Power Up Your AM With This Strawberry Smoothie Recipe!

Aug 14, 2023

There is nothing better than a strawberry smoothie when you're feeling the summer drowsiness, and the sun's warmth is enveloping everything in a gentle embrace. It's those lazy afternoons when the world seems to slow down, and all you need is a cool and revitalizing companion to shake off the lethargy. Enter the strawberry smoothie, a true remedy for the summer drowsiness that brings a burst of energy and zest to your day.

To be honest, I'm a little biased when it comes to strawberries. There's something inherently cheerful about strawberries — perhaps it's the way they brighten up any dish or the nostalgia they evoke of childhood picnics and berry-picking adventures. So it’s no surprise I have a variety of smoothie recipes featuring strawberries, but today I'm sharing one of my classics with you.

This recipe is so easy to make, not just in summertime, but all year round. The beauty of its simplicity lies in the fact that it requires only a handful of ingredients, yet the result is a symphony of flavors that dances on your taste buds. Feel free to experiment with additional ingredients, like a banana for extra creaminess or a handful of oats for a hearty twist. You're not just making a drink; you're crafting an experience tailored to your preferences, mood, and moment.

Ingredients

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Fresh strawberries – To be honest, you can use frozen strawberries as well, especially outside of the season. However, when possible, I try to use fresh ones as there is a subtle difference in taste. For me, fresh equals more yummy in this case!
Yogurt & Milk – I mainly use Greek yogurt as it provides an increase in protein content and has beneficial probiotic elements. You can also use non-dairy milk or vegan yogurt as a substitute.
Banana – I love adding a banana for a bit of extra creaminess and sweetness.
Ice – During summertime, adding blended ice is a must for me! Of course, if you have a sensitive throat or are susceptible to cold drinks, you can skip the ice.

Optional Add-Ins

Honey – It’s a good option to incorporate a bit more sweetness into your smoothie but in a healthy way.
Oats – If you need an additional energy boost to get you through the morning, I tend to add oats to make the smoothie more filling.

Instructions

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Prepare the ice by blending smaller cubes and storing them separately until you're ready to assemble the smoothie.
For enhanced blending, dice the banana and strawberries before adding them to the blender along with yogurt and a modest amount of milk. Blend until a smooth, drinkable consistency is achieved, adjusting milk quantity if necessary.
To finish, pour the smoothie into a cup and gently add the blended ice. Top it with a straw and you're good to go!

How can you customize this smoothie recipe?

Beyond its conventional presentation, this smoothie readily accommodates the infusion of spirited libations, opening doors to an entire realm of refreshingly delightful possibilities. For instance, a judicious splash of rum can seamlessly integrate into the mix, resulting in the creation of invigorating frozen strawberry daiquiris. Alternatively, for those with a penchant for the tangy zest of tequila, envision the marriage of flavors as you introduce it into the blend, thereby giving you strawberry margaritas. Such adaptations not only demonstrate the recipe's versatility, but also provide a playful nod to the world of mixology, inviting the connoisseur to indulge in innovative twists on beloved classics.

Are you planning to try this scrumptious smoothie this summer? Let us know in the comments and follow our Instagram for more tasty recipes!

Header image via Averie Cooks

The Taylor Swift Chai Cookies Are Unbelievably Easy To Make – Get The Recipe

Turns out, Taylor Swift has quite the knack for baking. Her most famous recipe is for chai sugar cookies – it makes its rounds just about every year when cozy season (AKA “evermore” season) rolls around. The season has officially started, and instead of marveling at others' creations like I’ve done in years past, I finally decided to tackle the Taylor Swift chai cookies this fall.

The original food blogger (in which Taylor adapted her recipe from), Joy the Baker, notes that these cookies are totally “chewy and tender,” and “perfect for the autumn girlie aesthetic” – just the energy I need from a seasonal sweet treat!

I followed Taylor Swift’s chai cookies recipe as closely as I could, and I was starstruck, honestly, by how painless they were to make! Plus, they came out insanely tasty. Read on as I tackle the ultimatefall dessert recipe and stay tuned for my findings.

Meredith Holser

Enjoying a chai cookie with some hot tea, as Taylor intended! This combo will literally be the best culinary experience you have at home this fall.

The recipe for Taylor Swift's chai cookies is fairly straightforward. All you need to do is measure out and combine every ingredient into a large bowl and mix it all together! After chilling the dough for an hour or so, you'll be ready to roll it into balls before baking in the oven. All in all, making the chai cookies took me under an hour – so this could make for a great weeknight baking project, or a weekend activity to beat a cold-weather slump. I've made them several times for friends' parties!

Ingredients For Taylor Swift's Chai Sugar Cookies

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½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil, since I didn’t have any vegetable oil)
½ cup white sugar, plus more for topping
½ cup powdered sugar, plus more for the icing
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 chai tea bag, plus more for the icing

How To Make The Taylor Swift Chai Cookies

Meredith Holser

Rolling the cookie dough in sugar before baking them was a really sweet extra touch.

Set your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
While the oven warms, beat the butter in a large bowl. After it gets fluffy, add the vegetable oil.
Add the sugar, powdered sugar, egg, and vanilla.
Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and the chai tea to the bowl, and mix.
Chill the dough for about an hour.
Pour a small amount of white sugar onto a plate, for rolling the cookie dough in.
Roll the dough into 12 balls using your hands, covering each one in the white sugar before placing them on your cookie sheet.
Bake for “9ish” minutes. I ended up baking them for 10.
While the cookies are baking, make your chai icing – mix together a small amount (I used about ½ cup) of powdered sugar and half of a chai tea bag. Adding a capful of milk at a time, stir together until you reach your desired icing consistency.
When the cookies are done and completely cool, cover the tops with the chai icing. Then you’re ready to dig in!

Meredith Holser

The cookie dough didn't need too long in the oven to bake – about 12 minutes for me!

Recipe notes:

For step 1, pro tip: use the wrapper from your butter to grease your cookie sheet!
For step 2, I used an electric hand mixer to beat the butter – much less physical work on the baker’s part.
For step 4, I found that mixing with a fork helped incorporate the mixture really well. I then used a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl that I missed.
For step 5, I didn’t end up chilling the dough, but the cookies turned out just fine!
For step 8, Taylor’s recipe says to bake for 9 minutes, but I found I had to bake mine a little longer, around 12 minutes. This might be because I baked them at a higher altitude here in Colorado!

Meredith Holser

Voila! Now you can treat yourself like Taylor Swift would! Happy baking!

Loved this Taylor Swift chai cookies recipe? Try baking our chai latte cupcakes, chocolate-pumpkin banana bread, or a yummy apple cider cake!

Photos by Meredith Holser.

This post has been updated.

Why Timothée Chalamet Abandoned “Good Friend” Austin Butler’s ‘Elvis’ Method For Bob Dylan Role

Austin Butler as Elvis, Selena Gomez as Linda Rondstat, and now Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan — there will never be enough biopics for me! (The real question is when are we going to get a Taylor Swift movie?). When pictures from the set of the new Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown, hit Twitter, I had to do a double take because Timothée Chalamet looks so much like the musician I couldn't believe my eyes! You can watch the A Complete Unknown trailer here.

Timothée is going to be joined by Met Gala queen Elle Fanning, as well as Top Gun superstar Monica Barbaro. Here's everything you need to know about the movie — and our favorite Bob Dylan songs to listen to while you wait for its release.

Keep reading to see the latest updates from Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.

Timothée Chalamet stars in A Complete Unknown, coming to theaters December 25, 2024.
He's joined by Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro.
The movie follows Bob Dylan's career in the 1960s as he rises to fame and later shifts from folk to rock'n'roll.

Did Timothée Chalamet take inspiration from Austin Butler’s Elvis?

Timothée Chalamet recently revealed that while he originally wanted to approach A Complete Unknown by taking direct inspiration from Bob Dylan, he quickly changed his tone...so to speak. "Somebody once said to me, you can't make a movie about a painter because it's not interesting to watch paint dry," he says in People's exclusive video. "Bob has that element because he's not one of these forward-facing musicians."

While Timmy saw Natalie Portman a sequence in Jackie "step-for-step exactly what Jackie did," and paid attention to "all this stuff that I saw my good friend Austin Butler crush it with on Elvis," he quickly realized "I gotta do none of this because this is not my style."

"Bob did not have a vocal coach," he continues. "He had two bottles of red wine and four packs of cigarettes. There's no way to impersonate that." One of my favorite things about biopics is seeing how a well-known actor portrays a recognizable figure. And you can see Timothée Chalamet's interpretation of Bob Dylan in theaters December 25!

Monica Barbaro Sings Her Heart Out

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We got a look at Monica Barbaro as singer-songwriter Joan Baez, who was one of the first major artists in the 1960s to record Bob Dylan's music!

I was super impressed to learn Timothée showed up and sang live for the film. "It was important for me to play and sing on set because it was in the spirit of the movie to do it live," he says in a video from People. "Many of the artists through American pop culture that had the balls to turn their back on what was expected of them, that moment started with Bob. His words are relevant; 'Times They are A Changing' ' is relevant, 'Blowin' in the Wind' is relevant."

Elle Fanning and Timothée Chalamet In "A Complete Unknown"

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Elle Fanning totally embodies the late '60s vibe in this fall outfit. The bold maroon blazer, the long straight hair, and the striped turtleneck — I love it all! Elle is starring this Bob Dylan movie as Sylvie Russo, a university student and artist Bob falls for in the '60s.

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Thanks to some onset leaks, we also got a glimpse of the movie's version of The Freewheelin'! Elle Fanning and Timothée Chalamet look incredible as Sylvia Russo and Bob Dylan. I'm a sucker for any kind of recreation, so seeing this new version of the classic record cover is incredible!!

The First Pictures From Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan Movie

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Timothée Chalamet has totally transformed into Bob Dylan on the set of A Complete Unknown. And when I saw the pictures of Timothée carrying the guitar my jaw dropped!! He completely engrossed himself in Wonka and Dune 2 and I'm so excited to see him do the same for this Bob Dylan movie.

What is the movie about Bob Dylan called?

H. Thompson/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Amy Sussman/Getty Images

A Complete Unknown Plot

Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan movie is called A Complete Unknown. The movie filmed around New York City in the spring of 2024, and James Mangold is serving as director (you might recognize his name from Logan, Girl, Interrupted, and Walk the Line). The movie will cover the period during the 1960s when Bob Dylan shifted from folk to rock'n'roll, changing the face of pop culture (and culture in general, TBH), forever.

"When that movie finally comes out, people are going to be shocked because you're going to think you're hearing Bob Dylan sing," vocal coach Eric Vetro tells PEOPLE. "[Timothée Chalamet] just has this uncanny ability to not impersonate, but really breathe life into it. He's embodying Bob Dylan and what he was like at that age."

Who else is in A Complete Unknown with Timothée Chalamet?

Amy Sussman/Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images/Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Gotham Film & Media Institute

A Complete Unknown Cast

The A Complete Unknown cast is incredible! Alongside Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, we'll see Top Gun: Maverick's Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, and Nick Offerman as Alan Lomax.

When is the Bob Dylan movie coming out?

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A Complete Unknown Release Date

A Complete Unknown will hit theaters on December 25, 2024. And since Timothée Chalamet has been seen in turtlenecks, hats, and jackets on set, this sounds like the perfect cozy movie to me!

I always need some brand new music to listen to once the weather gets chilly, and I will for sure be listening to anything Timothée records.

What song did Bob Dylan write for a movie?

Christopher Polk/Getty Images for VH1

Bob Dylan wrote "Things Have Changed" for the 2000 movie Wonder Boys, which starred Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, and Katie Holmes. This Bob Dylan song ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Original Songand the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song!

"Knockin' On Heaven's Door," which is arguably the singer's most popular track, was released two months after the 1973 premiere of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid as a part of the film's soundtrack.

What are some other Bob Dylan songs to listen to?

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

I totally agree that one of the best Bob Dylan songs is "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," but "Blowin' In The Wind" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" are also great songs to listen to if you're a new Bob Dylan fan. So far, "The Times They Are A-Changin'" is my personal favorite song.

His style is the perfect blend of rock and folk that reminds me of summer picnics and walks in the woods. His sound also reportedly inspired Taylor Swift's Folklore!

What are you most excited to see in Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown? Check out our Facebook for more movie news!

This post has been updated.

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These 10-Minute Apple Pie Bites Are The Best Breakfast Hack

Nothing says "Hello, Fall!" quite like the sweet smell of an apple-forward recipe baking in the oven. From apple tarts and apple cider recipes to inventive concoctions like apple pie tacos — our love for the quintessential autumn flavor runs deep.

Though, with our increasingly busy schedules, we're always looking for shortcuts that allow us to prep our favorite dishes in half the time. Enter these no-bake apple pie bites. Like their namesake inspo, they're packed with delicious fall ingredients like cinnamon, vanilla, honey, and nutmeg. This recipe can also be customized to your preferences and prominently features your go-to nut butter (we like cashew butter for this) and your favorite seasonal apple variety. If you plan to go apple picking this year, be sure to set a bundle of apples aside for this super simple recipe.

Another great thing about these snackable bites? If you get an apple pie craving when it's still warm out, you can skip turning on a hot oven and get instant satisfaction by mixing up a batch of these tasty treats. Best of all, you now have an excuse to feast on your favorite fall dessert anytime of day, as these apple pie bites make for the perfect on-the-go breakfast or midday snack.

Keep reading for the step-by-step recipe, and rejoice that you don't have to wait until Thanksgiving to get your apple pie fix this year.

Ingredients for No-Bake Apple Pie Bites

Sarah Anderson/Brit+Co

1 cup cashew butter
5 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup flaxseed meal
1/2 cup unflavored protein powder
1/2 cup dried apples, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh Honeycrisp apples, finely chopped

Sarah Anderson/Brit+Co

How To Make No-Bake Apple Pie Bites

1. Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl, except for the freshly chopped apples. The mixture will be quite thick, so feel free to use your hands to get it mixed well together.

2. Scoop out the bites using a cookie scooper (about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons) and roll in the fresh chopped apple bits. Then roll the bite to form an evenly curved ball shape. Set aside on parchment paper and repeat with the remaining dough.

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These apple pie bites are ready to eat as is, or you can place them in the refrigerator to firm them up a bit. The perfect fall energy snack!

Love this apple pie bites recipe and want to be the first to try our newest ideas for mealtime? Subscribe to our newsletter!

This post has been updated.

Header image and recipe development via Sarah Anderson

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Renée Zellwegger & Leo Woodall Prove Age Gaps Are Sexy In 'Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy' Trailer

If you're a rom-com fan who also can't get enough of Jane Austen's books, you've probably seen the Bridget Jones movies. The story (which is loosely based on Pride & Prejudice) follows the titular Bridget Jones, a 30-something who sets out on a mission to improve herself over the course of a year while she looks for a partner. And, in true romantic movie form, she keeps a diary the whole time. Not only can we rewatch the original trilogy as many times as we want, but we're also getting a fourth movie! Here's everything we know about Bridget Jones 4.