One day over the summer I desperately needed to go to the grocery store and I needed to do a real shop, not just pick a few things up, because our pantry was incredibly bare.

Unfortunately, though, school was out and camps had not started yet, which meant I had two boys with me who had no interest in going grocery shopping. 

What’s a mom to do? Bribe. So I did. I bribed them with a treat each if they would help me out and not beg and plead for each thing that caught their interest.

They agreed. So in we went.

We had made it through the produce section and were entering the bulk foods when my little one cried out, “YOGURT PRETZELS!!” And then my older one cried out, “YOGURT PRETZELS!!” These two kids could not be more different in their taste in food- my younger loves all things protein (read: meat) and my older is a vegetable addict- so this was a rare moment.

I was about to say, “Great! Yogurt pretzels can be your treat!” When a little voice inside my head said, “But what is actually in yogurt pretzels?” I had looked it up before and deep down I knew the answer: Not yogurt.

Yogurt pretzels do have a tiny, tiny bit of dehydrated yogurt in them, but mostly the coating is confectioner’s sugar. So really what they were asking for was candy and I wasn’t a big fan of that idea.

But inspiration struck and I said, “what if we made our OWN yogurt pretzels?!” Luckily they loved the idea.

So that afternoon I poked around online and found that I really wasn’t gong to be able to make yogurt pretzels, but I came across a couple of yogurt sauces.

So the boys and I created our own version.

This has become our go-to dessert.

It is healthy, delicious, and fun- kids LOVE to dip! I have even used it as the treat at school birthday celebrations instead of cupcakes/cookies/etc. and the kids loved it.

The best part of this recipe? It takes 1 minute to make.

Ok, maybe 2 if you include washing the fruit.

A small note, I make this with organic whole milk plain yogurt. In fact, that is the only kind of yogurt we have in the house.

Here is why: 1) whole milk yogurt has good fats, 2) flavored yogurts have CRAZY amounts of sugar in them- one serving has as much sugar as a bowl of ice cream!, and 3) it is more flexible.

I use it in baking, in savory sauces, and, clearly, as a dessert.

I hope you and your kids enjoy this one as much as we do.

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1-Minute Dessert: Sweet Yogurt Dip

Course Dessert

Prep Time 1 minute minute

Total Time 1 minute minute

Servings 2

Author Jessica Braider

Ingredients

• ½ cup whole milk plain yogurt preferably organic
• 1 teaspoon honey or more, depending on how sweet you want it
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• dash of cinnamon

Instructions

• Mix the four ingredients together. If needed, add more honey to taste. Serve with pretzels and fresh fruit (grapes, strawberries, blueberries, apples pieces, and melon pieces have all been big hits in our household) with toothpicks for dipping.

<p>The post 1-Minute Dessert: Sweet Yogurt Dip first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

When I first started pondering what to make, the dessert that popped into my mind was the mini-cupcakes at Whole Foods. I have a weak spot for them. I love that they are small enough that I can happily have two (or, let’s be honest, often three) and that they give me a nice hit of chocolate without being too much. So I thought I would try and come up with a homemade version.

If you have been following me for a while, you have probably caught onto the fact that I am a big fan of using yogurt in baking. I like it for three reasons: 1) like buttermilk, it makes things fluffier, 2) unlike buttermilk, I almost always have it in the house, and 3) it adds some protein to whatever I am baking. My love for using yogurt in cakes was firmly solidified a couple of months ago when I came across the yogurt cake recipe on the Kitchn. No beating or stiffening of eggs, only one bowl used, and yet out comes a fluffy, delicious cake—it is a lazy cook’s dream cake recipe! So I adapted it a little to make it a smidge healthier by including some spelt flour and cutting down on the sugar and the outcome was outstanding! (Note: I have found that using whole grain flours, like whole wheat or spelt, in cakes works better in cupcakes than it does in full-sized cakes, it just doesn’t rise quite enough as a big cake because the flours are denser…)

For the chocolate glaze, I also wanted the tangy-ness of yogurt to enliven the flavor and bulk up the nutrition, even if just by a little bit. So I tweaked a Cabot recipe by decreasing the sugar (why does every frosting recipe call for so much sugar?!). All I can say is that if I could eat these cupcakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I totally would. And, in fact, I just might have them for breakfast tomorrow…

Happy Birthday, The Recipe Redux!

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Vanilla Mini-Cupcakes with Tangy Chocolate Glaze

Cupcake recipe adapted from: The Kitchn Yogurt Cake Glaze recipe adapted from: Cabot Chocolate Layer Cake

Course Dessert

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 48

Author Jessica Braider

Ingredients

• For the cupcakes:
• 1 ½ cups whole milk plain yogurt
• 2/3 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup spelt flour or white whole wheat flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• pinch freshly ground nutmeg
• For the glaze:
• ¼ cup plain whole milk yogurt
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ¼ cups confectioner’s sugar

Instructions

• To make the cake:
• Preheat the oven to 350 and line two mini-cupcake pans with liners.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
• Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg and stir until there are no lumps.
• Distribute the batter amongst your muffin cups and bake for 15 minutes. Place them on a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before glazing them.
• To make the glaze:
• Combine the yogurt, cocoa powder and vanilla in a large bowl.
• Using an electric mixer, slowly beat in the confectioner’s sugar until there are no lumps.
• Carefully dip the top of each cupcake into the glaze, turn onto its side, and spin gently to let any drops fall off, then place them on a tray. Place the tray into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the glaze firm up a bit.

<p>The post Vanilla Mini-Cupcakes with Tangy Chocolate Glaze first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

Other than my mom’s poached pears, however, there are few dessert recipes that are considered essential (and even that one isn’t made every year). So when The Recipe Redux announced the challenge for this month: “The holiday baking season is upon us. Time to pull out all the stops. Show us the healthy holiday dessert you will be sharing with family and friends this season.” I was excited to see what I could come up with. I wanted to create a recipe that would not only have some redeemable nutritional aspects to it, but that would also be a simple one that anyone could do. My goal of simplicity was a bit selfish because I hoped that in making one that was easy, perhaps I could entice the boys to start making it with me and that over time it could become their special recipe to contribute to future holiday meals.

Outside of its simplicity, I love this recipe for a couple of reasons. The first is that it is not too sweet. Don’t get me wrong, it is sweet and definitely tastes like dessert, but it tastes like a refreshing end to a meal rather than another brick in the stomach. Another is that I love the tartness of the cranberries. They enliven my senses and remind me that desserts should have layers of flavor and interest to them. Plus I think the specks of red throughout the cake is really pretty. And finally, I enjoy knowing that the moistness of the cake is due to the yogurt rather than a heavier alternative.

Yogurt in general is a great ingredient to use and you can quickly prepare other snacks, dips and sides like the 1-Minute Dessert: Sweet Yogurt Dip.

This cake is so easy to prepare! No beating of eggs, no sifting of flour, just simple mixing and baking. It is also easy to adjust. If cranberries aren’t your thing, you could add raisins or other chopped dried fruit instead. If you do this, I would recommend cutting the sugar down to one cup since you won’t need to counterbalance the tartness of the cranberries. And chopped nuts would make a delicious addition as well! If you want to boost the nutritional content even more, you could use white whole wheat flour or replace half of the all purpose flour with spelt flour. It may come out a little bit more dense, but the moisture of the yogurt will keep you in the delicious zone.

If you don’t feel like making the glaze, you can also just dust the cake with a little bit of powdered sugar, which you should do just before serving, as it will soak into the cake.

So whether it is for Thanksgiving or some other holiday celebration this season, I highly recommend trying this cake out and please let me know what you think!

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Cranberry Yogurt Cake with Maple Glaze

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author Jessica Braider

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups whole milk plain yogurt you could also use lowfat yogurt, if you prefer
• 2/3 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoons baking soda
• ¾ teaspoons cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoons ground clove
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped fresh cranberries chopped
• For the glaze optional:
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 Tablespoons milk

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a Bundt pan with cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
• Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Make sure that all of the flour is mixed in well (no little lumps).
• Chop the cranberries and gently mix in.
• Pour the batter into the Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
• Turn the cake out onto a cooling rack and immediately, but gently, turn it over.
• Let the cake cool completely. While it is cooling make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and milk together in a small bowl.
• Once the cake is completely cool, place it on a serving plate or platter and drizzle the glaze over.

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<p>The post Cranberry Yogurt Cake with Maple Glaze: A Simple Dessert for the Holiday Season first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

Many (most) of the students were very skeptical about either one or both of the sauces and a few declared that it was going to be disgusting and that they wouldn’t eat them. I calmly reminded the students to please choose their words carefully (we have a rule in the class, “don’t yuck someone else’s yum”) and I asked that everyone try at least a tiny bit of each, even if it was just a lick. Some were nervous, but everyone agreed. So when it came time to try the two sauces I went around and put a tiny bit on each kid’s plate (less than 1/8 of a teaspoon). They had apples, carrots, and pretzels to dip in the sauces. And this is where some really cool things happened.

•  Everyone tried both sauces!
• No one said anything disparaging about the food. Some of them didn’t like the sauces, and that is fine, but they all managed to express their feelings politely—no one said “yuck” or “gross” or anything like that.
• A number of students were shocked to discover that they really liked one or both of the sauces! Two of the students who had been the most nervous fell in love with the sauces and had multiple servings of both and one student who had been extremely skeptical of the tzatziki because it had cucumber in it was shocked to find she enjoyed it and even had seconds.

I was so proud of these kids! It can be overwhelming and scary to try new foods and not only did everyone try the food, but they did so with an open mind.

As I have reflected on this experience over the past couple of days I have been thinking about the process that we went through together and what made this moment a success. There are four things that I have come up with that I think are good guidelines for feeding kids, but also for learning how to cook, and even for trying new things in general (no matter how old you are).

1. Structure is key. I have worked with these kids over the weeks of the class to have them understand the expectations I have of them and they were then able to live up to those expectations. This same sort of structure is important when you are learning any new skill. When learning how to cook the structure can be working from a simple, clear recipe or mastering one specific skill at a time (sautéing, roasting, chopping, etc.).
2. Safety is essential. If I had pushed these kids to try a big spoonful of each sauce I know some would have refused, and they would have been right to. But by putting just a tiny bit on their plate and allowing the taste to be as small as they wanted, they were able to remain calm and open. In learning how to cook I think safety is starting with simple recipe because your chances of success then increase and allow for momentum moving forward.
3. It’s gotta be fun. For kids (and grown ups) dips are a great way to introduce a new food, whether it is the dip or the food being dipped that is new, because they are fun. Similarly, when learning a new skill trying to keep it fun is essential, since that will encourage you to go back to it again. So start with a favorite dish or a treat that will draw you back to the kitchen to try again.
4. Options always help. With the class I gave them three things to dip (carrots, apples, and pretzels). This gave them choices. The same can be true for learning to cook. Try picking a recipe that will give you room to make it your own as that will likely draw you in again (some good examples are a skillet tomato sauce or a noodle soup where you can pick the vegetables and proteins you want to add).

Have you found tricks to help you have success when trying new things? What was helping when you were learning a new skills, like cooking?

<p>The post 4 Ways to Make Trying Something New a Success (with Kids or Yourself) first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>