Full GAPS Frozen Yogurt With Homemade 24-Hour Yogurt

Homemade frozen yogurt should still taste like yogurt: tangy, creamy, and lightly sweet. This vanilla batch starts with plain homemade yogurt, then adds honey, fresh lemon juice, and a tablespoon of homemade vanilla. Straining the yogurt first gives the dessert a thicker base before it reaches the ice cream maker.

If you already have a batch of yogurt in the refrigerator, most of the waiting can happen overnight. Set up the strainer, let the whey drain away, and leave the honey and flavorings for the next day. After that, the work is whisking and churning.

As a working, homeschooling mom of six, I appreciate knowing which parts of a recipe need me standing at the counter. My Luvele is my go-to for making yogurt. This dessert begins after that yogurt has finished culturing and chilling, so the milk-making and dessert-making jobs can happen separately.

GAPS Stage

This is a Full GAPS dessert after homemade fermented dairy and sweet foods have been introduced. Start with homemade whole-milk yogurt fermented for at least 24 hours. Make and chill it before measuring the four cups for this recipe.

The Introduction Diet’s gradual dairy sequence comes before a sweetened frozen dessert like this. Keep it as an occasional between-meal treat on Full GAPS.

Ingredients

• 4 cups completed, chilled homemade whole-milk yogurt, measured before straining
• 1/3 cup raw honey
• Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
• 1 tablespoon homemade vanilla extract

The four-cup measure belongs at the beginning, while the yogurt still contains its whey. After draining, use all the thickened yogurt left in the cloth. You do not need to top it back up to four cups.

Honey sweetens the tangy yogurt, while lemon keeps the flavor bright. The vanilla goes through the entire batch. Whisk these ingredients into the thickened yogurt after straining so they stay in the dessert rather than draining into the bowl below.

Use the finished homemade vanilla from its separate recipe. That keeps its beans and GAPS-compatible spirit preparation in one place, with a clear tablespoon measure here. There is no extra cream or egg in this frozen-yogurt formula.

Yield: four servings. The finished volume depends on how much liquid drains from your yogurt; four starting cups do not promise four cups of frozen dessert.

Instructions

1. Place a fine-mesh stainless steel strainer over a glass or ceramic bowl. Line it with clean cheesecloth.
2. Pour the four measured cups completed, chilled dairy yogurt into the cloth and fold the cloth over the top.
3. Refrigerate the strainer and bowl overnight, keeping the yogurt above the drained liquid.
4. Transfer all the thick yogurt remaining in the cloth to a mixing bowl. Keep the drained whey out of this frozen-yogurt base.
5. Whisk in the one-third cup honey, half-lemon juice and tablespoon homemade vanilla until evenly mixed.
6. Churn the full cold batch according to the ice cream maker’s instructions. Divide into four servings and serve when the cycle finishes.

For step 1, choose a bowl deep enough that the bottom of the strainer sits above the liquid collecting below. Several layers of tightly woven cheesecloth help hold the yogurt while the whey passes through. Fold the cloth over the yogurt before refrigerating.

By the next day, you should see clear to pale-yellow liquid in the bowl. The yogurt in the cloth should look denser and hold its shape more readily on a spoon. The amount of whey will vary with the yogurt you started with. Scrape all the thick yogurt into the mixing bowl.

At step 5, whisk until the honey and vanilla are evenly distributed and the mixture looks uniform. There should not be darker streaks of honey sitting at the bottom. Keep the base cold and have your ice cream maker ready before transferring it.

During churning, the mixture changes from a cold, thick liquid into a soft frozen dessert. Follow your machine’s completion directions. Freshly churned frozen yogurt is softer than a container that has spent hours in the freezer.

Why It Fits Full GAPS

The yogurt is made at home through the GAPS dairy method before this recipe begins. Honey, fresh lemon, and homemade vanilla provide the sweetness and flavor. The finished dessert keeps that fermented dairy base instead of using ordinary store-bought yogurt.

Follow the separate yogurt recipe for the milk you use. Raw milk and pasteurized milk have different preparation steps before culturing. This dessert starts once that yogurt has finished culturing and chilling.

Sandor Ellix Katz describes cloth-straining yogurt in The Art of Fermentation: the yogurt becomes firmer as more whey drains away. Here that technique happens in the refrigerator overnight. It is a way to thicken an already-made food, separate from the yogurt’s original culture time.

Storage And Serving

For eight servings, use the 2× ingredient control and begin with eight cups of completed yogurt before draining. Keep the honey, lemon, and vanilla at their doubled amounts too. Check the capacity of your ice cream maker and churn in batches if needed, keeping the waiting base refrigerated. Keep waiting portions cold while you churn each batch.

The recipe card allows 24 hours for preparation and refrigerated straining, followed by about 15 minutes of churning. Those are planning estimates for the standard ice cream maker method. They begin with finished, chilled yogurt; making that yogurt and preparing a machine’s freezer bowl take additional time.

Serve when churning finishes for a soft, creamy texture. If you are saving some, transfer it to a covered freezer-safe container. Frozen yogurt gets firmer in storage, so let it soften enough to scoop before serving again.

Divide the batch into four portions rather than trying to make four equal one-cup servings. Straining changes the volume. Smaller containers can also make it easier to take out just the amount you want.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Measure Four Cups Before Straining?

That is the starting amount of yogurt. Draining removes some liquid, and the recipe uses everything left in the cloth. Adding more yogurt afterward would change the balance with the honey, lemon, and vanilla.

What Can I Do With The Whey?

Save it separately for recipes that call for homemade yogurt whey. My guide to making and using yogurt whey explains the component. Keep it out of the frozen-yogurt base after straining.

Can I Use Store-Bought Yogurt?

Use homemade yogurt made through the 24-hour GAPS dairy method here. A commercial plain yogurt is not a replacement for completing that preparation. Start with your finished, chilled homemade batch, then measure the four cups.

Can I Make It Without An Ice Cream Maker?

The main method uses an ice cream maker. Have its bowl and other parts prepared according to its directions before mixing the cold base. The Swirl alternative below also uses a machine, with its own freezing schedule.

Can I Use My Ninja Swirl CREAMi?

I own a Ninja Swirl CREAMi. It freezes the base first and processes it afterward, so its schedule is different from the standard churning method above.

Put the same cold base into matching 16-ounce Swirl pints, staying below their MAX FILL lines. Cover and freeze level for at least 24 hours. Assemble the machine according to its guide and select SCOOP, then FROZEN YOGURT. The manufacturer’s program calls for full-fat yogurt with added sweetener; this base contains whole-milk yogurt and honey. Use RE-SPIN if the processed texture is crumbly. This is the scoopable route, rather than a dispensing instruction.

The Swirl freeze is additional time after the yogurt has been cultured, chilled, and strained. It does not replace any of those earlier steps, and it is not included in the recipe card’s standard churning estimate.

Which Vanilla Should I Use?

Use one tablespoon of the homemade vanilla extract. Its separate recipe explains the beans and spirit. Add it after draining the yogurt, along with the honey and lemon.

Why Is The Frozen Yogurt Firmer The Next Day?

Freshly churned frozen yogurt is soft enough to serve straight from the machine. More time in the freezer makes it firmer. Let a stored portion soften until your scoop can pass through it; returning whey to the base would undo the earlier thickening step.

Related Recipes

Start with homemade 24-hour GAPS yogurt and keep homemade vanilla ready for flavoring. Save the strained liquid using the ideas in the yogurt whey guide.

The dairy-free coconut frozen yogurt has its own post and coconut-yogurt base. Keep the two recipes separate when measuring ingredients.

Recommended Equipment

I use the Luvele Pure Plus Yogurt Maker for the separate yogurt component. This is a paid referral link to the model I own. Its two-liter glass vessel is useful for preparing yogurt ahead; measure the four cups for the dessert from your completed batch.

Choose tightly woven food-use cloth rather than an open weave that lets soft yogurt escape. Rest the strainer securely across the bowl, with enough room for the whey to collect underneath. The strainer should remain supported when the yogurt goes in; keep its base above the collected liquid as it drains.

You need a fine-mesh stainless steel strainer, tightly woven cheesecloth, a deep glass or ceramic bowl, a mixing bowl, a whisk, and an ice cream maker for the main method. My Swirl is the optional freeze-then-process alternative described above.

My Luvele is for making the separate yogurt component. It does not churn this dessert. Use the finished yogurt from that recipe, then follow the four-cup measure and overnight drain here.

More Frozen Treats

For more homemade cold desserts to rotate through family snack times, look for my upcoming Frozen Treats Cookbook through the WFLI shop. Plan the yogurt and straining ahead so the mixing and churning fit the day you want to serve it.