This was a great addition to my ice cream arsenal! With a few blackberries to use up, frozen yogurt was the perfect choice! It brought back summer memories from childhood for me, standing in line at the waterpark.

This frozen yogurt was very tart with both the blackberries and yogurt. But tart is good with frozen yogurt! I think the chocolate chips were a great addition too, but I just love a little crunch in my ice cream! This one was very creamy, almost like an actual ice cream, but used just yogurt.

Blackberry Frozen Yogurt
Adapted from Erin Cooks

2 cups fat free Fage yogurt
1 cup full fat Fage yogurt
3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups blackberries
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Puree the blackberries in a food processor and than strain through a fine mesh sieve to separate the liquid from the seeds. Stir 1 tablespoon of sugar into the berry puree and also refrigerate for 1 hour.

Thoroughly combine the frozen yogurt base with the berry puree and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Pour in the chocolate chips during the last 5 minutes of churning.

With a small break in the searing New York heat last week, and a few browning bananas on our counter, I saw the perfect opportunity for some banana bread! It also makes it feel a bit more like fall, which I am so excited for I can’t stand it!

This was a great banana bread recipe and I loved the addition of chocolate and coconut! If you enjoy nuts in your bread, you could add toasted almonds and make it a true Almond Joy Banana Bread, but I chose to stick with the chocolate chips and coconut. The original recipe calls for yogurt, but I used sour cream since I already had it in my refrigerator.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Coconut
Adapted from My Baking Addiction

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas mashed well (about 1 1/2 C), mashed
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and walnuts together in a large bowl; set aside. Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and the batter looks thick and chunky.

Gently stir in the mini chocolate chips and coconut. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a tooth-pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. (the bread can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

This pasta salad and I are now BFFs (best friends forever). We just got along swimmingly! I loved everything about it! The dressing just perfectly complemented all the ingredients and there was such a wonderful tang when you bit into a tortellini! I used three cheese tortellini, but I’m sure any will do. It would no doubt be extra fun to make your own tortellini for this too! I made this as a side dish for 3 people and we had more than enough left over for my lunch the next day. I’m making plans as we speak to make and devour more of this salad, thats how good it is!

Greek Tortellini Salad
Adapted from All Recipes

1 9-oz package tortellini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh parsely
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup slivered red onion

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add tortellini, and cook for 7 minutes or until al dente; drain.

In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, parsley, oregano, and salt. Place the cooked tortellini in the bowl, and toss to coat. Cover, and chill at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Place eggs in a saucepan with enough water to cover, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and allow eggs to sit in the hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, cool, peel, and quarter.

Gently mix the spinach, feta cheese, and onion into the bowl with the pasta. Arrange the quartered eggs around the salad to serve.

I read an article awhile back (I can’t even remember where it was from) that said whoopie pies are going to be the new cupcake. The argument is that everything people love about cupcakes (its portability and blend of cake and frosting to name a few), holds true for whoopie pies as well! And I LOVE me a good whoopie pie!

These are much more elegant than your average frosting sandwhiched between two cakey-cookies whoopie pie. It is made with a specialty pan that my dorky self picked up at Williams Sonoma. The “cookies” are made with a chocolate cake recipe, which would make it very difficult to do this without the specialty pan, although I’m sure you could use any cookie recipe and get great results!

I got to play around with our kitchen torch to brown the marshmallow filling, which always makes for a fun time in the kitchen. And when it is put together, the cake is topped with chocolate ganache and crumbled graham crackers.

This is definitely a whoopie pie that you will need a plate to eat, but you will certainly not be sorry! YUM!

S’mores Whoopie Pies
From My Baking Addiction

1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

4 egg whites
1 cup of sugar
¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 ounces of semisweet chocolate
½ cup heavy cream

graham cracker crumbs for garnish

For the cake:

Heat oven to 320 F. Spray your whoopee pie pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add egg, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour 1 ½ tablespoons of batter into each well of the whoopie pie pan.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then invert the pan and allow the whoopies to cool completely on wire racks.

Wash and dry the pan and re-spray with non-stick cooking spray and repeat with the remaining batter. You will end up with 36 whoopie cakes that once sandwiched will yield 18 whoopie pies.

Once your whoopies are cool, prepare the marshmallow frosting.

For the frosting:

Place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a saucepan with simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes.

Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat, starting on low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix until combined.

For the topping:

Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and allow to sit for a few minutes. Whisk until smooth.

Assembly:

Pipe filling on the flat sides of half the cakes (18 of them).

Use a kitchen torch to lightly toast the marshmallow frosting. Top each with one of the remaining cakes; flat side down.

Place a spoonful of ganache on top of each whoopee pie and spread in a circular pattern; garnish with graham cracker crumbs and allow the ganache to set up.

There’s nothing like making a huge batch of pasta to have for lunches all week long. And this Orzo Salad did just the trick. In fact, I had more than was enough for a weeks worth of lunches! I love most foods Greek/Mediterranean so I knew I would like this one which has a great addition of vegetables. I’d never had orzo before, but what a unique little pasta! This would really be good with any kind of pasta and I may try penne next time. This recipe would be great for a picnic or another potluck-type gathering.

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, a great resource for new recipes!

Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Tasty Kitchen

Cook orzo according to package directions. Rinse with cold water and drain. In a large bowl, toss pasta with chopped bell pepper, tomato, olives, spinach, basil and feta. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil and vinegar. Pour over pasta vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Chill before serving.