As silly as it is for me to admit now, I did not care for peaches as a child. Something about the fuzzy coating turned me off. Fortunately, I got over it well before becoming a pastry chef several years ago. I couldn’t imagine not using the juicy, ripe fruit in my summer desserts!
In their unadulterated form, peaches are a good source of fiber and vitamin C. While a perfectly ripened peach almost begs to be eaten on its own, here is a recipe if you’ve got too many peaches on hand (though is that really a problem?). The peaches delicately flavor the tangy yogurt, with mint adding an extra refreshing note.
Peach Mint “Julep” Frozen Yogurt
Recipe developed by Olena Gudz Danko, MS, RDN, LD
Makes about 1 ¼ quarts
Ingredients
2 ½ to 3 pounds ripe peaches
2 cups plain low-fat yogurt (not Greek)
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
⅓ cup packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
Directions
To peel peaches:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In the meantime, cut an “X” through the bottom of each peach using a paring knife.
- Prepare an ice bath by filling a separate bowl with ice and water. When water is at a rolling boil, gently add peaches and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Immediately remove peaches and place in the ice bath for a few minutes, until completely cooled.
- Gently peel the skin from the peaches, remove pits, and cut peaches into chunks. For this recipe, reserve 4 cups of the chopped peaches.
For the yogurt:
- Combine chopped peaches and the yogurt in the bowl of a food processor. Puree until mixture is smooth.
- Add the sugar, honey, and vanilla extract and pulse several times.
- Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in the chopped peppermint leaves.
- Chill mixture in a covered container for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator or up to overnight.
- Churn chilled mixture in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Store in covered container in freezer. Serve frozen yogurt with additional peaches if desired.
