Blueberry-Lavender Frozen Yogurt (lactose friendly)
Blueberry-Lavender Frozen Yogurt combines 3 of my favorite things:
- Using preserves as a shortcut to delicious fruit ice creams.
- Pairing fruit with herbal and floral flavors.
- Recipes that don’t need cooking — just blend, chill, and churn.
I like to use preserves that list blueberry as the first ingredient, to ensure plenty of fruit flavor and avoid excessive sugar. Your local grocery store might not carry lavender flowers, but they are easy to find online. My favorites are Mountain Rose Herbs and Penzeys.
What is “lactose friendly”?
When I made Banana-Sesame Frozen Yogurt, I wrote about why lactose-intolerant people (such as myself) can usually eat regular yogurt without a problem. And yet, frozen yogurt is still a bad idea. Here’s the TL;DR: The active cultures in yogurt process the lactose for us, but frozen yogurt rarely contains active cultures… Except when you make it yourself!
For this recipe, you’ll need plain, Greek-style yogurt, but you can use anything from fat-free to full-fat. Fat-free yogurt will yield a lighter, slightly icier texture. Unsurprisingly, full-fat yogurt will give you a richer, creamier result. Either way is good!
I’ve used protein powder (whey in this case) to increase the protein and reduce the sugar, without sacrificing texture. For more details on how that works, click here. The recipe notes below provide suggestions for using other types of protein powder, if you’d like. (No worries with whey and lactose, by the way. Whey protein powder should not contain any lactose.)
Ingredients
Instructions
-
ADD ALL INGREDIENTS TO THE BLENDER
-
BLEND UNTIL SMOOTH
Blend the mixture until smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender with a spatula a few times, to make sure everything gets incorporated.
-
CHILL
Transfer to a container and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
For a quicker chilling time, place the bowl containing your mixture in an ice bath (a larger bowl containing ice water) for a few hours. Stir the mixture occasionally. As the water in the ice bath warms up, pour off some water and add ice to keep the mixture chilling as quickly as possible.
When the mixture is chilled, it makes a wonderful pudding, so if you want to skip the churning and eat it now, go for it!
-
CHURN
Before you start churning, set up everything you'll need to quickly transfer the frozen yogurt from the machine into a container for freezing. I use a knife to scrape down the dasher (or paddle) and a wooden spoon to scoop out the ice cream.
Set up your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Pour your mixture into the ice cream maker and churn. In my machine the perfect churning time is 19 minutes, but your experience may vary.
The frozen yogurt is finished churning when it looks like soft-serve and is pulling away from the sides of the canister.
-
STORE
When the frozen yogurt has finished churning, scoop it as quickly as possible into your storage container. Cover it with plastic wrap or parchment paper, if using. (Placing a sheet of parchment paper between the container and lid will help prevent frost, or you can press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream.) Put the container in the freezer. The ice cream will be fully firm in a few hours.
Note
You can use any unflavored, unsweetened protein powder you want. Whey, collagen, and egg white work the best. Vegan protein powders can work too, but sometimes create a chalky texture. Because different protein powders have different textures, the same volume of different powders may weigh different amounts. Weighing is the best method for ensuring you get the 65 grams the recipe calls for, but here are some estimates for using a cup measurement:
- 65 g collagen powder = 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
- 65 g whey protein = 1 scant cup
- 65 g egg white protein = 3/4 cup
- 65 g soy protein = 1 cup
Recommended equipment: (may include affiliate links)
- My ice cream maker (2 qt)
- Newer version of my ice cream maker (2 qt)
- Well-reviewed less expensive ice cream maker (1.5 qt)
- My blender
- Insulated ice cream container
- Heat-proof spatula
- Immersion/hand blender
- Ice cream scoop
Recommended ingredients: (may include affiliate links)