Fabulous Frozen Dessert

I’m not a huge fan of desserts, but lately I have been craving a frozen dessert that my mother used to make when my sisters and I were a lot younger, and before we worried about silly things like our weight. I didn’t have the recipe, but fortunately one of my sisters did. Yay! Frozen dessert time!

Then I looked at the ingredients. Sour cream, maraschino cherries, canned pineapple, and Cool Whip, just to name a few. YIKES! So, I used my ninja knives and a few ninja skills to cut out the bad stuff and see if I could make this delicious dessert more palatable to my health-conscious mind.

Substituting Greek yogurt for sour cream, whipped coconut cream for Cool Whip, and using fresh cherries and pineapple worked like a ninja hiding in plain sight. Oh, and I completely eliminated the sugar to complete this fabulous frozen dessert.

Ingredients:

1 14 oz can coconut cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 pint Fage Fat-Free Greek yogurt

4 diced bananas

1 cup fresh pitted cherries (yes, it makes a heck of a mess, but it’s well worth it)

1 cup diced fresh pineapple

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup chopped walnuts

Start with making the coconut whipped cream:

Refrigerate the can of coconut cream. You can also use coconut milk, but I prefer the cream. Leave it in the refrigerator overnight so the cream rises to the top.

An hour before making the whipped cream, chill a metal mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer. Carefully open the can of coconut cream, making sure you don’t shake the contents. Scoop the solids and place in chilled bowl.

Beat the coconut cream with an electric mixer (I’m thinking your arm would fall off if you tried to do it by hand, unless you have some serious anger issues you want to work through). Start on medium speed and then turn to high. Beat until peaks form, about 8 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat 1 minute longer. You can also add sugar if you want to, but trust me on this. The fruit adds enough sweetness.

Mix together.

Mix the coconut whipped cream and the yogurt until smooth and well blended. Gently fold in the fruit and nuts. After folding ingredients, place in a container and freeze. You can use a freezer safe baking dish, individual custard cups, or foil cupcake liners. Let them set at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!!