Pumpkin Yogurt Anyone

Have you ever heard of pumpkin yogurt?  It’s a first for me.  I’ll tell ya, at first taste, my mind had to do quite a bit of undoing to all it associates with pumpkin and yogurt.  But the two are very good together, especially when they’ve had time to get it on after a long night in the frig.

Now, I didn’t make this recipe up.  Kim invited me to a local cooking class put on by the Texas Ag Extension office.  This was one of the treats I tasted and thought, “Hmm, how could I make this better?”

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED

• 2 cups nonfat French vanilla yogurt (I prefer Stonyfield Farm Organic, it’s not too sweet)
• 3/4 cup pumpkin from the can
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

• crumbled granola bar for topping

Homemade Whipped Topping

• 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

First, get out a medium bowl, mesh strainer, and a cheesecloth or tea towel. Line the strainer with the cloth and set on top of the bowl.  Place the yogurt in the cloth, cover and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Place the thickened yogurt into a medium bowl and add the pumpkin, sugar and spice.  Stir well and allow the flavors to come together at least an hour or better, overnight.

Now, you can stop right here. Sprinkle the pumpkin yogurt with granola and have a lovely, healthy snack or holiday breakfast treat.

OR you can keep going and make a creamy dessert?

Using an electric mixer to whip up the heavy cream on a high speed until it starts to thicken, add in sugar and vanilla.  Continue to whip until soft peaks form.

For a light creamy touch, just add a dollop of whipped cream to the top of your yogurt.

For full on I don’t care about the fat calories, line the bottom of your serving dish with whipped cream, layer on the pumpkin yogurt, top with a dollop of whip, then finish with sprinkling granola on top.

Kim, I know you’re going to read this.  Would you please tell SDR’s readers what you thought of this recipe?