You might be thinking…what in the world is berry sauce? Well, it is a simple invention that makes homemade flavored yogurt, strawberry milk, and berry ice cream a piece of cake! All you have to do is mix a few teaspoons of the finished sauce into whatever your heart desires, although I do recommend sieving out the seeds for the optimal berry-flavored milk. Please no more Hershey’s “Strawberry Syrup” which is pure high-fructose corn syrup! This berry sauce is also a great topping on pancakes and waffles. The possibilities are endless!
Berry Sauce swirled into plain yogurt
Berry Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ cup frozen berries
- 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)
- ¼ cup water
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a light simmer. Cook until the berries have softened, about 5 – 10 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with hand immersion blender or countertop blender. Use immediately or store in the fridge for later.
sounds great! At some point soon I plan on making my own yogurt – which would be plain. I myself don’t care for whole berries in my yogurt – so all I could think of was jelly. This will be perfect! If only we had local berries.
Yummy! What would be the best way to strain out the seeds? Cheese cloth, maybe?
I just used a fine sieve/strainer, but cheese cloth would probably work too if that is all you have on hand!
I’ve been making this recipe from Kathleen Daelemans’ cookbook, Cooking Thin for years. Similar to your berry sauce this one is strawberries and rhubarb with a bit of sweetener. I never use that much sugar and you can replace with honey or your choice of sweetener. But it could not be any simpler. And no straining necessary! So delicious. http://books.google.com/books?id=6KBUc4V0hDgC&lpg=RA3-PT126&ots=UCOX2IEcqe&dq=Kathleen%20Daelemans%20strawberry%20rhubarb%20sauce&pg=RA3-PT126#v=onepage&q&f=false
This looks awesome – I was literally just looking for something like this today!
Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to try it! I think I’ll try making some this week as I just got a bag of mixed frozen berries.
I had homemade waffles for dinner last night with cottage cheese and maple syrup. I almost caved and bought jam but resisted.
What a GREAT EASY so much better for you sauce!! I always have those ingredients on hand so the possibilites are endless
Thanks for the inspiration to make my own sauce!
mmm-sounds great! I’m going to try it with oatmeal tomorrow
What is the shelf life? Could you replace the maple syrup with honey?
I think honey would work great! Shelf life is as long as you would keep berries in the fridge…a week and a half at the most.
I just made this with buckwheat honey and strawberries and it turned out fabulous!
I’m thinking of trying this for a sorbet/ice cream type of treat. We should have strawberries at the local farm soon.
Hi! I love your website as my family and i are trying to eat healthier! I need more ideas of what else to put in plain yogurt besides strawberries (i am allergic). I love vanilla flavored yogurt but i realize now looking at the sugar content, it is ridiculous to eat that as is. Please help! Thank you!
You could use this recipe with any frozen fruit…peaches, blackberries, pineapple, etc. The sky’s the limit!
This is delicious! I was nervous to try it since my kids are used to the other kind of yogurt…but they LOVED it! We wrote a list of other fruits we could try to make sauces with to go with the plain yogurt. I just found your site a week ago, but have already made the banana bread, granola, this sauce & plan to make the tortillas next week! Thank you so much for this great resource to help us feed our families & ourselves in a much healthier way!
Why frozen berries? Can I use fresh fruit?
Kids loved it with plain yogurt! Hurray for less sugar in their little bodies!
Hi,
I love the idea of this in yogurt for my kids but i have never been able to perfect a yogurt recipe (I have a yogurt maker) that my children will eat – do you have any suggestions? I would have to strain it because they really like “smooth” yogurt – but I would love to try something! Thank you.
Could you freeze this for later use?
I have not tried to freeze it myself, but I bet it would work.
Just found your site today & I am loving it!! Two Qs about this sauce:
1.) Can I use fresh fruit to make it?
2.) Can I make a batch or two & freeze for later (maybe in ice cube trays?)
Thanks a million!
Yes, fresh fruit would work…also, I have not frozen it myself, but I think it would work great!
I am making this with raspberries to add pink to my daughters birthday cake. She loves this sauce in yogurt, on pancakes, and now in birthday cake and frosting!
I love the idea of mixing it into cupcakes! Pinkalicious inspired party! Is there a good healthy cake recipe??
Here is a cake recipe…have fun!
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/08/05/recipe-whole-wheat-chocolate-cake-with-easy-whipped-cream-frosting/
I’ve used fresh fruit (blueberries and peaches) and it has worked well, I just didn’t have to keep them on stove top for as long!
[...] following day I decided to make this berry sauce, thanks to 100daysofrealfood.com. So, I started putting the blender together and guess what I had [...]
I am venturing into the world of homemade yogurt this week and this is PERFECT! I was looking for something a little “saucy” instead of just chunks of fruit for my yogurt. Can’t wait to try this!!
your berry sauce looks awesome and sounds great! to even think about the nestle strawberry syrup makes me so angry! thankfully my children are young enough and will not know about that those things some call ‘food.’ every time i see the local ads in the paper, i get so disgusted with the ‘food’ or lack thereof grocery stores sell. i am proud to say i have not stepped foot in a big named grocery since my family began our healthy eating! thank you for sharing out all the information you do lisa!
Cooking a batch now to stir into my homemade yogurt…thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for this recipe! My youngest loves strawberry milk but I hate giving her Nestle’s. I can’t wait to get to the store for some fresh berries!
I just made this and added it to some plain yogurt with a little Stevia. It was yummy. It was even good plain.
I am making this to add it to plain yogurt this morning. I just bought the ice pop makers and I’m excited to use them for my daughter. But I despise yogurt and have no idea how much berry sauce to add to the yogurt and refuse to do a taste test (it would taste terrible to me no matter what). And tips on ratios? Thanks!
Per our discussion on facebook start with 2 tablespoons per 1/2 cup and go from there!
Finally got around to making it and its great!
I make this all the time to put on top of our favorite dessert or in yogurt. Today my son wanted pb&j and I was totally out of jelly. THEN I had the idea to take your recipe, put less water in it and voila – jelly. A thinner version than the store-bought kind made with gelatin but it was quick and easy and healthy and my son loved it!
I make a strawberry sauce that i just blend with maple syrup and add lemon juice. I don’t cook it, but the lemon juice acts as a preservative and it lasts a few weeks in the frig. I will try this recipe. Looks yummy!
Just made this to go along with your whole wheat waffles. SO good!!
What kind of Maple Syrup do you buy?
~BethAnne
P.S. I LOVE your blog!! Lots of fabulous information!
Thank you!
I buy Earth Fare brand organic Grade B Syrup.
[...] http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/03/recipe-berry-sauce/#more-1440 [...]
Just made blueberry and strawberry versions of this sauce- delicious! I’m currently living a no-sugar-added life (for lent), including honey, syrup, anything. So, made blueberry sauce as the recipe directs (for my hubby) but made the strawberry without any added sweetener. Trying to add sweetness/for fun, I added half a banana and some grape juice (squeezed fresh as that’s all I had on hand)- so fantastic! A little tart, a little sweet, my favorite
Lisa, thank you for all you do!
[...] jam or another berry sauce [...]
[...] http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/03/recipe-berry-sauce/#more-1440 [...]
I made this tonight because I was craving something a little sweet and it is great. I stirred two tablespoons into 1/2c of greek yogurt and it was really good, better to me than the premixed storebought junk. I mixed strawberries and blueberries.
I make berry sauce for pancakes, and have found that if you add a ripe banana to it, you don’t even need to sweeten it at all.
I love this because I’ve been wanting to quit buying sugary yogurt but I can’t stand plain yogurt. I’m going to try it with this! Thank you.
Have you ever tried mixing in mashed bananas? I’m just curious… I want to try mixing this with plain greek yogurt to see if my kids will eat it (good-bye Yoplait!), and would like to come up with a few flavor combinations.
I have not tried it with bananas…my only concern would the the color changing to something really unappealing, but you could try it.
I just made a large batch of this using fresh strawberries. Yum! I’ve finally converted my 5 year old to plain, homemade yogurt, and he will love this mixed in. Now to work on my husband and the two year old…they are tough!