Apricot Smoothie Cups + Giveaway

Featured Ingredient: Apricots

The mailman brought me a present today. A box full of my new cookbook. My second book The No-Cook, No-Bake Cookbook is all about feeding yourself without the need to fire up the stove. I think I have a pretty good collection of no-cook breakfast, sides, mains and dessert recipes to help people stay cool all summer long. I’m probably making the no-bake cheesecake tonight.

Now I have all the motivation I need to make a bunch of cook-free muffin tin creations this summer. A great start are these apricot smoothie cups. As you may know, I’m a huge fan of smoothie cups as they are a solution to a refreshing drink after a workout or when in need of a quick snack or breakfast.

Apricots are now showing up at our local farmer’s market and infuse smoothies with a surfeit of beta-carotene, a potent antioxidant that is also converted to vitamin A to bolster immune, eye and bone health.  If you have some extras on hand, I suggest blending in a couple fresh apricots when making the smoothies.

It’s time for another Muffin Tin Mania giveaway. This time I’d like to award a reader with a copy of my new cookbook. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post that says “I’m not cooking my apricots” along with some way of identifying yourself such as your initials, name or email address and I will use this online tool to randomly select a winner. I’ll announce the winner next Wednesday June 26th, so if you entered write the date down on your calendar and check back in then for a chance to claim your prize.

Congrats to Suzan E who was randomly selected the winner of a copy of my new cookbook. Thank you to everyone who entered. Suzan, just pass along your shipping details using the contact tab above and I'll get a book out to you. 

Apricot Smoothie Cups

 1/3 cup water

10 apricots, sliced in half and pits removed

1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese or plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup almonds

1-inch piece fresh ginger

2 tablespoons fresh mint

2 teaspoons orange zest

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon allspice

Place all of the ingredients in a blender container and blend until smooth. If needed, add a bit more water to help with blending. However, the mixture should be nice and thick.

Divide the mixture among 12 standard sized muffin cups and freeze until solid, about 4 hours.

Unmold smoothie cups, place them in an airtight container, and return to freezer until ready to use. If you did not use silicon muffin cups or liners and are having trouble unmolding the frozen cups, try placing the bottom of the muffin tin in warm water for few seconds, being careful not to thaw the contents.

When ready to make a smoothie, place 1 cup liquid of choice (I prefer coconut water) and 2 smoothie cups into a blender container and blend until smooth. For most blenders, its best to carefully slice the smoothie cups into halves or quarters first before placing them in the blender container.