I have long been a fan of Greek yogurt – at least ever since I tried the pineapple Chobani! With all the craze about froyo’s, I really wanted to mess around with a froyo recipe that would turn out at least acceptable in a home kitchen WITHOUT an ice cream maker. The following recipe is adapted from Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt recipe from http://www.coffeeandquinoa.com.
Even though I don’t have an ice cream maker, I felt confident I could churn out a pretty decent bowl of “froyo” based on my reminiscence about how my mom and aunt used to make homemade ice cream back home without an ice cream maker. They would prepare the mix, pout it in a pan, freeze for couple of hours, aerate it using a handheld mixer and repeat a few times till you can mix anymore. So, that’s what I decide to do – although I didn’t have the patience to make this an arduous 6+ hours process, mainly because I wanted to dig into it sooner than later and be able to post the recipe in time for a relatively healthy Valentine’s Day treat. 🙂
Vanilla Froyo with Strawberries, Chia and Pistachio
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of light or fat-free vanilla flavored Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup of sliced strawberries
1 1/2 tablespoons chia seeds, soaked in 3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup of strawberry flavored jello, either scraped up or cut into small cubes
3 tablespoons chopped pistachio
Directions:
1. Mix ingredients 1 through 4 thoroughly in a bowl. Adjust honey to taste.
2. Pour into a pan or small bowl, cover with plastic and put in the freezer or deep freezer.
3. After about 2 hours, when the liquid starts to freeze, take it out of the freezer and whip again to aerate it. Make sure you don’t whisk/whip too long and make the developing froyo melt before it even freezes!
4. Place the bowl/pan back in the freezer. Repeat step #3 at least once or twice more every 1 1/2 – 2 hours till the yogurt mixture transforms itself into froyo consistency. Remember, if you follow the manual version, your froyo might not set as well as in an ice cream maker.
5. Once the desired consistency is reached, you can top the froyo with your favorite toppings and dig in. In this case, I served each bowl topped with strawberries, softened chia seeds, jello and pistachios.
NOTE: Keep an eye on the treat while in the freezer. If you let it sit there too long, it will freeze hard. You will have to let it thaw out for a while before you can scoop it out again! Lesson learned the hard way on day 2! 😦
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