Introduction: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Smoothie
Is a chocolate chip cookie dough smoothie an oxymoron? I'm sure others like me picture the word "smoothie" as a kind of a health food--a great start to a busy day where you can chug your calcium, fruits and/or vegetables in one easy gulp. But what happens when the good-for-you smoothie becomes a cookie dough smoothie? I don't think you can call it a health food anymore, but oh my (in my best George Takei voice), you can sure call it tasty!
Step 1: The Inspiration
I was walking through the freezer section in my grocery store when something caught my attention . . . a smoothie bag from Yoplait. My brain was like "Whaaaaa?" and my stomach immediately screamed I MUST HAVE THIS! But wait, I thought, I would have to share said bag with four other family members who are surely going to want a tall (not dixie cup sized) glass of this frosty drink as well. Not wanting to buy five bags to satisfy our sweet tooth, I went home empty-handed and set about re-creating this magical concoction on my own.
Step 2: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pieces
Ah, the faux dough again. I love this cookie dough recipe. It contains no eggs so it is safe to eat raw and by the handfuls if you want--no judging.
Chocolate Chip Cookie "Faux" Dough
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons White Sugar
1 Tablespoon Milk
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Semisweet Mini Chocolate Chips
Cream the butter and the two sugars together for three minutes in your mixer. Then add the milk and vanilla extract to the mixer and blend until combined. Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough just comes together and then stir in by hand the mini chocolate chips.
Pinch out heaping 1/4 teaspoon sized (tip of your pinky finger for those of you who want to eyeball it) cookie dough chunks onto a baking pan. Place in the freezer until solid. Once frozen, you can place the cookie dough pieces into a freezer-safe bag or container to store for later use.
Bonus: This recipe makes way more dough than you are going to use in your smoothie. You can use the extra pieces on your vanilla ice cream to make homemade cookie dough ice cream or to supplement the severely lacking cookie dough ice cream that you bought already.
Chocolate Chip Cookie "Faux" Dough
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons White Sugar
1 Tablespoon Milk
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Semisweet Mini Chocolate Chips
Cream the butter and the two sugars together for three minutes in your mixer. Then add the milk and vanilla extract to the mixer and blend until combined. Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough just comes together and then stir in by hand the mini chocolate chips.
Pinch out heaping 1/4 teaspoon sized (tip of your pinky finger for those of you who want to eyeball it) cookie dough chunks onto a baking pan. Place in the freezer until solid. Once frozen, you can place the cookie dough pieces into a freezer-safe bag or container to store for later use.
Bonus: This recipe makes way more dough than you are going to use in your smoothie. You can use the extra pieces on your vanilla ice cream to make homemade cookie dough ice cream or to supplement the severely lacking cookie dough ice cream that you bought already.
Step 3: Frozen Yogurt Pieces
I guess what makes a smoothie a smoothie is yogurt. For example, if I used ice cream in a blender, the result is called a MILKSHAKE. But if instead of using ice cream I use yogurt, the result is now called a SMOOTHIE. So now we must now make our frozen yogurt pieces for our "smoothie".
Cookie Dough Flavored Yogurt
12 ounces Vanilla or Plain Yogurt
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
optional--a couple more of those mini chocolate chips would be good in this yogurt right now if you just wanted to eat it straight up.
Mix the above ingredients together and pour into ice cube trays to freeze until solid. Once solid, cut pieces down into smaller sized chunks (about the size of the tip of your thumb) and store in a freezer-safe baggie or container until needed.
Note: If you want you can substitute frozen vanilla yogurt pieces for the cookie dough flavored yogurt pieces. Just freeze the straight-out-of-its-container vanilla yogurt into the ice cube trays if you want to make this smoothie a wee bit less unhealthy (snicker).
Cookie Dough Flavored Yogurt
12 ounces Vanilla or Plain Yogurt
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
optional--a couple more of those mini chocolate chips would be good in this yogurt right now if you just wanted to eat it straight up.
Mix the above ingredients together and pour into ice cube trays to freeze until solid. Once solid, cut pieces down into smaller sized chunks (about the size of the tip of your thumb) and store in a freezer-safe baggie or container until needed.
Note: If you want you can substitute frozen vanilla yogurt pieces for the cookie dough flavored yogurt pieces. Just freeze the straight-out-of-its-container vanilla yogurt into the ice cube trays if you want to make this smoothie a wee bit less unhealthy (snicker).
Step 4: Blending the Smoothie
Okay, now that you have patiently waited for your yogurt and cookie dough pieces to freeze, you can now prepare your smoothie. Add 1 cup of your favorite milk (mmmmm, vanilla milk), 1 cup of the frozen yogurt pieces, and 1/2 cup of the frozen chocolate chip cookie dough pieces in a blender and blend until smooth. I also sometimes blend a 1/4 cup of crushed ice in as well to make my smoothie stay colder longer. Sometimes I like to savor the flavor . . . sometimes.
Step 5: Enjoy in Moderation . . . or Not!
Remember, I never said this smoothie was healthy so I wouldn't make it part of your breakfast routine from now on. But it is fun to enjoy a treat every once in a while.