Rich Chocolate Yoghurt Frosting

I've never been a huge fan of making frosting. I don't know why - maybe it's how finicky it can be to get the butter and sugar to blend just so, or the time it takes for the fat to soften, or seeing the sheer amount of sugar that finds its way into a buttercream - but I'd honestly just buy a decent quality container from my bakery supply place and doctor it up with a dash of extra cocoa, some nutmeg or a quick grate of lemon zest. Ironically for me as a baker, I'm not a huge "pile on the frosting" person anyways, and I find most recipes for the homemade stuff too sweet... exceptions being my ricotta frosting with a dash of extra lemon juice for tang and my Chocolate Sweet Potato Frosting with it's earthy richness.

So when I was paging through my copy of The Greek Yogurt Cookbook by Lauren Kelly and I spotted a recipe for a yoghurt based chocolate frosting, I initially passed over it - not only did we not need a frosting kicking around the house at this point in time (given my stepdad's birthday and Christmas having just passed), but it was just one of those recipes that flew under the radar. The funny thing about life, though, is that it can be like a boomerang. Just a week after passing on the recipe in search for a more "family friendly" one for us, I found myself in possession of a small quantity of thick, strained homemade yoghurt (created with half milk and half Amoré Almonds + Dairy beverage) as well as all the other ingredients to make the book's concoction. I jazzed it up a bit though, cutting down on the sweetness with extra cocoa, bittersweet chocolate and a hint of espresso powder as well as using some pulverized raw sugar for the standard refined powdered kind.

Now even though this is technically a frosting, that doesn't mean it's restricted to your cakey confections! We spread this on toast (!), stirred it into extra plain yoghurt as a "pudding", and dunked cookies and fruit into it for an afternoon snack (that was by far the most popular). What we couldn't use up in a week or so we covered directly with plastic wrap and froze in airtight containers - but knowing the amount of chocoholics around here it won't be long before it makes another appearance!

Rich Chocolate Yoghurt Frosting
Makes 2 cups, 16 (2-tbsp) servings
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup low-fat plain Greek yoghurt (I made my own with part Amoré Almonds + Dairy beverage and part whole organic milk, and strained it in a coffee filter overnight to an almost “yoghurt cheese” consistency)
1 tbsp vanilla
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp instant espresso
1 ¾ cups ground SucaNat (or icing sugar)

1. Melt butter and chocolate in the microwave until smooth. 
2. Stir in yoghurt, vanilla, cocoa, salt and espresso powder.
3. Sift in Sucanat and beat with a whisk for 4-5 minutes, until thick and creamy. 
4. Chill before use.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 114.2
Total Fat: 2.4 g
Cholesterol: 4.3 mg
Sodium: 13.8 mg
Total Carbs: 24.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g
Protein: 1.3 g