Buying an ice cream maker wasn’t the best $75 I’ve ever spent. Don’t get me wrong, it works just fine, but I just don’t get enough use out of it. We love ice cream, but Mike and I don’t eat it very often. With just two of us in the house, there’s really no need to make a whole batch just to have it sit in the freezer for the better part of a year until either of us remember it’s there (which has actually happened more than once).
Frozen yogurt, on the other hand, I could eat like it’s going out of style. Even though I could definitely use an ice cream maker, frozen yogurt is so easy to make it doesn’t even require one!
To make my frozen yogurt, I mix up a Greek yogurt base and then freeze it. It’s after the freeze that the real magic happens: I whip it into a creamy, soft-serve consistency in my food processor. After that it’s ready for any mix-ins you like.
The flavor I came up with that I’m sharing today is basically a healthy remake of Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby (with a little bit of Chunky Monkey thrown in for fun). But this high-protein, naturally-sweetened treat is a lot less chubby or chunky, making it a much healthier indulgence.
- 2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1½ cups (345 g) Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, honey, or other natural sweetener of your choice (see Note below)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
- 4 tablespoons small pretzels, crushed a bit in your hand
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- Mix together the banana, yogurt, maple syrup, and vanilla; transfer the mixture to an ice cube tray and freeze.
- Remove from the freezer (you can dip the bottom of the ice cube tray in hot water so the frozen yogurt can slide right out).
- Transfer the frozen yogurt cubes to a food processor and pulse a few times to break it up, then process until smooth and creamy (you might need to do this step in 2 batches, depending on how big your food processor is). Scrape the sides of the bowl down as necessary.
- Transfer the frozen yogurt to a large bowl and fold in the chocolate chips, pretzels, and peanut butter.
- Eat it as-is, or freeze until it stiffens up just a bit to the point of being scoop-able, about 15 minutes depending on how cold your freezer is.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
great name for a tasty treat, faith! i always thought it’d be awesome to work for ben and jerry’s because a)they play with awesome flavors, b)they’re easy on the earth, and c)they come up with terrific names. :)
Faith, where the heck have I been?! Your blog changes are AMAZING!!! Looks fresh & wonderful over here. I have never made frozen yogurt in my food processor before, great idea that I will be trying soon.
What a great idea!
I scale down ice cream recipes to make ~ 1 pint of ice cream. I find that 2 people can go through a pint no problem.
I love the pretzels in this! Can’t wait to try it :)
DessertForTwo, I agree, two people can go through a pint no problem…but for me, it can be a real hassle to haul out my ice cream maker just for a pint. Plus I love the tangy flavor and added nutrition from frozen yogurt. If you try it, let me know how you like it! :)
I just want to clarify that it is Plain Greek yogurt? is that right? also, can it be non-fat or do you recommend something else?
thanks!
Natalie, I used plain Greek yogurt — Fage Total 2%. I haven’t tried it with fat free Greek yogurt, but I think it would work as long as the yogurt has the same very thick consistency.
I love this idea! I couldn’t wait to give it a shot, but I messed it up somehow. I got yogurt all over the place and made a big mess. (I chronicled my shortcomings here. http://knucklesalad.com/apricot-frozen-yogurt)
haha! love the name of your fro-yo! that’s just so awesome that you don’t need an ice cream maker to make this. this looks delicious and like store bought stuff. great choice on the addition of the pretzels!
i am a yogurt monster and i do it froyo all the time. my favorite combos so far are PB and J made with PB or PB2 powder (dehydrated peanut butter) and fresh berries, or Cookies and Cream which i make as a mixture of yogurt, cottage cheese and oreos…
Seriously, when I saw this recipe I freaked out a little. Brilliant!
PS: I love this so hard, I featured you on Momcaster: http://momcaster.com/2012/05/28/homemade-frozen-yogurt-no-ice-cream-maker/