After school snacks are every mother’s bane. We do everything possible to stuff our kid’s tummies when they get back from school, as most kids return home super hungry . My elder one is involved with several extra-curricular activities during her school break time, so many a times, she has comes home without finishing her school snack box, all because she simply didn’t get a chance due to her commitments.
Once home, the kids have some class or the other to rush to like piano class, dance, music and so on. This puts them on a tight schedule and leaves them with no time to really focus on sitting down to a meal. Sandwiches and wraps are pretty easy to eat with one hand which they multitask with homework and projects with the other hand, but this tends to get quite mundane after a while. Which is why I thought of these Granola Popsicle’s, it would not only satisfy their sweet tooth, but also pass my ‘healthy’ and nutritious meal requirement thanks to the addition of fruit, nuts and Probiotic rich yogurt all in one go!
Since I really didn’t’ have much time on hand, I used store bought Granola as you can see above. But those of you who wish to make Granola at home, here’s my recipe of homemade Granola, I love the combination I’ve used and trust me, it’s a super quick recipe once you have all the ingredients on hand. Granola can be used in many different ways, but it works best with yogurt or your morning milk as a breakfast cereal option.
So here’s my recipe for the Fruity Granola Popsicles, and I hope it inspires your creative juices too.
This recipe yields 4-5 average sized popsicles. Don’t forget to tag @saffronbowl in social media when you try my recipes.
Ingredients
1 heaped cup Greek or any unflavoured Yogurt
2-3 tsp Blueberry preserve (organic if possible)
2-3 tsp Honey or Agave syrup
1/4 cup Granola (go for a gluten-free version, if you have allergies)
1/3 cup or a handful of fresh Blueberries
You will need a set of Popsicle moulds for setting these in the freezer.
Divide the yogurt in two parts. In the first part, blend in the blueberry preserve and in the second half, mix the honey well into the yogurt. You can adjust the sweetness according to your taste or as per the sweetness level of your blueberry/ fruit preserve. I have noticed some brands of preserve with Blackcurrant and Blueberry combined, this also works in this recipe and will lend that pretty lavender colour to the pops.
Set the popsicles moulds on their stand and spoon in the first layer of the blueberry flavoured yogurt, then in goes the honey flavoured yogurt and you again alternate with the blueberry preserve yogurt. Roughly fill the mould to 70% capacity with the yogurt. Now you put in your blueberries, but make sure you slightly smash them up a bit so they can not only release their juices, but also fit in well into the moulds. Top this off with the granola and finally cover with the popsicle sticks and now they can be placed in the freezer to set for 3-4 hours.
Once set, get the moulds out of the freezer, place one hand on a mould and gently pull with your other hand to get them out. The warmth of your hand is enough to release them from the moulds. If not, just set them on the counter for 5 minutes and they should un-mould easily.
Eat these yummy pops immediately!
Tip- You can use any other fruit for this as well, like strawberries/ raspberries along with strawberry preserve. I would also try a banana combination along with pineapple spread or preserve, it will give your popsicles a lovely yellow hue.
