Light Cherry Yogurt Coconut Fool

A year-round dessert. This mini cherry dessert is ideal for any time of the year. When fresh cherries are available, it's a great way to celebrate cherry season! Frozen cherries are available year-round and they're already pitted!  

A cute dessert for special occasions. This Cherry Coconut Yogurt Fool is perfect for a date night dessert at home, for Valentine's Day, Christmas, Mother's Day or any time you want a light healthy dessert.

A light dessert made with Greek yogurt instead of whipped cream. lightened this traditional English cherry fool dessert by substituting plain Greek yogurt for whipping cream. While you can certainly use the sugar or other sweetener of your choice, I use zero-calorie Monkfruit with erythritol in this recipe.

You'll find a complete list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. Here are a few notes about the ingredients.

• Greek yogurt:  use a very firm variety, the kind you can stand a spoon up in. You can use a light yogurt, or full-fat.
• coconut:  medium unsweetened. It's optional if you don't like coconut.
• sweetener:  I've made this dessert with both zero-calorie sweetener like Monkfruit with erythritol and granulated sugar. You can also use honey if you'd prefer.
• cherries:  pitted, fresh or frozen. You'll purée ¼ cup in a blender and halve an additional ½ cup to fold in.
• pure almond extract: just ¼ teaspoon is enough to give that almond flavour that goes so well with cherries.
• roasted salted pistachios: coarsely chop to add a little salty interest, or substitute flaked almonds if you'd prefer.

Since cherries and almond flavours go hand-in-hand, I add a tiny bit of pure almond extract to the mix. To add some contrast in texture and taste, I like to top the dessert glasses with chopped salted pistachios. Flaked almonds are also delicious, however, and they complement the cherry-almond flavour of this mini cherry dessert.