Greek Vanilla Bean Frozen Yogurt (Soft-Serve Style)

Note: This recipe makes just about a quart of frozen yogurt.

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring water and sugar to a full boil and boil about 90 seconds or until all the sugar has dissolved and you have a thick, clear syrup. Turn off heat.

In the clean, dry bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites to soft peaks at medium-high speed. Reduce the speed to low and stream the hot sugar syrup slowly into the beaten egg whites. When you have added all the syrup, turn the mixer up to high and continue beating until the mixture forms a thick, glossy meringue and the sides of the bowl are no longer hot to the touch, but just warm (in my mixer, this took about 5 minutes).

Fold the Greek yogurt and vanilla bean seeds (or paste) into the meringue until well incorporated. Transfer the mixture straight into the bowl of your ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions until frozen, but still soft-serve texture, not firm. (I churned mine with my KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment for 10-12 minutes).

Serve promptly with toppings and mix-ins as desired. Store any leftovers in the freezer. Soften before reserving.

Notes:
For the soft-serve swirl effect, I scooped my soft serve straight out of the ice cream machine into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and, working quickly, piped the frozen yogurt into the serving cups.

Please note: Frozen Greek yogurt does still taste distinctly like Greek yogurt, with its marked tanginess.

Adapted from Baking Bites.