Blueberry Lemon Frozen Yogurt

Frozen yogurt is an easy way to get another serving of dairy and fruit into your diet in the guise of a treat. Making your own allows you to control everything from the fat and sugar content to the flavorings used. Because of this, you can just about get away with calling it a healthy food and eating it for breakfast–a treat if ever there was one. In this version I use low-fat greek yogurt as a base and flavor it with blueberries, lemon and vanilla.
This method is super easy–just stir everything together and freeze. I used sugar to sweeten this batch, but I’ve had good results with honey and agave syrup as well–use whatever you’re comfortable with or have on hand. Keep in mind that the lower the fat content of the yogurt the harder the leftover will freeze, and the higher the sugar content the softer it will be. If you’re making this for a grownup gathering you can also add a small amount of alcohol (a couple of tablespoons) to help impede freezing, but this does change the texture a bit and I wouldn’t recommend it for feeding to kids. I like to pour leftovers into small serving containers to stash in the freezer for later, or popsicle molds for easier snacking. Leaving the container on the counter for a couple of minutes usually softens it up enough to scoop, but I’m not usually that patient when the yogurt is this good. I like frozen yogurt best straight out of the machine, but it’s still pretty stellar after that. If it melts, it’s still just yogurt you can eat with a spoon.

Blueberry Lemon Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:
3 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon, chopped fine (optional, recommended)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6-8 oz blueberries (frozen work great here and are cheaper out of season)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir together. Taste and adjust flavoring/sweetener as desired–you want it sweeter than you’d usually eat it as the chill of the frozen yogurt will dull the taste a bit. Put mixture back in the fridge for at least an hour to chill thoroughly and allow sugar granules to dissolve. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s instructions. Makes about 3 1/2 cups.