scratch!  Actually, I had made some a couple of times before, but I did not have a tried-and-true recipe.  Also, those were either breadier recipes for calzones or regular pie crust recipes, and I had my heart set and making hand pies!  Now, having made this recipe a few times now, I am ecstatic to say that I have a new favorite pie crust, and I even passed it on to my mother who gave her stamp of approval!  Awesome!

So along with the original recipe, I will add my own notes for both good and bad variations that I have made since.  Let's get to it!


Simple No-Fail Pie Crust!

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Happy National Banana Bread Day! Recipe Round-Up and More!

You may not know that National Banana Bread Day is a few days away on February 23rd, and I thought it would be a good idea to give you guys a few recipes to celebrate with!

However, seven different banana bread recipes did not seem like a fun idea for a post...  So here is a round-up of unique and alternative banana bread recipes plus a cute little extra project linked up to Do Tell Tuesday over the past few weeks.

Let's take a peek!

I decided to pick out a variety recipes and projects for this round-up.  Basically, I have a different recipe for if you: want to make something healthy, want something more decadent, prefer smaller treats to a loaf, want to sneak some veggies to your kids, don't have ripe bananas on hand, or don't even like bananas!

1.  Banana Muffins (for the Lazy Person!)

First up, this recipe is for people who love cupcakes over cake or just like a pre-portioned bit of sweetness.  It is topped with my favorite ever cream cheese frosting.  :)  This was my first ever feature and one of my most popular recipes in 2013!  It is super easy and whips up quick in a blender.  Check it out!

2.  Whole Wheat Banana Bread Recipe

Want a healthier version of the classic recipe?  Try this one made with whole wheat flour!

3.  Veggie Muffins

This one from my co-host Alicia sneaks broccoli into these muffins, and it is kid-approved.  You'll want to see the picture proof of her little one enjoying these gems!

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