Pancakes & Product Reviews: Stonyfield Farms Yogurt

 

Today I have perhaps the last of my product reviews from the goodie box I received from Around the Plate. We were given a coupon for a Stonyfield Farms yogurt, and I have to say, I was a little hesitant to use this one. Stonyfield Farms has developed a bad reputation with me for being excessive in the sugar department. I’m sorry, but 29g is just not ok for first thing in the morning for me – even if each and every one of those grams is organic and devoid of the words “high,” “fructose,” and “corn syrup.” L loves Stonyfield Farms, and I’ll eat it on occasion – usually as more of a dessert than a full on meal. I like the company, but I knew I wasn’t crazy about all of the flavors’ nutritional profiles. Still, I wanted to give the company another try. After all, as I’ve mentioned before, there is a lot to be said for a company who cares about the impact it has on the world around it.

I decided that the best way to approach this review was to find a recipe that called for yogurt, and use the Stonyfield brand. To me, this blog isn’t about food reviews. I’ve certainly done my fair share of them, particularly recently, and plan to do a few more over the next month or so. However, I don’t want them to take away from this blog’s true purpose – sharing food and recipes with you. So, this is a hybrid post: a review of Stonyfield Farms and their yogurt, plus a delicious pancake recipe that calls for yogurt in the ingredients.

But first, let’s talk about this yogurt, because I’m sure I’ve done a great job of drawing you in with my attacks on its sugar content (it’s amazing any company tolerates the reviews I give, right?). I went with the 0% Super Fruits flavor (think Pomegranate, Raspberry, and Acai) – not only was it modest in sugar (22g), but it was a flavor that you don’t see very often. I do have to commend Stonyfield on that. As much as I adore my Chobani and I think they have fantastic flavors, I long for more exotic, creative flavors. Stonyfield has flavors like “Banilla,” which I’ve heard is out of this world, “Chocolate Underground,” which – despite being laden with sugar, and probably understandably so – is definitely something I could enjoy for dessert, and “French Vanilla” which just sounds a little more indulgent and fancier than the typical vanilla.

In terms of Nutrition, it’s a pretty standard yogurt – 120 calories, 130mg sodium, 22g carbohydrates (pretty much exclusively from sugar, which will be partially added and partially naturally derived from lactose), and 6g protein. It delivers 25% of the daily recommendations for Calcium. Because the sugar is a little higher than I’d like to see, I might be inclined to choose the low-fat over fat-free varieties, just to give my body a little bit of a glycemic buffer – but really, 22g isn’t obscene. The other flavors that inch up closer to 30 are more of a concern. It seems that Stonyfield Farms has heard the cries of other sugar police like myself, because they’re in the process of rolling out a new, lower-calorie, lower-sugar line of yogurt (100 calories, 30% less sugar), using Stevia with a touch of cane sugar (read more about the switch here!).

The taste came through as a more or less typical mixed berry yogurt. The raspberries play the starring role, but you do get a hint of the pomegranate and acai in a nice, subtle way that makes it just a little different from the other mixed berry flavors on the market. It’s also not a very thick yogurt – it’s one of the more liquidy ones I’ve seen, especially compared to the thickened greek yogurts that I’m so used to – which could be nice for anyone who is a little turned off by yogurt’s consistency. 

The bottom line: I have to admit, I like the taste of Stonyfield, and I do like what their company does and how it presents itself. I’m definitely interested in the reduced sugar line they’re making now, and will have to update this post if I ever get the opportunity to try it. Until then, I personally will stick to yogurts with lower sugar contents for my day-to-day use, but that’s just a personal preference. I know so many people who can’t get enough of Stonyfield Farm’s products, and I can definitely see why. For anyone who is less concerned with their sugar intake, the nutrition panel was already commendable; now with the introduction of Stevia, that’s even more true; the taste is excellent; and the price is more than reasonable. This is a great option for yogurt, and definitely one of the best non-greek varieties on the market right now.

 

So about these pancakes, since something that Stonyfield Farms encourages is creating healthier food by using yogurt as an ingredient. They’re not nearly as thick and fluffy as I like my pancakes to be, but they do taste good, especially mixed with the extra yogurt and a warm berry sauce as toppings. I did find myself adding flour to the recipe that otherwise just called for oats, because I wound up with a very soupy consistency. The recipe suggested greek yogurt, so I have a feeling the thinness of the batter had a lot to do with the fact that I used Stonyfield. Once I added the whole wheat flour, though, the batter was a really nice thickness and cooked up beautifully, so don’t view that as a deterrent. 

 Tomorrow is National Pancake Day – a perfect excuse to tell you about this yogurt and these pancakes at once - and I have to smile at the fact that it falls on a Tuesday. I’ve mentioned it before, but growing up there was this traditional in my house known as “Pancake Tuesdays.” Not a Tuesday went by that my grandmother and, once she passed on, my mom didn’t crack open that box of Aunt Jemima pancake mix and whip up a batch for my sister and me. It wasn’t until college that the tradition broke, though I have to say that a really good stack of fluffy pancakes can still win me over, even in the worst of moods. They are, for me, the ultimate comfort food.