Homemade Frozen Yogurt with Blackberry Sauce

Such a simple summer treat, one best reserved for the sweetest, plumpest fresh blackberries. Just five ingredients for both the yogurt and the blackberry sauce! This combination of frozen yogurt with blackberry sauce is so simple, so summery and refreshing.

Just Five Ingredients! Fast & Summery. Light & Refreshing. High Protein. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipes ~

~ Homemade Frozen Yogurt ~
~ Homemade Blackberry Sauce ~

Happy National Ice Cream Day!

Huh, what? National Ice Cream Day?

Just who designates these fun "holidays", who knows, but the good news is, making frozen yogurt at home is so easy, so tasty, no holiday or special occasion is required to churn up a fast batch.

It takes all of two ingredients – Greek yogurt and sugar – plus a little vanilla for anyone who's inspired that way but there's a special tang to yogurt that deserves its day (a holiday?!) in the sunshine.

The recipe for blackberry sauce, too, is extraordinarily simple, only three ingredients, coaxing the flavor out of the perfect berries showing up now at the farmers market.

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HOMEMADE FROZEN YOGURT

Simple to make, simple to serve

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time-to-table: 45 minutes
Makes 3 cups

• 3 cups (24oz, 680g) Greek yogurt (see TIPS)
• 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla, optional

Stir together the yogurt and sugar until the sugar dissolves. It's okay to leave a few lumps of yogurt, they'll get worked out during processing. Process in an ice cream processor until thick. I know, so easy, right?!

To my taste, the yogurt is best eaten immediately or within an hour or so when it's still soft but it can also be frozen for later.

ALANNA's TIPS I usually make Homemade Frozen Yogurt with full-fat Greek yogurt, it has lovely texture and freezes pretty well. For a guilt-free frozen yogurt with non-fat 0% Greek yogurt, see Make It Freestyle Friendly, below.) No Greek yogurt? No problem though a little more time will be needed. Greek yogurt is especially thick and tangy but a close approximation can be achieved just by straining regular yogurt. For three cups of strained yogurt, start with six cups of regular yogurt. Line a colander or strainer with a couple layers of cheesecloth, then scoop in the yogurt. Draw up the cheesecloth to gently squeeze and also cover the yogurt. Place the colander over a large container and refrigerate until all the liquid has leeched out. In my experience, this takes several hours, usually overnight. Historical Note: How things do change, more than ten years after this recipe was first published, store shelves are laden with Greek yogurt variations!

RESOURCES Especially during the summer, my ice cream maker gets a regular workout. I'm testing variations of other simple ice cream and sorbet recipes, so if anyone's tempted to invest in an ice cream processor, now's a good time! I've been using a older model of this Cuisinart ice cream processor. It's a 1.5 quart ice cream maker, that's perfect, I think, since most recipes are written for this size. How to know? Those recipes call for 3 to 4 cups of liquid. My Disclosure Promise

NUTRITION INFORMATION (assumes full-fat yogurt) Per 1/2 Cup: 205 Calories; 6g Tot Fat; 4g Sat Fat; 14mg Cholesterol; 39mg Sodium; 30g Carb; 0g Fiber; 30g Sugar; 10g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 5 & PointsPlus 6 & SmartPoints 7 & Freestyle 7

FREESTYLE FRIENDLY Hello, Weight Watchers readers. Since 0% Greek yogurt is "free" in the Freestyle program, you probably already keep it on hand. Me too! So I recently tried a version of Homemade Frozen Yogurt with it. For a full batch, I used 3 cups 0% Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup vanilla sugar-free DaVinci Syrup (any flavor should work) and 1/2 teaspoon powdered Stevia in the Raw. But you might want to scale that down to what can be eaten in a single sitting; the Freestyle-friendly frozen yogurt does process beautifully but needs to be eaten right away since it freezes rock hard, even just resting in the processor for a half hour after processing (something which works very successfully with higher-fat ice creams). But it tastes great. Be sure to stir in a little unsweetened fresh fruit ... a very satisfying, filling zero point dessert!

NUTRITION INFORMATION (assumes Freestyle-friendly ingredients 0% Greek yogurt, sugar-free syrup and stevia) Per 1/2 Cup: 64 Calories; 0g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 45mg Sodium; 4g Carb; 0g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 11g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 2 & SmartPoints 1 & Freestyle 0

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by pastry chef, cookbook author and food blogger David Lebovitz and inspired by Heidi from 101 Cookbooks who makes the lofty claim that Homemade Frozen Yogurt is better than Pinkberry's.

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HOMEMADE BLACKBERRY SAUCE

Simple technique draws out natural berry flavor

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time-to-table: 4 hours
Makes about 2 cups

• 1/2 pint fresh blackberries (about 1/2 pound/225g)
• 1/4 cup (50g) sugar (more to taste)
• zest of one or two lemons (don't skip)

• another 1/2 pint fresh blackberries (about 1/2 pound/225g)

In a bowl, sprinkle the first half pint of the berries (see TIPS) with sugar and lemon zest. Let rest on the counter for about three hours to let the juices draw out; gently stir the fruit occasionally. (This is called "macerating the fruit".) Along the way, taste to see if more sugar is needed.

A half hour or so before serving, stir in the remaining half pint of berries.

ALANNA's TIPS The first berries turn soft and sweet after macerating so long. Adding the second berries just before serving lets them sweeten slightly but hold their shape. I like this technique because it mixes both soft and whole berries. No blackberries? Try Peacherry Blues, the fruity sauce made with peaches, cherries and blueberries!

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per 1/3 cup: 64 Calories; 0g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 0mg Sodium; 16g Carb; 4g Fiber; 12g Sugar; 1g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 2 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 2

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More Blackberry Recipes

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~ more fruity dessert recipes ~

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More Ice Cream Recipes

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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