Kids love dessert and, truth be told, most parents and caregivers do, too. But if dessert has become a regular part of your kids’ snack and meal routines, you’ll want to make sure they’re nutritious and not just empty calories. These healthy desserts for kids will make enjoying a sweet snack here and there less of a guilt-inducing battle and more of a simple delight. The best part? You don’t even have to tell your kids these desserts are good for them! Try these five healthy desserts to revamp your family’s sweets selection:
- Go Bananas
Really — that’s all you need! Bananas, all by themselves, can easily be transformed into quick, healthy desserts for kids with a bit of prep and a lot of blending. The hardest part of this One Ingredient Ice Cream recipe from One Ingredient Chef is remembering to put a few bananas in the freezer the night before. Andrew Olson, creator of the recipe site, recommends sticking to foods you know your kids already love. “One of my favourite ways to make healthy, kid-friendly desserts is to start with fruit. It’s so versatile, colourful and naturally sweet,” he says. You can also choose to fancy it up a bit by incorporating a few of their suggestions, such as dried cherries or peanut butter with raisins.
- Think Chocolate Avocado
This sounds like the oddest combination for a healthy dessert for kids, but have a little faith. The Healthy Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Smoothie Lover replaces butter with avocado to make a dessert that’s so nice you won’t want to share with your kids. But they don’t stop there. These cookies are also grain-free, and the recipe replaces white sugar with coconut sugar and uses dark chocolate.
- Make Your Own Fruit Snacks
Oftentimes, the best way to curb your tot’s sweet tooth is to make healthier versions of the desserts she already loves. For example, ditch the sugar-packed fruit snacks for these Healthy Homemade Mango Fruit Roll-Ups from Just a Taste. While making them requires a bit more effort than just grabbing them at your local grocery store, this recipe is much easier than others you will find since it uses your oven, not a food dehydrator.
- Serve Cool Treats on a Hot Day
Kids love Popsicles, especially when the day calls for something cool. Beat the heat with Fresh Fruit and Coconut Pops from Camille Styles. They’re packed full of fresh fruit and use coconut water as the base instead of sugary juice. Your kids will enjoy seeing the slices of fruit as they eat — and that you’ll let them have seconds!
- Pack a Protein Punch
For a healthy dessert that does double-duty as an after-school snack and a soccer game boost, the Protein Energy Bar Bites from Tips from a Typical Mom are a great choice. These bites are more like truffles than granola bars, but use healthful ingredients like oatmeal, dried fruit, peanut butter, nuts and coconut. You can make a batch of these yummy treats in no time as a replacement for those energy bars kids love that aren’t as healthy as they claim to be.
If you’re looking to make a change in the dessert menu at your house, try the Tips from a Typical Mom offered by Annette Belnap, who created the recipe above along with countless other kid-friendly healthy dessert ideas. “When we make desserts at home, we try to substitute healthier ingredients in the mix, like applesauce for oil, honey for sugar or fruit toppings instead of chocolate syrup,” Belnap says. She suggests coming clean with your kids when it comes to what’s in their foods, although that’s a personal preference. “One time, I tried to be sneaky and secretly made brownies with black beans, but the kids could tell that they weren’t quite right!” she recalls.
Text source: Katie Kavulla, a mom of three, loves finding new ways to feed her kids healthy desserts, as long as she can still keep her secret stash of cookies. You can find more from Katie on Instagram.