Berry Frozen Yogurt with Lemon Sugar and Lavender Cream, and Chobani Greek Yogurt Giveaway

If you were to ask me - what food turns a bad day into a good day? - I would immediately respond with two answers: either Starbucks or frozen yogurt.  It seems my days are turned around by extremes of either hot or cold.  Now, I fully realize that neither a latte nor a frozen treat is really considered a 'food,' but that doesn't stop me from soothing myself with either after a particularly long and trying day.  Actually, there is not much that will deter me from getting a latte or a frozen yogurt any day.  In case you haven't realized it, I like to treat myself to my favorite things as often as I possibly can.  Does this make me spoiled?

Spoiled or not, I love frozen yogurt, but actually I just love yogurt... period.  Especially Greek yogurt, I literally cannot get enough; in fact, my co-workers used to make fun of me because they seemed to think all I ate was yogurt!  (No, this was not some sort of strange diet, I just love taking yogurt to work for lunch.)  Well, the joke is on them, because Greek yogurt is healthy and tastes incredible so they are really the ones missing out.  I love to eat plain yogurt topped with sliced almonds and fruit, drizzled with a little honey, or I swirl in a little jam or lemon curd to jazz it up. 

I think I got addicted to frozen yogurt (and Starbucks for that matter...) after moving out to California and trying frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon, and then I fed my habit by visiting every other fro-yo spot within a 10-mile radius of my apartment.  Most places had every flavor imaginable, from coconut to rootbeer to taro, but my go-to choices were always the fresh fruit flavors.  I tend to love more tropical fruits like mangoes or papayas, but a good strawberry, blackberry, or raspberry is simply incomparable. 

The best way to freeze berries so they don't stick together is to spread them out evenly on a cutting board or small baking sheet in the freezer.  Then, once they are completely frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe container or bag, and use them as needed.

I finally decided I should combine my love for plain yogurt and frozen yogurt when I got the opportunity to guest post on the Chobani Greek Yogurt blog.  It was only natural for me to use the things I love to create a frozen yogurt recipe using Greek yogurt and fresh fruits.  I decided I wanted to make both raspberry and blackberry frozen yogurt, a choice that was inspired as much by the bold, bright colors, as it was by the frozen berries I discovered in my freezer.  When berries are in high season (and a good price) I usually stock up and freeze some for just these sorts of occasions.   

I thought at first I would need to cook the berries with sugar to make a puree, but that all just seemed like so much work to me, and I really wanted to this recipe to be easy.  So instead I just blended everything up in my food processor, and it worked perfectly!  The only sticky-widget to making puree from fresh berries are those pesky seeds.  If you are like me and hate seeds in syrups or iced desserts, they can easily be strained out.  

To make the frozen yogurt, I actually tried a batch with either the Chobani fat-free Plain Greek Yogurt or the 2% low-fat Plain Greek Yogurt.  Usually I opt for fat-free, but honestly, with this recipe I could really taste a difference between the frozen yogurt made with fat-free versus low-fat; if you can spare a couple of extra calories I would definitely recommend making this with the 2% low-fat Greek yogurt.  The texture is noticeably more creamy and the taste is more tart and rich.  (And my other recommendation... I prefer the blackberry to the raspberry flavor, but that's just me.) 

LOVE the bright color of the raspberry frozen yogurt.

To amp up the fancy factor on this recipe, I also decided to top it with lemon sugar and lavender cream.  The lemon sugar is ridiculously easy to make and would be fantastic with loads of other desserts as well.  And the lavender cream... well I just can't say enough about it.  At the risk sounding foolish, I will admit that I might have added extra cream to each bite of the frozen yogurt I had.  I just couldn't help it!  The floral flavor is intoxicating and a perfect match for citrus and berries. 

Now, if you want the recipe for this Berry Frozen Yogurt with Lemon Sugar and Lavender Cream, head over to the Chobani Greek Yogurt Blog where I am guest posting today!  

But in the meantime, you can also enter my giveaway to win a case of a variety of Chobani yogurts so you can make your very own frozen treats!  Giveaway is open to US residents only, and is open until Saturday, March 12th at midnight PST, and a winner will be chosen at random.  Here's how to enter:

(Each option is a separate entry, please leave a separate comment for each one if you want it to count!) 

1.  Leave a comment here telling me what your favorite frozen yogurt flavor is. 

2.  Leave a comment here describing your favorite way to eat Chobani Greek Yogurt.

3.  Be a NEW fan of The Cilantropist on facebook, by clicking the 'Like' button!

4.  Be a fan of Chobani on facebook, by clicking the 'Like' button!

5. Tweet about this recipe and giveaway - Check out this #recipe for frozen yogurt from @TheCilantropist, and enter to win a case of @chobani! http://bit.ly/i7igwT - Then leave a comment telling me you did.  

Enjoy!