Flavoring plain yogurt

[jamoehope]

Hi,

I tried to flavor some plain yogurt with sugar and with frozen strawberries that contain sugar but the yogurt still tasted sour. What do you suggest to make some yogurt that is not so sugary as what you find at the store but might actually taste good?

Jamie

[bullseye]

I usually add a little honey to plain yogurt with fresh fruit, but it depends on how sweet the fruit is. If I add preserves, no sweetener is necessary. Probably your frozen fruit falls somewhere in the middle, so an adjustment to the sweetness might be required. I don't like the level of sweetness in the store bought product; I like to retain some of the tart and sour flavor of the fruit and yogurt.

[BreezyCooking]

Yogurt companies - Dannon in particular - really went downhill the past few years. Used to be Dannon came in flavors like "Honey", "Banana", "Boysenberry", "Cherry" - even "Chocolate", etc. Now, since they've jumped on the stupid "Activia" bandwagon, it's just "Strawberry", "Vanilla", & "Raspberry". As soon as Dannon dropped their more interesting flavors, they lost my business.

These days I usually mix honey & my own fresh fruit with plain yogurt - not Dannon if possible. I just find their marketing unpleasant. Yogurt will always have a slightly sour tang - that's supposed to be part of its appeal. Add honey to taste, & if you still don't like it, it might just not be your thing.

[KitchenSally]

I only eat plain yogurt that I flavor. I add Splenda, Vanilla and fresh berries if I have them. Blueberries and strawberries being my fave.

Depending on the brand of yogurt and the sweetness of the fruit determine the amount of Splenda. Usually, for a 3/4 cup of yogurt I use a rounded tsp of Splenda.

[jamoehope]

Thanks for the tips. I'll try some fresh fruit and honey first to see if that improves the taste. I knew it was possible I wouldn't like plain yogurt's too much but I still wanted to try it. As for Splenda, maybe I'll try that. I'm not a big fan of Splenda's taste!

[ironchef]

I love using plain yogurt, especially Greek yogurt. I've made kim chee yogurt, truffle yogurt, smoked yogurt, curry yogurt, sriracha-lime yogurt, and a bunch of others that I can't remember. Good for using as a sauce in places where you'd think to use an aioli.

[Yakuta]

I can eat plain yogurt as is but there are many many other things you can add to yogurt to give it a lot of flavor.

I don't like Dannon's texture and as someone indicated the quality is going downhill. Try one of the middleeastern or greek brands instead.

Also I find mixing powdered sugar (confectioners) into the yogurt helps retain it's texture while making it sweet. You can add orange zest to the yogurt along with a fruit puree to give it a punch. The oils from a lemon or orange adds a lot of flavor.

A traditional form of sweet yogurt I make is using saffron, sugar and cardamom powder.

Basically take some thick yogurt, add a good pinch of crumbled saffron strands to it, sugar to your liking (again confectioners) and a big pinch of cardamom. Stir it together and cover and let it sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so before enjoying. You can also add assorted nuts (sweet ones - such as pistachios and almonds ground up) to this and serve it as an exotic dessert.

[healthyfoodie]

Originally Posted by Yakuta

A traditional form of sweet yogurt I make is using saffron, sugar and cardamom powder.

Basically take some thick yogurt, add a good pinch of crumbled saffron strands to it, sugar to your liking (again confectioners) and a big pinch of cardamom. Stir it together and cover and let it sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so before enjoying. You can also add assorted nuts (sweet ones - such as pistachios and almonds ground up) to this and serve it as an exotic dessert.

that's shrikhand and it's so good. I make that sometimes too.

some other suggestions -
- banana, wheat germ
- kashi go lean cereal
- granola
- sugarfree pudding
- unsweetened cocoa powder and a little bit of sugar

and just plain is sometimes nice too.