Summer, where did you go?
After 12 straight days of bliss, I was beginning to really fall in love with Midwest weather. In my 26 years of existence I can’t recall a time I wanted to be in middle America more than…say, California. Until last week.
And then Friday came and…March is here. If it has to rain, at least it’s not also in the 40′s? Glass half full.
But I say we will spring back to the Midwest, shall we? By way of a sweet, indulgent, but nearly guilt-free cold tread, please.
Kind of like bringing fro-yo to my kitchen…to my town. TO MY CITY. Everyone else in the US has fro-yo, except poor little Ohio. Seriously, what’s a girl got to do to get some fro-yo around here?
Thank goodness we have amazing custard.
When Lauren posted this recipe as a part of the dessert week of the Love Your Heart series in honor of National Heart Month, it immediately went onto my must-make dessert list. I am a new-comer to the wonders of dark chocolate. As my knowledge of food and nutrition evolve with my palate, I more and more so enjoy foods (and beverages!) with more depth and less sweet (i.e. sugar, sugar…and more sugar).
This isn’t a knock’em dead sugar high-type of indulgence, but a true chocolate — dark chocolate — masterpiece.
I briefly, ever so briefly, considered omitting the chocolate chunks to reduce the calorie content. I then quickly decided that that would be a disservice to all parties involved. First and foremost, my taste buds…but a close second, my heart. And blood pressure. And so on..
The flavanoids in dark chocolate (think 70%+ cocao) can not only reduce inflammation that can lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease, but is proven to reduce blood pressure. Furthermore, flavanoids found in dark chocolate reduce the number of free radicals in the body which aids in reducing cancer risk.
And with all that positive press, high percentage cocao dark chocolate is becoming easier and easier to find…bonus!
Dark Chocolate Chunk Frozen Yogurt slightly adapted from Healthy Food for Living
2 cups plain 0% fat Greek yogurt
1 cup plain 2% fat Greek yogurt
2/3 cup turbinado or raw sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 oz (~1/2 cup) dark chocolate (at least 70% cocao), chopped
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine yogurts, sugar, vanilla extract, and cocoa powder. Stir until the sugar and cocoa powder are completely incorporated. Refrigerate mixture for at least one hour.
Freeze according to ice cream maker manufacturer’s instructions, adding the chopped dark chocolate at the end of churning.
Serve immediately as soft serve, or spoon into a freezer-safe container and place in freezer until hardened. Once frozen solid, thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes or until softened.
Yield: 3 cups (6 servings – 1/2 cup each)
Nutrition Information (per serving): 222 calories; 6.2 g. fat; 2 mg. cholesterol; 48 mg. sodium; 33.5 g. carbohydrate; 2.7 g. fiber; 12.8 g. protein
Result: So rich! Fro-yo has never been so rich! Unlike ice cream, this was beyond simple to make and most certainly curbs any sweet tooth for chocolate. The slightly tart yogurt gives this chocolate fro-yo a nice, unexpected bite. The ingredients in this are wholesome and I love that the fro-yo is so love in sodium and packs fiber and lots of protein…plus those antioxidants from the dark chocolate! I think I would like to try this with liquid stevia to see how it works out, too! Enjoy!
Weekly Menu: March 25th – 29th
- Sunday: Crisp Salmon with Braised Red Cabbage and Mustard Sauce (roll-over from last week)
- Monday: Athenian Orzo
- Tuesday: Chicken Tamale Pie
- Wednesday: leftovers
- Thursday: Pea and Pesto Risotto
Tonight is my last hockey game until May 13th – sad! Guess it’s time to increase my miles on the pavement 
Be well,
Looks delicious! There are a lot of new fro-yo places in Cbus, Menchies and Orange Leaf are two of them.
Yeah…none up near Delaware
Yeah, I get to be the first one to pin this!! I’m making this ASAP!! You know me. And Nick. We are addicted to ice cream
But it can be our little secret that this one has yogurt in it. Muahaha
We don’t have frozen yogurt too close either – a blessing and a curse in my opinion.
However, my work cafeteria just got it – I ate it 4 times last week! This looks simple and easy – thank you for posting!
Haha, that’s great…no shame! You can do WAY worse than fro-yo!
Come up North….we HAVE several froyo places to choose from. Lemonberry being my favorite…I adore the tart yogurt flavor. Also, if you can find it, Ruggles has started making a frozen greek yogurt that you can buy in the stores…it’s also tart and delicious…but I have only seen it at Buehlers. With that being said, your homemade stuff looks absolutely fantastic. Does it retain some of the tartness from the yogurt? Definitely going to make this when it warms up again!
I have a Buehlers right down the road from me…I’ll look for it! And yes, this definitely retains some of that yogurt tartness…which I fully understand is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love it!
Thanks, Renee!!
Your frozen yogurt looks delicious! I make a chocolate mousse with pretty much the same ingredients (but obviously omit the freezing part). It’s amazing how rich and decadent it tastes…
Nice menu! Have a great week!
Wow, this looks incredible!
No fro yo!! What a bummer. My friend lives in a small town in Seattle and they don’t have fro yo either. Whenever she comes to visit, that is the first place we have to go to.
That froyo looks divine!!! I need to go put my ice cream maker’s bowl in the freezer.
This looks incredible! Fro-yo hasn’t(and probably wont for a long time) come to my small town and I was just thinking of making my own last night! How weird. I was thinking just a plain version, but now I totally have to try this chocolate fro-yo, it looks amazing
Dear Lord. I need to make this frozen yogurt happen in my life.
ps. I know you will love the Athenian Orzo. It is crazy easy and delicious. I hope you like it as much as we did!
This looks over-the-top good. And the fact that it is Fro-Yo, amazing. This might be the straw that broke the camels back in order for me to buy the ice-cream attachment for my KitchenAid.
Yummy. Great photos too.
Ummm this looks AMAZING Nicole. Like chocolate heaven in a bowl I want right now. We need to get an ice cream machine this summer. I’d love to have freshly made ice cream on hand.
And I gotta tell you, we went to a winterhawks hockey game last night, so much fun. Make me think of how much fun you probably have playing!
I’m almost afraid to make this… I love dark chocolate and if the frozen yogurt as good as it looks and sounds, I might be eating a bowl of it every night!
Oh yum. I do love a good dark chocolatey froyo.
I’m definitely making this soon! It looks great!
You’re so good keeping the bowls to appropriate serving sizes… I don’t know if I could be so restrained
Good luck at your game Nicole!
I love custard, but I don’t know what I’d do without frozen yogurt
Oh my goodness, this fro-yo looks amazing! I have SUCH a hankering for ice cream now…
This looks so yummy. The Chicke Tamale Pie on your weekly menu is delicious. I’ve made it with a few modifications, but it’s so good.
Now I’m especially excited to make that Chicken Tamale Pie – thank you
Yum! This may be the recipe that makes me invest in an ice cream maker….eek!
We’ve recently increased out frozen yogurt shops (at least 5 different companies in our medium sized town), but I NEVER think to partake. Might have to change that soon…
Oh.my.word…..I need to get an ice cream maker just to make this!
Great recipe. Just curious, did you also try it with all nonfat yogurt?
Cathy, I did not. But I think it would work…it may just crystallize some in the freezer since the water content is a bit higher.
Look at those chunks! I’m in loveeeeee!
Do you think greek-style coconut yogurt would work in place of the regular greek yogurt?