If you’ve made your own ice cream before, you know that making your own ice cream is not necessarily a frugal experiment. Heavy whipping cream is not cheap! Buying ingredients to make ice cream probably costs more than just buying the ice cream.
Frozen yogurt is a different story though. My kids still call it ice cream, but it’s much cheaper than ice cream. It’s much less fattening as well! Win- win! For my raspberry frozen yogurt I always use homemade yogurt that I make by the gallon in the crock pot. A gallon of yogurt costs just cents more than a gallon of milk.
When we got married (nearly ten years ago!) we received a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker as a gift. What a perfect gift! I am a huge fan of ice cream and I love experimenting with my own flavors. Even ten years later we still use it regularly.
The best part of the Cuisinart is that you don’t need ice and rock salt! The bowl that holds the ice cream has double insulated walls filled with a special freezing liquid. Freeze the bowl for at least 8 hours before using it. We just store it in the deep freeze so it’s always ready whenever we’re in the mood for ice cream (in other words, all the time).
My raspberry frozen yogurt recipe is very versatile, so if you have access to (or prefer) a different kind of berry, this recipe will still work like a charm. For berries that are more sour (like blackberries), add a little more sugar.
Raspberry Frozen Yogurt
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cups plain yogurt
Directions
Here are the step-by-step, easy-to-follow directions. You can print the recipe below!
You can use fresh or frozen berries. Our raspberries are about done bearing for the season, so I used some that I had picked earlier and frozen. They work wonderfully!
Add about 1/3 cup of sugar (more or less depending on your preference) and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. I just use the bottled kind, but if you have a fresh lemon on hand then by all means use it!
Use a potato masher to smash the berries and mix the sugar and lemon juice thoroughly. I use a smash-twist-smash-twist technique that mashes the berries and mixes the sugar.
Add two cups of yogurt. I use my own homemade yogurt, which is plain and has no sweeteners, just yummy yogurt goodness.
Mix the yogurt in. I just keep using the potato masher to minimize dirty dishes. How’s that for lazy!
Turn on your ice cream maker, pour in the yogurt, and let it mix away! Follow the directions of your ice cream maker. I let it mix for 20-30 minutes.
Serve right away for a perfectly soft frozen yogurt. That’s what we usually do.
If you want it firmer, you can freeze it for 30-60 minutes in a separate container (we usually aren’t patient enough for that). If you have an ice cream maker like mine, don’t leave it in the bowl part of the mixer, be sure to put it in a different container (otherwise it will take forever to thaw and be scoop-able).
You can store your raspberry frozen yogurt in an airtight container in the freezer, but it’s definitely better fresh. It will freeze pretty hard, so it will need some thaw time when you take it out.
For a really decadent dessert, make some rich frosted zucchini brownies to serve with your raspberry frozen yogurt. Raspberries and chocolate go together elegantly.
- 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- Add about ⅓ cup of sugar (more or less depending on your preference) and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to the 2 cups of berries.
- Use a potato masher to smash the berries and mix the sugar and lemon juice thoroughly. I a smash-twist-smash-twist technique that mashes the berries and mixes the sugar.
- Add two cups of yogurt. I use my own homemade yogurt, which is plain and has no sweeteners, just yummy yogurt goodness.
- Mix the yogurt in. I just keep using the potato masher to minimize dirty dishes.
- Turn on your ice cream maker, pour in the yogurt and let it mix away! Follow the directions of your ice cream maker. I let it mix for 20-30 minutes.
- Serve right away for a perfectly soft frozen yogurt.
- If you want it firmer, you can freeze it for 30-60 minutes in a separate container.
- You can store in an airtight container in the freezer, but it's definitely better fresh. It will freeze pretty hard, so it will need some thaw time when you take it out.
How about you?
- Do you make ice cream or frozen yogurt at home?
- What is your favorite recipe?
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My ice cream maker’s instruction booklet says that you should strain the yogurt through a cheese cloth for two hours. Do you strain your yogurt at all at any point while you’re making it, or is this step unnecessary?
Nope! I never strain anything when I make frozen yogurt.
This looks really yummy! I don’t have an ice cream maker. I know that you got this for a gift, but do you feel that it is worth the price? How often do you use it?
Hi Sarah! For us it’s worth it! We use it often, especially in the summer. You should look at garage sales and thrift stores because it’s the kind of thing that some people receive as a gift but never use, so they end up passing it on. Whenever I see one at the thrift store I buy it for a friend or family member because we love ours so much!