Faux-Yo: A Healthy Ice Cream Alternative
Frequent readers know that I have an intense sweet tooth, specifically for frozen yogurt.
On occasion, I’ve been know to drive obscene distances to satisfy my cravings for a cold, creamy swirls. Aside from a little protein and bone-building calcium though, frozen yogurt and ice cream have few redeeming qualities. They’re mostly made of saturated fat and sugar. Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t eat them — clearly I still do — but they should be an occasional treat. If you’re like me, and you need a nightly dessert, you should probably find a more nutritious option for everyday consumption.
One way to clean up your act this year is to swap your evening bowl of ice cream with “Faux-Yo.”
Faux-Yo is the term I use for fresh fruit desserts that resemble frozen yogurt in taste and consistency, but without the heaps of added sugar. You can use pretty much any fruit to make it: blueberries, strawberries, bananas, mangoes, pineapple, cherries, really the possibilities are endless.
You may have seen my recipes for Pumpkin Faux-Yo, Banana Faux-Yo, Strawberry Blueberry Sorbet or Coconut Green Tea Pudding.
These recipes all provide step-by-step instructions for making different versions of faux-yo. If you’ve never made it yourself though, or actually experienced faux-yo in person, you may still be skeptical of its resemblance to frozen yogurt.
Well, today I’m about to blow you away. My friend Melissa Halas-Liang, MA RDN CDE has made an awesome video showing exactly how this process works.
Check it out.
Melissa is using the amazing a Champion Juicer in this video, which makes the process incredibly easy. As you’ve seen in my previous posts you can also use a high-powered blender or food processor — but I can’t guarantee yours will look as pretty as hers!
As shown in the video, fresh fruit desserts are not only great for adults with insatiable dessert cravings, they’re also fantastic for kids.
Melissa says that the majority of kids are consuming 13-22 teaspoons of added-sugar a day, well above the recommended daily limit of five teaspoons. Also, only 40% of children and teenagers get their RDA of fiber.
Using whole frozen fruit ensures that the food’s fiber stays intact and that none of the nutrients are lost, unlike in baking.
If you struggle to get your kids to eat their vitamins and nutrients through whole foods, this is one way to make healthy eating appealing to them.
*Thanks to Melissa for sharing her expertise! For more info on keeping your kids healthy and on healthy-eating in general, visit Melissa’s site SuperKidsNutrition.com.
Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment says:
I really like dessert alternatives like this. I have a Yo-Nana which allows you to use bananas as a base and then add in other frozen fruit. I am not big on it in the winter (too cold) but it’s really nice to have as a treat in the warmer months.
Whitney English says:
I used to have a Yonanas Machine too! I gave it up to save space when I got a Vitamix, but it worked great!
Lauren says:
I love making the banana ice cream by food processing frozen bananas with a little bit of almond milk and sweetener!
Whitney English says:
That’s my jam too :)
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West says:
I’ve never tried making a healthy dessert option and would love to. Thanks for sharing this!!
Whitney English says:
Hope you like it! xo
Dale Janee says:
This looks so good and I just went back to your old post how to make the sorbet and I can’t believe how simple it is. I just bought frozen raspberries & blackberries today so I’m definitely trying this and I love the idea of coconut on the top. As someone who drove over an hour just to get to a Pinkberry before, I can relate to the fro yo addiction so thanks for sharing these!!
xoDale
Whitney English says:
Haha – glad to know I’m not alone in my crazy frozen yogurt expeditions! So excited for you to try the sorbet. Let me know how it turns out! xo
Kylie Burnside says:
Enjoying your posts now that I’m a subscriber! :-)
I also have a major sweet tooth (fro yo fan too)m so something like a chocolatey protein shake helps keep it at bay!
Whitney English says:
Thanks Kylie!! Chocolate protein shakes are a fav of mine as well :)