Vanilla Yogurt From Plain Yogurt

Substitutions

The beauty of this easy recipe is that it’s totally customizable based on your preferences. Once you make vanilla yogurt from plain yogurt, that’s just a jumping-off point! Feel free to substitute or make additions to suit your sweet tooth or dietary restrictions. Here are some suggestions:

• Yogurt: While I personally love that creamy Greek yogurt taste and texture, you can use whatever type of yogurt you prefer for this recipe! Regular yogurt, whole milk yogurt, or skim milk yogurt would all beautifully pair with vanilla and honey. You can even use plant-based yogurt if you’re vegan!
• Other sweeteners: To make sweetened Greek yogurt, feel free to play around with added sugar based on your preference. Here at FPL headquarters, we prefer flavoring plain yogurt with natural sweeteners, like maple syrup and raw honey, but you can use confectioners’ sugar (aka powdered sugar) in its place for extra sweetness. To make a keto version of this recipe, sub in low-carb sweeteners, like monk fruit sugar or erythritol. We also recommend that you be careful when adding artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, sucralose, xylitol, etc., to unsweetened yogurt, as it can highly impact the flavor. 
• Vanilla: Adding a dash of pure vanilla extract to plain yogurt is usually what I prefer, but you’re also free to use vanilla bean paste for a 1:1 substitute (meaning you can substitute one for equal amounts of the other). You can also use imitation vanilla extract, which tends to be more affordable. Or, if you’d rather, you can use half of a vanilla bean (vanilla beans have a potent flavor, so half of a bean is all you need). 
• Honey syrup: As another sweetener option for this recipe, you can use my Honey Syrup recipe (a combination of honey and water) for honey vanilla greek yogurt. If you choose to use honey syrup, use double the amount of honey that the recipe calls for.   
• Ground cinnamon: This is an optional addition, but adding a sprinkle of ground cinnamon to your plain vanilla yogurt really complements the flavors. 

How to Store

If you have leftovers of this honey and Greek yogurt recipe, you can store them in the fridge or freezer to enjoy later. Here are some tips:

• Storage: You can store your homemade honey vanilla yogurt in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. 
• Freeze: Freeze your vanilla-flavored yogurt for up to 2 months to preserve the best taste and texture. 
• Thaw: To serve the vanilla honey greek yogurt from frozen, first thaw your container of yogurt in the refrigerator (preferably overnight). The yogurt may appear separated once thawed, which tends to happen when you freeze dairy products. To revive the thawed yogurt, give it a stir to incorporate the ingredients or add in a small amount of yogurt if it’s watery. If it’s still not quite smooth, try blending it in a food processor before serving. Make sure not to refreeze once thawed!