Fun And Healthy Desserts You Can Make With Your Kids
Small, toasted, whole-grain tortillas and are perfect for making fruit pizzas. You can use virtually any healthy spread (like nut or seed butter or plain Greek yogurt) and toppings (like fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, or miniature dark chocolate chips) to create your pizzas, but if you're looking for something that resembles an actual pizza, try spreading your tortilla with mashed raspberries, sprinkling it with grated coconut, and then topping it with round slices of strawberry; it will look just like pepperoni pizza!
Banana “Ice Cream”
This delicious frozen dessert only requires one ingredient: bananas. Let your kids help you peel the bananas and then, with a plastic or child-safe knife, let them cut the bananas into coins. Place the coins on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze while you cook, eat, and clean up after dinner. Then, take the bananas out of the freezer, place them into the bowl of your food processor, and let your kids push the button to start the machine. In just a few minutes you'll have delicious and creamy banana "ice cream."
Apple Smiles
Your kids will love creating this silly dessert. Take two wedges of apple and spread a little nut butter on each. Then, sandwich five miniature marshmallows between the apples (the nut butter should be on the inside of the wedges to help hold them together) so that they resemble teeth.
Chocolate-Dipped Fruit
Dark chocolate is a great source of antioxidants and has less sugar and fat than white or milk chocolate. Pairing dark chocolate with fruit will give it the extra sweetness your kids love. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double-boiler and then pour it onto a cool bowl. Give your children long forks or skewers with a piece of fruit attached to the end and allow them to dunk the fruit in the chocolate before placing it on a piece of waxed paper to cool.
Yogurt Parfaits
Yogurt parfaits make great kid-friendly desserts because your child can have lots of freedom to customize their dessert. Let them layer plain non-fat yogurt (sweeten it with a touch of honey first if you'd like), fresh fruit, and their favorite whole-grain topping (granola has become standard, but cooked quinoa is also delicious in parfaits) in a clear glass jar so that they can see their artwork.
Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
Oats are great source of fiber and with a few simple tweaks, oatmeal cookies can be a healthy and delicious dessert that's also easy for kids to help make. Look for a recipe that calls for applesauce; it usually replaces a portion of the fat and sugar in the more traditional version of the recipe. And, to make your cookies extra healthy, swap whole-wheat flour for all-purpose. Click here our applesauce oatmeal cookie recipe.
Nut Butter Bites
If your kids like modeling clay, they'll love making these nut butter bites; they can roll the dough into balls or sculpt it into shapes. Just mix ½ cup of nut butter with ⅓ cup of honey and a teaspoon of vanilla. In a separate bowl combine 1 cup of rolled oats, 1 cup of coconut flakes, and ½ cup of coarsely chopped sunflower seeds with 1 cup of your favorite add-ins (like mini chocolate chips or dried cherries). Mix the contents of the two bowls and then let the mixture chill for a half an hour before letting your kids shape the bites.