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Chunky Brownie Frozen Yogurt

I am a big fan of frozen desserts, but as good as ice cream is, it can actually be a bit rich for me at times. I prefer it when the weather isn’t quite so hot, since its creaminess actually makes me incredibly thirsty. It’s good to drink lots of fluids on a hot day, of course, but I don’t want to get thirstier when I am looking for some refreshment! Instead, I’ll opt for gelato and frozen yogurt on hotter days, since they seem a bit more refreshing.

The only negative of frozen yogurt and gelato is that they don’t usually come with all the various extra add-ins that ice cream does, like peanut butter swirls, chocolate fudge ripples or cookie dough chunks. They have toppings – and those just aren’t the same as something that is incorporated into the dessert itself. The easy solution to this was to, of course, add my own in.

I have a recipe for frozen yogurt that I am a big fan of. It’s sweet and creamy, with that slight tang from the greek yogurt that I use. It’s usually a struggle for me to resist eating it until after its been through my ice cream maker. But I’m always rewarded for my restraint.

After taking this batch out of the ice cream maker, I folded in some chopped up, frozen brownies. If you’re thinking that you won’t be able to restrain yourself when you have made a particularly good batch of brownies, don’t worry. The brownies I used were leftovers from a less-than-perfect, rather cakelike batch that froze suprisingly well. Not only do they actually taste better frozen, they keep for ages, just waiting to be added to things like frozen yogurt. But if you can set aside a few of the good ones, by all means do so. Take note that it is better to fold the chunks in once the yogurt is semi frozen, as the ice cream maker will break them up too much.

Do I really have to say what a fantastic combination this is?

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can simply pour the unfrozen yogurt mixture into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer. If you give it a good stir every 45 or 60 minutes, it will turn out quite well. The greek yogurt, again, is thicker than most ordinary yogurts, so I urge you to strain your yogurt for at least and hour or two over cheesecloth if you cannot find a thick yogurt at your local market.

 

Chunky Brownie Frozen Yogurt
2 egg whites, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar (castor or superfine, if you have it)
3 1/2 cups nonfat yogurt (500 grams)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 – 2/3 cup chopped, frozen brownies

Whisk vanilla into yogurt until it is smooth and set aside.
Beat egg whites until they nearly reach soft peaks, then add sugar gradually while beating at medium-high speed until you have soft peaks and the sugar is dissolved, 4-5 minutes.
Fold yogurt into egg whites in 3 0r 4 additions, making sure it is very well incorporated. Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze as directed (or without an ice cream maker, as described above). Fold in brownie chunks.
Store in an airtight container in the freezer if not eating it right away.
Serves 4.

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13 Comments
  • Evan
    January 30, 2006

    This looks great, and sounds like a lot of fun to make, but I’m afraid of raw egg whites! Does anybody else share my concern re: salmonella?

    I’ve seen a couple articles that reference some procedure to bring egg whites up to a “safe” temperature w/o “cooking” them, per se. Does anybody have experience with this, and how well does it work?

    Keep on blogging– I enjoy it very much.

  • Joe
    January 30, 2006

    Brownies and frozen yogurt.. can’t get much better than that. Evan – I sometimes use pasteurized eggs if I’m making something for anyone else. Do you have access to something like that? (They also have powdered egg whites called “Just Whites” that are safe)

  • keiko
    January 30, 2006

    Nic, such an interesting combination, I must give it a try!

  • Tokyoastrogirl
    January 30, 2006

    Hey Nic,

    This looks absolutely mouthwatering! I was curious- have you ever made anything with Splenda? I’ve used it in tiny amounts but have never actually substituted Splenda for sugar in a recipe. In your (vast) experience, do you think it would work in this? I love that it’s made with yogurt and would be thrilled if using Splenda wouldn’t change the consistency too much.

  • Nic
    January 30, 2006

    Evan – I don’t worry much about it since the odds are low and I’m not either old or pregnant. I do use cooked meringues for a lot of things (which involves boiling the sugar and pouring it into the egg whites) and have written posts about it before, so you could try it here.

    Joe – Thanks for grabbing that question for me!

    Keiko – You can’t go too wrong with vanilla yogurt/ ice cream and brownies.

    Tokyoastrogirl – Unfortunately, splenda would change the texture. I can’t say how much it would change it exactly, but I don’t think it would turn out well if you used all splenda. Using the splenda baking blend (half sugar, half splenda) might work, though. Splenda has a strangely bitter aftertaste to me, so I don’t generally use it, though I keep meaning to experiment on behalf of my grandmother, who is diabetic.

  • Ivonne
    January 30, 2006

    It seems to be the month of Greek Yogurt! I actually asked Dave at http://www.kitchensavvy.typepad.com to explain how Greek yogurt differed from regular yogurt. I have difficulty finding it here in Toronto so Dave game me an idea for a substitute. Now I must try your recipe!

  • Clare Eats
    January 30, 2006

    This looks great!
    I agree gelato orfrozen yoghurt is much nicer 🙂
    I wonder howit would go if you used some rice syrup in the whites instead of sugar?

  • Andrea
    January 31, 2006

    Very nice option to an ice-cream. I love the idea that it can be low-fat or non-fat yoghurt. Great!
    Thanks.

  • mari
    January 31, 2006

    In the midst of doing something totally non-food related tonight, I realized one of the reasons I enjoy reading your blog so much. You often take what you have in your kitchen and find new uses for ingredients. I love this creative and also practical approach to cooking.

    Question: when you say stir the mixture in the freezer every now and then, over how many hours should you do that?

  • Nic
    January 31, 2006

    Clare – I don’t think that brown rice syrup would work. It wouldn’t make a meringue with the sugar properly, though it would sweeten it. Try sweetening the yogurt with the syrup and folding in beaten egg whites separately.

    Mari – You want to keep doing it until it is a nice, semi-solid consistency, like store-boought frozen yogurt. It really depends on your freezer, but several stirs over about four hours should do the trick. After that, you can simply leave it in the freezer until you’re ready to eat it, though softening it slightly by leaving it on the counter for a bit will make it nicer.

  • clare
    April 6, 2008

    This fro-yo is the shizzle! 😉 I actually used Joseph’s Sugar Free Brownie/Cookies, Splenda sweetener instead of sugar, and non-fat Greek yogurt. I used “Just Whites” dry egg whites (reconstituted) instead of regular whites. Thanks for the recipe!

  • Delicious Chroncles
    June 29, 2008

    that simply seems delicious… i love frozen yogurt!!! i’m going to use other ingredienst other than chocolate brounies!!!

  • Sheri
    July 14, 2008

    I just made this and OMG. It is soooo good. I used No Fudge Pudge Fudge in keeping with the whole yogurt theme. Trader Joe’s non-fat Greek Yogurt works great. I can see making this with white peaches or nectarines for the summer. Yumm.

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