Homemade Flavored Yogurt

By
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone is a writer who develops approachable recipes for home cooks. Her recipes range from Grandma’s favorites to the latest food trends.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 02/7/22
Homemade Yogurt

 

YelenaYemchuk/Getty Images

Prep: 20 hrs
Cook: 10 hrs
Total: 30 hrs
Serving: 1 serving

There are plenty of ways to make your own flavored yogurt, but this one makes tasty frozen yogurt using fresh ingredients that you have on hand at home. You can make it with a yogurt machine, or without.

Here's another perk to making your own flavored yogurt: Perhaps you don't want to use traditional sugar; you can substitute a different sweetener. And with tons of flavor combinations, you may be able to come up with some pretty appetizing concoctions.

Ingredients

  • 1 quart whole milk

  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup sweetener

  • Fruit of choice, optional

  • 1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk, optional

  • 1 tablespoon plain yogurt, or recommended quantity of powdered culture

  • Flavorings of choice, such as lemon extract, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Scald 1 quart of milk and stir in 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar, honey, syrup, malt, molasses, artificial sweetener, or another sweetener.

  3. If other flavors are desired after dissolving the sugar or honey, you can stir in 1 tablespoon of an extract such as lemon, almond, or peppermint. You can also crack upon your spice cabinet to add more flavor to the frozen yogurt. Try adding 1 teaspoon of ground spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, ginger, or your own special combination.

  4. Add the instant nonfat dry milk, cool the mixture to 110 F, and stir in the culture or yogurt.

  5. Pour the mixture into warm containers, cover and incubate.

  6. Incubate for 5 to 10 hours. Then let it cool and refrigerate the yogurt in a container.

Tips

  • Sweeteners you can use, sugar, honey, maple syrup, chocolate syrup, malt, molasses, stevia, or an artificial sweetener.
  • The dry milk makes the yogurt creamier. While this is optional, we highly recommend including it when making this recipe.
  • Whenever you are flavoring yogurt, always remember to leave 1 cup plain, so that you will have a fresh starter mix for the next batch.
  • To make the bacteria reproduce, incubate the yogurt at a temperature between 100 F and 115 F. 
  • There are many ways to incubate yogurt. You can place it in a conventional oven, crock pot, heating pad, microwave, a cooler filled with boiling water, or even a dehydrator.

Recipe Variations

  • For jam, preserves, or flavors, put 1 tablespoon of the flavoring into the bottom of 1-cup containers and pour the warm milk-yogurt mixture over it. Cover and incubate as usual.
  • To add fresh, canned, or dried fruit, add them in after the yogurt has incubated. This should come last because the acid content of some fruits can curdle the milk-yogurt mixture and prevent proper fermentation.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
631 Calories
32g Fat
55g Carbs
31g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories 631
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 32g 41%
Saturated Fat 18g 92%
Cholesterol 98mg 33%
Sodium 430mg 19%
Total Carbohydrate 55g 20%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 57g
Protein 31g
Vitamin C 0mg 1%
Calcium 1129mg 87%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 1322mg 28%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)