Never Say Never's Justin Bieber Loves WONKA SweeTARTS: a Purple Smoothie Recipe

Written by Chris

  

Imagine being asked to develop a recipe to help support the launch of Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never DVD (launched May 13th). Exciting, right? I thought so! The request seemed simple enough. I had to find a way to creatively incorporate a hard-yet-chewy candy (that is meant to be eaten out-of-hand) into a recipe, since Justin is a huge fan of SweeTARTS candy. The recipe also needed to be appropriate for a pre-tween sleepover movie-viewing party.

I have tried to bake with SweeTARTS previously. Not the best way to go. Of course they are great for decorating cupcakes, etc. But that’s too easy. Think, think, think! I thought it would be wise to do a little research…

I held a brainstorming session with our team and our kitchen assistant offered up cute idea for SweeTART Lollipops, shown above. I loved this idea; they could be made in advance and served as party favors. But I wanted something that could be put together quickly for the kids to enjoy during the movie or shortly after.

There are a lot of Bieber fans in my daughter’s dance/singing class, so I asked for their input. Sounds like a great idea, right? Once I uttered the word “Justin” the girls screamed and lost all focus. I suppose I can relate - I had a little thing for Duran Duran back in the day. I did retrieve a small piece of valuable information though: Justin’s favorite color is purple…so whatever I came up with needed to incorporate purple. Noted!

On our way home, we stopped at our local yogurt shop. A light bulb went off! Frozen yogurt with mix-ins is all the rage, in SoCal at least. My kids always come up with the most off-the-wall flavor combinations like red velvet cake batter yogurt with gummy worms; tart vanilla yogurt with Fruity Pebbles; and chocolate yogurt with mini marshmallows and gummy bugs. The common thread is a sweet & tart combo with something chewy and/or crunchy.

What did I do with all this info? I developed a purple SweeTART smoothie with a soft-serve consistency. When the SweeTARTS get blended, they taste a little like Fruity Pebbles. This smoothie was an instant hit with my kids! Take a look…

SweeTarts Smoothie

Ingredients for 3 servings (1 cup each):

• 1/4 cup WONKA Mini Chewy SweeTARTS
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup fat free milk
• 2 cups Vanilla DREYER’S or EDY’S SLOW CHURNED Light Ice Cream

Directions:

PLACE SweeTarts, blueberries, milk and ice cream in blender; cover. Blend until smooth. Feel free to blend in even more blueberries or sprinkle some on top. After all, purple is Justin’s favorite color!

The only question remaining: serve with spoon or straw? My daughter chose a spoon, shown above.

Since this promotion was geared toward a kids sleepover I also included a recipe for WONKA Dipped Pretzels which can serve as a fun activity. Pretzel rods are dipped in melted white morsels, then coated with SweeTARTS (I used the hard SweeTARTS in this recipe) and Wonka Nerds.

What kind of a recipe would you have come up with? I would love to hear your ideas!

Links:

• SweeTARTS Smoothie
• SweeTART Lollipops
• WONKA Dipped Pretzels

Related treat recipes:

Marshmallow Pops

Blue Monkey Smoothie