Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Skinny Strawberry Ice Cream



When we think about summer, what comes to our mind first is ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet or sundae. Probably we can still smell the taste of ice cream that we used to have during summer vacation in our school life. We could finish several scoops without feeling guilty about calories. There was no worry about how we look in our profile pictures. But now whenever we take full-fat ice cream or frozen desserts, unfortunately we start thinking about how much calories it will add up.





Last few days I was looking for a recipe that an ice cream lover like me could polish off half a gallon with no guilty feelings. But it has to be creamy as well as addictive. Eventually I found the one I wanted. This Skinny Strawberry Ice cream gives you the same sweet and chilled satisfaction that full-fat regular ice cream does. It’s a healthy substitute to those late night ice cream cravings since it adds less than 100 calories per serving. It can become one of your staple snacks this summer!





The recipe is damn easy and needs only 3 ingredients. What you have to do to make this ice cream is just throw all of the ingredients in a blender and make it a puree. Then pour the mixture into freeze and wait until it is done. Last year I made Strawberry Cream cheese PopsiclesBut this simple, skinny, scrumptious dessert is more rich and delicious than the former without using any cream stuff. On the other hand, the recipe is extremely versatile. If you don’t like or get strawberries, can use other berries, banana or mango. If you like chunks of fruits in your ice cream, chop up a few extra strawberries and fold that into the mixture right before you put in the freezer. 









Whenever I think about making ice creaming at home, the very first question arises in my mind is if I would get same consistency that branded  ice creams have, without using ice cream maker. But finally I solved the problem. You have to mainly churn the ice cream base yourself while freezing and need to incorporate a sufficient amount of air bubbles into the mixture. Otherwise it will come out with an icy almost rock hard ice cream. The churning will also break down these unpleasant large ice crystals. 40 minutes after you first put your ice cream into the freezer, take it out and vigorously churn it with a fork or a spoon or electric hand mixer. Return the ice cream to the freezer again, wait for another 30 minutes and repeat the process. Do the same process 2 to 3 times more. You would get smoothcreamy ice cream like texture without using ice cream maker. So go aheadmake and enjoy your homemade skinny strawberry ice cream.





Recipe of Skinny Strawberry Ice Cream : Serves : 4 to 6 


prep time : 10 minutes, freezing time : maximum 2 hrs. 

Ingredients :
Fat free Greek yogurt / hung yogurt : 1 and 1/2 cup
Strawberries : 1 cup chopped ( you can use frozen too ) 
Honey : 2 tablespoons or to taste 

Method :

1. Add all ingredients to a food processor or a blender and pulse until the mixture becomes creamy.

2. Pour the mixture into a freezer safe air tight container and freeze it.  After 30 minutes take it out and vigorously churn it with a fork or a spoon or electric hand mixer. 

3. Do the same process 2 to 3 times more. If you like chunky ice cream, now add hand full of fresh strawberries ( chopped ). Mix it well and freeze for up to one hour. Don't let it freeze for longer than an hour. It will become hard like an ice block. 

4. Scoop the ice cream into individual dishes, add toppings ( if desired ) and serve immediately.

Note: 
For the vegan version, use coconut milk yogurt in the place of non fat Greek yogurt. 

You can try the same recipe with other fruits too. 



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