Simple Saturday: DIY Chocolate Covered Raspberry and PB&J Yogurts (2 recipes)

Today’s Simple Sunday post actually has two recipes, both stemming from one delicious raspberry sauce (I guess that makes 3 recipes, really). Now, normally I’m all about the no-sugar-added fruit sauces. Throw some frozen fruit into a sauce pot and let them thaw, melt, and simmer their little selves into a tizzy – it’s easy, and sweet enough for me. But my grandmother, you see, she used to make these Baked Alaskas every year for the holidays, and she always used a raspberry sauce – which is not 100% au naturel but it is quite delicious, I admit. My mom decided to make the recipe this year since we haven’t really made it since my grandmother passed, and we had extra sauce. Extra raspberry sauce should not be put to waste, even if it has been tainted by the white monster – besides, a little bit of added sugar, especially when you’re already choosing low-sugar plain yogurt and homemade mix-ins, would not be the end of the world (though I feel like with Friday fast approaching I shouldn’t joke of such things). So here you go – a raspberry sauce that actually has refined sugar in it, and two killer yogurt recipes that make it totally worth it.

One Year Ago: Tuna Pan Bagnat

Two Years Ago: Cannellini Mushroom Crostini, Cannellini Mushroom Spaghetti

Chocolate Covered Raspberry Yogurt

Amp up the cocoa and have a robustly chocolate yogurt with a background note of tart berry, or tone it down and let the raspberry sauce shine through – either way you’ll have a delicious breakfast that you won’t believe isn’t totally sinful.

Yield: 1 serving

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

1-1   ½ teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

4-5 teaspoons raspberry sauce (recipe below)

1 cup (225 grams) plain non-fat greek yogurt

The Method

Combine all ingredients and eat. The less you stir, the more cool swirl effect you’ll get with the raspberry and cocoa, but also the higher chance you’ll have of getting a bitter little bite of cocoa powder. With great risk comes great reward, right?

PB&J Yogurt

Think of this as a sophisticated, bread-less take on the childhood classic treat. The peanut butter keeps things rich, while the raspberry sauce makes sure the experience is a sweet one.

Yield: 1 serving

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

4 teaspoons raspberry sauce

½ - 1 tablespoon (chunky) natural peanut butter

1 cup (225 grams) plain nonfat greek yogurt

The Method

Combine all ingredients and eat. Just like with the chocolate covered raspberry yogurt, the less you stir, the more visible the swirl is, which looks nice – and finding a big chunk of unmixed peanut butter is significantly more enjoyable than finding a big chunk of unmixed cocoa, so I’d say go for the swirl.

Sweetened Raspberry Sauce

This sauce, though I personally haven’t made it, is simple and mostly fuss-free. If you don’t care about the seeds, skip the straining part; either way you’ll have a sweet fruit sauce ready for action in no time!

Yield: approximately 2 cups

Active Time: 5-10 minutes

Inactive Time: 30-60 minutes

(printable recipe)

The Ingredients

10 ounces frozen raspberries (no syrup!), thawed

⅔ cup sugar

dash cream of tartar

The Method

Strain the raspberries and liquid through a fine-mesh sieve and into a small sauce pan; discard the seeds. Add the sugar and cream of tartar and stir the mixture over medium heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, continue stirring for another three minutes before setting aside to cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.