5 Cold Summer Treats!

These are treats to taste you through this summer!

1. Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

This tangy, honey-sweetened lemon blueberry frozen yogurt is a delightful summer treat. Use full-fat yogurt for the best texture, and buy organic berries and lemon if you can.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pint (2 ½ cups) blueberries, fresh or frozen

• ⅔ cup honey

• 1 small lemon, to be zested and juiced

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 2 cups full-fat yogurt, chilled

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pick through your blueberries and discard any bad berries, stems or debris. In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, honey, ½ teaspoon lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, then cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.

2. Optional step: For a smooth consistency, strain the mixture through a fine mesh colander into a bowl. Mash the blueberries with the back of a large spoon in order to extract as much liquid as possible, then discard the mashed blueberries.

3. Refrigerate the blueberry mixture until it is totally and completely chilled. You can speed up this process by placing it in the freezer, stirring every 10 minutes or so, for about 45 minutes.

1. Mix together your chilled blueberry mixture and chilled yogurt, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to your manufacturer’s instructions. Serve immediately for a soft serve texture, or transfer the frozen yogurt to a freezer-safe container and freeze for several hours for a scoopable consistency.

NOTES

• Recipes consulted in the making of this recipe: my honey-sweetened chai coconut ice cream, Simply Recipes’ blueberry frozen yogurt, and Green Kitchen Stories’ rhubarb and strawberry ripple froyo. You might also like my roasted berry and honey yogurt popsicles.

• Yields 1 quart frozen yogurt.

• Tip: if your ice cream container is made of glass or metal, chill it in the freezer prior to transferring the finished ice cream to the container. That way the ice cream doesn’t melt when it comes into contact with the glass/metal.

2. Peach Raspberry Sorbet

Sweet peaches meet tart raspberries in this delightful, all natural summer sorbet.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 medium, ripe peaches (about 2.25 pounds)

• 6 ounces of fresh raspberries (one small container)

• ¾ cup raw (turbinado) sugar

• ⅔ cup water

• juice of ½ lemon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Peel and slice peaches into cubes.

1. Combine peaches, raw sugar, and water in a medium saucepan. Cover and cook on medium heat for a little over 10 minutes, until peaches are soft.

2. Remove the peach mixture from heat and let cool, stirring occasionally.

3. In the meantime, purée the raspberries in your blender. Filter out the seeds by pouring the raspberry purée through a fine-mesh colander. Press the liquid through the colander with the back of a big spoon or spatula, and discard the seeds.

4. Once the peaches have cooled, combine the raspberry purée and peach mixture in the blender. Blend until smooth, and chill the mixture in the fridge.

1. Follow your ice cream maker’s instructions. Enjoy!

NOTES

• Adapted from Use Real Butter’s recipe for White Peach Sorbet, which is from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

• If you want to try this sorbet with champagne/sparkling wine, I suggest a decent bottle of Prosecco. It’s almost like a peach bellini!

3. Mango Lassi Frozen Yogurt

Creamy mango frozen yogurt made with all-natural ingredients! This mango fro-yo is so delicious and healthy, too. The recipe yields a 1-quart frozen yogurt.

INGREDIENTS

• 16 ounces mango chunks (1 pound), frozen or fresh

• ⅔ cup honey

• 1 small lime, juiced

• ⅛ teaspoon salt

• 2 cups full-fat yogurt, chilled

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the mango (frozen or fresh), honey, lime juice and salt. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, then cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.

2. Remove the mango mixture from heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Purée the mixture in a blender until it is completely smooth.

3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl (using a larger bowl will help the mixture cool faster) and refrigerate it until the mixture is thoroughly chilled. You can let it cool in the refrigerator for a few hours, or even overnight, or speed up the process by placing the bowl in the freezer, stirring every 15 minutes or so, for about 45 minutes.

1. Mix together your chilled mango mixture and chilled yogurt, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to your manufacturer’s instructions. Serve immediately for a soft-serve texture, or transfer the frozen yogurt to a freezer-safe container and freeze for several hours for a scoopable consistency.

NOTES Recipe adapted from my blueberry frozen yogurt. ON THE YOGURT: I used Trader Joe’s European-style organic full-fat yogurt (my favorite kind). I *think* full-fat Greek yogurt will work as well, but there’s a chance the mixture will be too thick to churn. Let me know if you try! A NOTE ON ICE CREAM MAKERS: I love-love-love my 2-quart Cuisinart. If you don’t have an ice cream maker and don’t want to buy one, here are a couple of methods that might work for this frozen yogurt (I haven’t tried them): how to make ice cream with a food processor (tips from Jeni Britton) and how to make ice cream without a machine (by David Lebovitz).

4. Roasted Berry and Honey Yogurt Popsicles

Super creamy Greek yogurt popsicles swirled with jammy, roasted raspberries and blueberries. Sweetened with honey, these are all natural, delicious summer treats.

INGREDIENTS

• 12 ounces (two small containers) small berries, like blueberries and raspberries

• 2 teaspoons sugar (preferably turbinado sugar), optional

• Dash of sea salt

• 2 tablespoons + ¼ cup honey (to taste)

• 2 cups whole Greek yogurt (I used Fage)

• ½ small lemon, juiced

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, gently toss berries with the sugar, a dash of sea salt and 2 tablespoons honey. Pour the berries onto the prepared baking sheet and arrange the berries in a single layer. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring halfway, or long enough for the berry juices to thicken but not burn (watch the edges in particular).

2. While the fruit is roasting, blend together the Greek yogurt and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Mix in honey to taste, until it is barely sweet enough for your liking (keep in mind that the berries will be very sweet). Add more lemon juice if you want tart popsicles.

3. Let the berries cool for at least ten minutes, then scrape the berries and all of their juices into the bowl of yogurt. Use a big spoon to gently fold the mixture together (for a marbled effect, do not mix thoroughly).

1. Use the spoon to transfer the yogurt blend into the popsicle mould and insert popsicle sticks. Freeze for at least four hours. When you’re ready to pop out the popsicles, run warm water around the outsides of the moulds for about ten seconds and gently remove the popsicles. Enjoy immediately.

NOTES

• Inspired by The Year in Food.

• Yields 8 3-ounce popsicles (24 ounces in total).

• If you’re in the market for a popsicle mold, I’ve been very pleased with this American made, BPA-free ice pop mold. If you don’t want to buy a mold, I think you can use Dixie cups or empty, individual yogurt cups (like this).

5. 3-Ingredient Strawberry Lemonade Fro-yo

INGREDIENTS

12 ounces Cabot 2% Greek-Style Yogurt

1 cup fresh strawberries

3 tablespoons lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Place berries, yogurt, and lemon into blender and process until pureed. Pour into air-tight container; freeze for 1-2 hours. When ready to serve, scoop with an ice cream scooper into two chilled bowls.

Note: This recipe also makes a creamy popsicle, perfect for summer. Just pour the mixture into popsicle molds and freeze!

Hey, y'all! I know I haven't posted in a while, but since it's summer, I thought I'd come up with some recipes to cool off while the sun is melting us down.