Almost Instant Frozen Fruit Yogurt

It’s not often I get to have dessert for breakfast and consider it a healthy meal, but that’s exactly what I did yesterday. A sudden craving for something frozen and sweet got me thinking: Why are some foods considered breakfast and others dessert? What’s the difference, really, between muffins and cupcakes, pancakes and dessert crepes, or smoothies and frozen yogurt? Although the breakfast foods are generally considered healthier and less sugary, in actual practice that isn’t necessarily so.

But if your desserts are on the healthier side, what’s to stop you from having one for breakfast? Well, if you’re me, nothing! I used my Vita-Mix to create this creamy, luscious frozen soy yogurt in about 3 minutes using no sugar at all. I added a few fresh peach slices and a sprinkling of granola and felt like I was having the most decadent breakfast ever.

The same formula works with just about any frozen fruit, but my personal favorites are peach and cherry. If you don’t have a Vita-Mix or similar high-powered blender, you should be able to pull this off in a food processor. I used to do it all the time with strawberries in my Cuisinart; the texture is a bit more icy, but the flavor is still fresh and fruity. Enjoy!

Almost Instant Frozen Fruit Yogurt
(printer-friendly version)

1 cup soy or other non-dairy yogurt
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped (see note)
16 ounces frozen peaches or other fruit, unsweetened
1 tablespoon apple juice concentrate
1/3 cup sugar–or stevia to taste (I used 3 tiny scoops of KAL pure stevia extract)

Place ingredients into blender in the order listed. Put on the top and insert the pusher, if your blender has one. Start blender on low and quickly turn it up to its highest setting. Blend, pushing the fruit into the blades, until four mounds appear at the top of the mixture and machine sounds like it is running harder. Do not over-blend because the friction will cause melting. Serve immediately for best taste.

To make in a food processor, put the fruit and sweetener (and vanilla, if using) in first and pulse to chop. With the machine running, add the yogurt through the feed tube. Continue processing until most of the fruit is pureed and fruit and yogurt are well mixed.

This frozen yogurt is best served right away, but if necessary, store it in a covered container in the freezer. Before serving, remove it from the freezer and allow it to thaw slightly, stir, and serve. Or put it back into the blender or food processor and process briefly.

Note: Cut the vanilla bean in half crosswise. Insert the tip of a knife in the stem end and slice the bean in half lengthwise, without going all the way through the bean. Open the bean up, and use the back of the knife to scrape the seeds out. Save the scraped bean. You can use it to flavor sugar, yogurt, or any liquid just by soaking it for a few hours.

Servings: 4

Nutrition Facts

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Nutrition (per serving, using stevia): 89 calories, 13 calories from fat, 1.4g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 16.1mg sodium, 335.2mg potassium, 17.4g carbohydrates, 3.5g fiber, 12.5g sugar, 3.1g protein, 1.2 points.

Nutrition (per serving, using sugar): 153 calories, 13 calories from fat, 1.4g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 16.1mg sodium, 335.5mg potassium, 34g carbohydrates, 3.5g fiber, 29.1g sugar, 3.1g protein, 2.5 points.

(Both analyses use Wildwood Plain Soy Yogurt and peaches.)

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points ^TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.