Summer’s on its way which means the daily requests for ice cream will soon be starting, if they haven’t already started. I don’t know about you but after almost every outing my kids request we either stop for ice cream or donuts, depending on where we are. And it doesn’t end there. At home, their requests for snacks never end and it often involves wanting ‘something sweet’.
Well, kids, we have GREAT news! Have all the sweet treats you want thanks to these healthier options to the common summer snacks. We’ve got excellent replacements for ice cream, donuts, lollies and more.
Summer never tasted so good!
8 Healthy Ice Cream and Other Summer Snacks to TryÂ
1. Nice CreamÂ
We’ll start with one of the best alternatives to ice cream in the history of ever – Nice cream. Yep. Nice Cream – or healthy ice cream. It’s the easiest, ice cream-like dessert safe for older babies and toddlers to eat and loved by big kids too. Best of all, you can make it using just one ingredient – bananas!
Nice cream is made purely by blitzing pieces of frozen banana in a food processor or high-speed blender until it becomes smooth and creamy.
You could add a handful of frozen blueberries for a sensational purple-toned banana-based nice cream or frozen raspberries for a brilliant pink dessert. Or perhaps a few frozen mango chunks? You can even add a teaspoon of cacao or cocoa for a hint of chocolate goodness.
2. Homemade Gummy Bears
For summer movie nights, you can’t go past a good lolly fix. Actually, lollies are fantastic to have in a lot of summer holiday situations such as when you need to bribe the kids to behave or leave you alone so you can get stuff done. But dishing out sugary sweets all day long isn’t ideal which is why we love these healthy(ish) gummy bears. Bonus – you – and the kids – can make them at home.
Now, these gummy bears aren’t the healthiest thing on the planet as they are made with jelly… but compared to the supermarket options, they are definitely better for them. You will also need a gummy bear mould set to pull this off, which we found on Amazon, including a dropper for easy pouring of the jelly mixture.
Simply choose your jelly flavour (we suggest using three different flavours), make your mixture and place in the moulds to set.
3. Froyo Bark
Froyo is our summer go-to whenever we head out but it can get expensive. If your little ones love a froyo, then you’ve gotta try this recipe for froyo bark! You’ll need Greek-stye yoghurt, Yakult, various fruits and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. No unhealthy cream is needed and Yakult is actually really good for the kids, especially their gut health.
Fun Fact: Yakult is a really good alternative for all sorts of popular summer sweets including Cake Pops and Ice Cream too.
4. Frozen Fruit Yoghurt Pops
Speaking of cake pops, here’s another really easy alternative that uses yoghurt and frozen fruit. From Hello Wonderful, a recipe for two-ingredient, toddler snack-sized pops – perfect! They look like little balls of dessert deliciousness!
5. Frosty Fruits FruitStack
I recently discovered these while out with the kids who were demanding ice creams on our way home from the beach. I gave in and was pleasantly surprised when all three of the kids chose these new Frosty Fruits Fruit Stacks. They are made from sorbet instead of ice cream with flavours like sweet strawberry, tangy orange and zingy apple. Definitely a healthier choice than their standard picks of drumsticks or Magnums.
And don’t they look fun?? They are available in single servings at any shop that sells single-serve ice creams (petrol and convenience stores) but you can also grab a six-pack in supermarket freezers.
As mentioned above, donuts are a common request in my home, especially when we are grocery shopping as Donut King is next door to Woolies. A cute alternative is to make apple slice donuts, using none other than apple slices and a variety of toppings from home. Nutella and peanut butter are both great bases, then add sprinkles. The recipe above is from Fork and Beans and they look so delicious – I mean, what child could resist???
Or, for an even healthier option, swap the Nutella and sprinkles for yoghurt and fruits.
7. Choc Banana Poles
One of my personal favourites, nothing beats a choc-dipped frozen banana pop covered in crushed peanuts or sprinkles. Pre-freeze the bananas and let the kids go to town creating their own delicious, semi-healthy fun dessert.
Fun Fact: You don’t have to stick to bananas. Candy apples are also fun – and not just at Halloween either.
8. Choc Dipped Mint YoghurtÂ
We’ll end our healthy summer snacks with another Greek yoghurt and healthy ice cream winner – Chocolate mint ice blocks.
Perfect for beating the heat, these mint flavoured yoghurt ice blocks are lickety-split good and don’t require any cream or sugar! You will need Greek yoghurt, milk, chocolate and coconut oil though. Plus peppermint extract, vanilla bean paste and honey to taste. But, compared to the traditional mint chocolate chip ice creams – which is another favourite of my kids whenever we get scoops of ice cream – this one is a healthy winner!
So there you have it – 8 healthy summer snacks that complement any hot summer day. We’ve got plenty of other great healthy recipes and snacks for kids including:
