Chocolate Frozen Yogurt

Rich and indulgent Chocolate Frozen Yogurt has a sweet-tart flavor and the perfect creamy, light consistency. This frozen yogurt is so easy to make — blend everything up, pour into an ice cream maker, and enjoy!

Try our other favorite frozen yogurt recipes — this vanilla Frozen Yogurt Recipe or Strawberry Frozen Yogurt.

Chocolate Frozen Yogurt

Growing up, my favorite dessert was frozen yogurt from a local fro-yo shop near our home. You know the kind: where you pick a flavored yogurt base and load on practically endless toppings. I’ll admit my toppings often got a bit out of hand and the resulting concoctions were barely edible. Even so, I can guarantee I never wasted a bite.

As you probably know, these frozen yogurt shops can get fairly spend-y, which is maybe why it was such a special treat for me. And as an adult now, I still think of frozen yogurt as somewhat of a delicacy (ha!), so it’s still a dessert I get ridiculously excited about. 

That said, I prefer to make it exactly how I like it at home and avoid the sticker shock. And maybe it’s because I’m a grown-up now, but I really prefer my froyo plain, without the myriad of candy and cereal toppings. Over the years, I’ve worked on perfecting a chocolate frozen yogurt, tweaking it to contain my ideal ratio of sweet to tart, and working to achieve a rich, fudge-like flavor while keeping the texture nice and light. And finally, it is here — this is our perfect Chocolate Frozen Yogurt recipe.

While this recipe is seriously quick and easy, I’ll admit that it does require some fairly specific ingredients for the best results. I’ll discuss those in depth below.

Frozen Yogurt Ingredients

• Yogurt. Choose a really great-tasting yogurt to wind up with a delicious and rich tasting Chocolate Frozen Yogurt. I don’t recommend a low-fat or fat-free yogurt; they won’t thicken as nicely. We’ve tried a lot of different yogurts and hands down our favorite (and what we continue to use in this recipe) is Noosa’s® vanilla bean yogurt. 
• Heavy cream. While yogurt is the main ingredient for the base, the cream adds some thickness and a contrast to the yogurt’s tartness.
• Dutch-process cocoa powder. Regular cocoa powder won’t give this yogurt the depth of flavor and chocolate intensity that the Dutch-process will. Any Dutch-process cocoa powder works, but the one I’ve found most readily available at grocery stores is Hershey’s® Special Dark. You’ll see on the label it’s “Dutched cocoa” which is what we’re looking for. My personal favorite is this Extra® brute cocoa powder — it has an amazingly robust flavor, but you aren’t likely to find it at the local grocery.
• Vanilla extract and salt. These two ingredients add a depth of flavor and work to balance sweetness with tang. A little salt goes a long way, and while it may seem like a strange ingredient in a dessert, it helps this yogurt achieve a more robust, balanced flavor.
• White sugar. The sugar sweetens the mixture and is an ingredient you may want to play around with a bit. If you’d like a tart yogurt, reduce the amount of sugar just bit. For a sweeter yogurt, add a bit more sugar. You may also need to adjust the amount of sugar, depending on how sweet the yogurt you are using is.

Recipe tips

• Pay special attention to the ingredients. With regular cocoa powder and a low-fat, less flavorful yogurt, you’ll end up with some fairly lackluster frozen yogurt.
• Freeze the ice cream insert ahead of time. An ice cream insert takes a good amount of time to thoroughly freeze which is a requirement for the yogurt to set up — otherwise, it may never reach the consistency you’re looking for.
• Chill the mixture. Depending on the quality of the blender used, the blender may warm up the mixture as it works to combine the ingredients. If this is the case, I’d recommend chilling the mixture for 30 minutes to an hour before adding it to the ice cream maker.

Ice Cream Maker

• For this recipe, you’ll need an ice cream maker. Here’s the one I use and love.

Topping ideas

While we love this chocolate frozen yogurt as is — straight from the ice cream maker if you’re at my home — there are always fun ways to spruce it up with various toppings.

• Chocolate shavings. Use a vegetable peeler to “peel” the backside of a plain chocolate bar onto the yogurt.
• Fruit. If you like chocolate-covered strawberries or bananas you’ll probably love fruit added to the frozen yogurt.
• Whipped cream. Go for extravagance with a scoop of coconut whipped cream or regular whipped cream (how to make whipped cream tutorial here) on top.
• Cookie dough. Roll tiny balls of edible cookie dough and add as a topping– or use this peanut butter cookie dough for a chocolate-peanut butter treat.
• Brownie batter. Roll tiny balls of this edible brownie batter to add as a topping.
• Chocolate or caramel sauce. Add a drizzle of some homemade (or a store-bought) chocolate fudge sauce or caramel sauce.

Chocolate Frozen Yogurt FAQs

More chocolate desserts

• Chocolate Dip for Fruit with Nutella
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Snack Mix with Reese’s candies
• Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with chocolate buttercream frosting
• Chocolate Pudding Pie with an Oreo cookie crust
• Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats with a chocolate topping

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5 from 7 votes

Chocolate Frozen Yogurt

By Chelsea Lords

Enjoy the light texture and rich taste of Chocolate Frozen Yogurt in this easy-to-make recipe—just blend the ingredients, pour into an ice cream maker, and enjoy!

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Equipment

• Large blender
• Ice cream maker

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 cups vanilla bean yogurt see note 1
• ▢ 1/2 cup heavy cream
• ▢ 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2/3 cup sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder see note 2

Instructions 

• Add all the ingredients to a large powerful blender and process until completely smooth. If the mixture is warmed up by blending, thoroughly chill it before adding to an ice cream maker.
• Use an ice cream maker to freeze the mixture according to the manufacturer's directions. It takes my machine about 35–⁠45 minutes to get to frozen yogurt consistency. Enjoy the yogurt straight out of the ice cream maker.
• If desired, transfer the mixture to an airtight container and into the freezer to further harden. Note that the longer it is in the freezer the icier the texture becomes.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: If not using the brand of yogurt linked in the recipe, you may need to adjust the level of sweetener. Be sure to use a full-fat yogurt you enjoy eating on its own, or you likely won't end up loving this frozen yogurt recipe.

Note 2: Regular cocoa powder won’t give this yogurt the depth of flavor that Dutch-process will. The brand I’ve found most readily available at grocery stores is Hershey’s Special Dark. My personal favorite is this Extra brute cocoa powder —it has an amazingly robust flavor.

Storage: Store the frozen yogurt in an airtight container to prevent ice crystals. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface before sealing. Freeze for up to 2 weeks. Let it soften for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 112mg | Potassium: 492mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 324IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 173mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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