Many years ago, not long after we moved to Florida, my Dad went outside one day, got a coconut from the tree, cut it open and let me drink the milk inside. I’ve never forgotten that fresh, creamy taste; nor have I been able to replicate it. Until now, that is. Recently, I tried a Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt Bar in Coconut, and instantly the old memory of that sweet, fresh coconut milk flooded my senses.
Yasso, a company founded by two athletic friends in 2010, was the first to market frozen greek yogurt and cash in on the latest fad, according to the Yasso website. The Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt bars come in raspberry, mango, strawberry, blueberry, vanilla bean and coconut. They are fairly pricey – $4.69 for four bars at my local Publix. But Publix is great about having BOGO sales, and sure enough, the Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt bars were buy one, get one free last time I shopped.
Since I’ve been trying to eat more healthfully lately, one of the first things I noticed about the yogurt bars was the nutrition information. Each frozen yogurt bar has only 80 calories, 5 mg of cholesterol and 55 mg of sodium. There isn’t any saturated or trans fat, and only 14 grams of carbohydrate per 70 gram size bar. I’ve been told by my doctors to eat more protein, so I was pleased to see that the coconut bars have 6 grams of protein each. The bars contain 12 grams of sugar, but no artificial sweeteners of any kind. The ingredients are natural and the milk is nonfat and rBST-free.
I decided a frozen yogurt bar would be a good treat one hot day, and got out my first ever frozen greek yogurt bar. The directions say to let the bar thaw for a minute or two, but I couldn’t resist and bit in right away. The first sensation was icy, which, while refreshing, was not exactly what I was looking for. So I waited a minute and tried again. Much better! There is an icy coating at first that is not as flavorful as the bar is once that is off. You can lick it off, or wait a minute. But I was a little worried about the bar melting down my arm, so my husband suggested taking a bite and letting it dissolve in my mouth. This worked perfectly, and creamy, fresh, light milky coconut flooded my delighted taste buds.
The bars are big, and don’t seem to melt as quickly as regular ice cream or yogurt bars, so I had time to really savor the flavor, including the bits of coconut throughout. It was the best of both worlds, since it was healthy and also definitely a refreshing treat. I enjoyed it so much that I was eager to try another flavor, so a few days later I sampled the strawberry frozen greek yogurt bar. It was good, but I detected a slightly chalky residue, and also thought it tasted a bit too strongly of yogurt. My husband, however, felt it was the creamier, tastier flavor and that the coconut one was more “yogurty” than he liked. So if you don’t like one flavor, you might prefer another.
For me, though, Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt in Coconut is a very satisfying, refreshing treat that I can feel good about eating.
Resources:
Personal experience
Yasso website