Roasted Cherry Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt
Today’s post is brought to you by the totally awesome Gina from Running to the Kitchen. Gina and I met at the begining of spring and hit it off right away. As I read her post I had to laugh because I definitely have a memory of awkwardly dancing with my biggest crush ever in 8th grade. His name was Aaron Burks, we danced to “I’ll Make Love To You” by Boyz II Men and he was chewing Big Red gum. Oh to be 13 again…
Check out some of her amazing recipes!
Perfectly Crispy Rosemary Baked Fries
Raw Cherry Chocolate Hazelnut Balls
Hi ice cream social-ers! Doesn’t the word “social” remind you of awkward middle school dances with boys on one side of the gym, girls on the other whispering and giggling while Boyz II Men serenaded us all with completely inappropriate lyrics for our 12 year old ears? I’m happy this social comes with ice cream because those other ones were AWKWARD.
Not only am I loving Brandy for her genius idea to throw a party around everyone’s favorite summer dessert, but I’m lucky enough to live only 20 minutes away and share a CSA with her this summer. A CSA that has inundated us with sugar plums in the early weeks to currants in the middle and now peaches. Pounds and pounds of peaches. There’s only so many you can eat before feeling like a bloated mess with peach juice dripping down your chin, so I’ve taken to roasting these fuzzy things in an attempt to reduce the amount I need to consume. If you haven’t roasted fruit, you’re totally missing out. It makes it all sweet and sticky and deepens the flavors in an incredibly intense way. So it got me thinking when it came to this ice cream thing. Roasted fruit + frozen yogurt sounded pretty delicious and still friendly on the waistline. We’ve all had fro-yo with fruit, but roasted fruit? Oh, and some chocolate chips? Let’s do it.
The best part about this “ice cream” is you don’t need an ice cream maker. Yep, the girl without the ice cream maker joined the ice cream party. <gasp> It’s just an appliance I refuse to let take up space in my kitchen. I’ve experimented with the frozen yogurt thing before having varying degrees of success so I decided to switch up the ingredients and method a bit this time in hopes of getting a creamier end result. And, it worked.
Basically, fat is a good thing when it comes to frozen stuff, embrace it. Also, a few extra steps of consistently mixing the yogurt as it freezes is worth it if you want a soft, creamy end result rather than an icicle of fruit and yogurt. The directions are detailed and lengthy but it’s really not hard at all. If you have a bit of time, can roast, mix and stir, you can make this frozen yogurt.
You can also feel free to sing End of the Road while it freezes, I won’t tell.
Roasted Cherry Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt
Yield: About 3 cups
Total Time: 2.5 hours
Ingredients:
1 cup pitted & halved cherries
1/2 + 1 tablespoon honey
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 cup plain full fat greek yogurt
7oz (half a can) full fat coconut milk
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss cherries with 1/2 tablespoon honey and olive oil in a small bowl. Spread out on lined or very well greased baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, set aside.
Whisk together yogurt, coconut milk and remaining 1 tablespoon honey in a medium bowl. Freeze mixture for about 30 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the freezer and whisk vigorously breaking up any chunks that started to freeze. Add roasted cherries and chocolate chips and transfer to a shallow baking dish (a 8x8 or something similar).
Return to freezer and freeze for about 1-1.5 hours, removing every 20-30 minutes to stir and break up mixture with a spatula. After 1.5 hours you should have an almost "soft serve" like consistency.
Transfer frozen yogurt to a medium bowl and blend with a hand held mixer on medium speed until creamy.
Return to freezer (in the medium bowl) for another 30 minutes and you'll have a "soft" frozen yogurt like consistency ready to enjoy!
Note: If eating after being frozen overnight or many hours later, remove from freezer 10-15 minutes before serving.
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This looks awesome! Love Gina!
Wow! This does look quite fantastic. We have just a few cherries left from this summer, and I know my husband will love this frozen yogurt, so I’m thinking we’ll have to try it. Thanks!
8th grade dances *face meet forehead* I’d love to forget that grade.
Brandy replied: — August 25th, 2012 @ 10:47 am
Sigh. Me too.
Yes can we just agree to forget about jr high all together?
Brandy replied: — August 25th, 2012 @ 10:48 am
I’m ok with that. So many embarrassing memories.
gah! I roast cherries too! I thought I was the only one out there. I love this recipe–must make soon!
Brandy replied: — August 25th, 2012 @ 10:48 am
After seeing this recipe I definitely need to give roasting cherries a try…it looks so awesome!
I just love making Greek frozen yogurt and this version looks amazing. I have never seen olive oil on an ice cream recipe before. Very interesting, unique!!
Ugh I definitely remember dances like that…and I feel like I should emotionally eat some of these ice cream now that those repressed memories are floating back to the surface!
This looks so good, roasting the fruit is brilliant! I’ve been eating cherries by the fistful, I think it’s time I make something out of them!
I don’t have an ice cream maker, for the same reason you don’t have an ice cream maker. I love roasted fruit. This looks sooo delicious, not to mention pretty.
ooh, i did a cherry and goat cheese ice cream last year, but this sounds just as good with the coconut milk!! roasted cherries, yummmmm