What Is In Your Flavored Yogurt? + Apple Crisp Yogurt

I have not purchased flavored yogurt for over 2 years and would never again.  There is so much sugar, additives, chemicals, artificial flavors, and possible GMOs that is added into flavored yogurts.  Flavored yogurt is highly processed and nothing like real food.  I very much prefer to make my own using plain yogurt for many reasons.  Mainly because it is so easy, the flavors you can make are endless, and I know exactly what I am eating.

I recently made a Pumpkin Yogurt which I loved!  I later saw a commercial for Yoplait’s seasonal yogurts of Pumpkin Pie and Apple Crisp.  I thought I would check out what the ingredients were, very well knowing I wouldn’t approve but I was still a bit shocked.  The Pumpkin Pie flavor did not  even have pumpkin listed as an ingredient.  How can you make pumpkin yogurt with NO PUMPKIN?  Instead they get the pumpkin taste using artificial flavors.  I am not even mentioning here the artificial colors they use to make the yogurt look like pumpkin.

Yoplait Pumpkin Pie Yogurt:  cultured pasteurized grade a nonfat milk, modified corn starch, sugar, kosher gelatin, aspartame, potassium sorbate added to maintain freshness, acesulfame potassium, natural and artificial flavor, colored with annatto and turmeric extract, vitamin a acetate, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1, vitamin d3.

Artifical flavors are simply put, chemical mixtures that mimic natural flavors.  One flavor can consist of dozens or hundreds of chemicals interacting to create the taste and smell.  Making these flavors with chemicals can be much cheaper than the real thing.  Why do these big food companies still put profit over our health?

After finding out this information I wanted to take a look at what was in Yoplait’s Apple Crisp Yogurt.  I was glad to see actual apple in the ingredients but I was still not impressed.  Cultured pasteurized grade A low fat milk, sugar, apples, modified corn starch (possible GMO), kosher gelatin, maltic acid, natural flavor, tricalcium phosphate, pectin, cinnamon, molasses, vitamin A acetate, and vitamin D. 

Being the Organic Dietitian that I am I thought, “I can do this myself and do it better!”  I can make my own yogurt flavors with real ingredients that I can enjoy all year round.  You have the power to do this too!  Ditch the store bought flavored yogurt and show these companies that you deserve REAL FOOD.

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Course Snack

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Total Time 23 minutes

Servings 4

Author Sara

Ingredients

• Strudel Topping
• 1 Cup Rolled Oats
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Whole Grain Flour I used sprouted spelt
• 4 Tbsp Butter grass fed preferred- I used Kerrygold
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• Yogurt
• 2 Cups Plain Organic Yogurt
• 4 Tbsp Apple Butter I like Eden Apple Butter because it just contains apples
• 2 Tbsp Raw Honey
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the butter into pea size cubes.
3. Mix together the butter with the other strudel ingredients with a fork until until crumbly.
4. Put the mixture onto a lined sheet pan and bake in the oven for about 8 minutes.
5. Mix all the yogurt ingredients together.
6. Once the strudel is out of the oven let it cool for 5-10 minutes.
7. Sprinkle the strudel over the yogurt when serving.

Recipe Notes

For a vegan or lactose free friendly version use coconut yogurt.

Please use all organic ingredients when possible.