Frozen Yogurt

After making more yogurt than my family can eat in a week, I thought to look for a frozen yogurt recipe.  I’ve been intrigued with making frozen yogurt for a while.  What is frozen yogurt?  Could it really be just what the name implies?  Answer- yes.  I found a great if slightly vague recipe on Bay Area Bites.  It listed peach, peanut butter, and banana as options.  I didn’t feel like doing a boring vanilla anyway, and we are at the very tale end of having decent peaches around, so peach it was.  Bonus- My sister, Margaret, had the day off and came over to play in the kitchen with me!  Experimenting is so much more fun with a friend.

You will need

2 cups whole milk yogurt, COLD (I used homemade, hung, so it was actually 4 cups originally) ($1.99)

½ cup peach nectar, COLD ($.79 for 12 oz, $.79/3 = $.26)

1 ½ cups pureed peach (2 very large and somewhat pricey peaches) ($4.45)

½ cup sugar ($3.67 per 5 lb, $3.67/80oz = $.05 x 3.75 oz = $.17)

Look at the size of this thing!

(For instructions on hanging yogurt, look at the post Yogurt.)

First, peel and slice up the peaches.  Throw them in the food processor or blender till they’re liquid.  Measure out 1 cup of the puree, and heat it on the stove with the ½ cup sugar till the sugar dissolves.  Put it in the fridge till it’s COLD (yes, it will be a while). Side note- you want everything to be cold before putting it in the freezer so it will chill quickly.  In a freezer like mine, it's really important because it only has but so much chill in it to start with.

Very pink!

Ready for the freezer.

Once that’s ready, mix it together with the yogurt and the peach nectar.  Give it a taste, if you like it, great.  If you don’t, add a little more puree or nectar.  I ended up using a full 1 ½ cups of puree.  It's worth noting that when it is frozen it won't taste as sweet, so you may want to make it sweeter than you think is appropriate. 

Slowly pour the mixture into an ice cream freezer (I have the freezer bowl attachment for my Kitchen Aid, I love it!).  Let it go till it’s frozen!  Once it’s to your desired consistency, scrape out your yogurt and put it in a container in the freezer (or eat it!).

I love my Kitchen Aid!

Mmmm.  A frozen treat you can feel good about.

Try It:

$6.87 for 32 oz, or $.21/oz.

Buy It:

Hard to say, because I’ve never thought to buy any.  $6.79 for 54oz of Edy's Frozen Dairy Dessert - Slow Churned Yogurt Blends, or $.13/oz.  But I’ve never tasted it.

Verdict:

For me, I’d say Try It because it was delicious and fresh, and didn’t have an ingredient list that looks like this- Skim Milk, Sugar, Cream Cultured Skim Milk, Peach Puree, Corn Syrup, Maltodextrin, Whey, Citric Acid, Mono and Diglycerides, Pectin, Milk Minerals Concentrate, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Locust Bean Gum, Carrage. 

I recognize that it’s pricier, but I’m okay with that.