Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts - I'm sure you've seen them in the store, maybe even bought them for your little one to try but have you ever looked at the ingredients? Both my daughter and my son love Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts. My husband and I tried them and personally think they are disgusting but they are made for babies and babies seem to like them but if you have ever looked at the ingredients, sugar one of the main ingredients. That's right, sugar.
I understand that sugar is used to help flavor food but when you are using real fruit and real yogurt why do you need to flavor the yogurt melts with sugar? Gerber Graduates First Foods are advertised as being healthy for babies and toddlers but I personally don't want my toddler's first snack foods to contain a bunch of sugar so I decided to try to make my own healthier version of the yogurt melts.
I understand that sugar is used to help flavor food but when you are using real fruit and real yogurt why do you need to flavor the yogurt melts with sugar? Gerber Graduates First Foods are advertised as being healthy for babies and toddlers but I personally don't want my toddler's first snack foods to contain a bunch of sugar so I decided to try to make my own healthier version of the yogurt melts.
Homemade Yogurt Melts are also a lot cheaper to make than the Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts the only downfall is you can't travel with them or they will melt. Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts cost between $2 and $3 for a 1oz bag. A 32oz container of Great Value Yogurt cost $2.34 plus the cost of fruit and you end up with 500+ yogurt melts with extra yogurt and fruit left over. Not only is it healthier to make your own yogurt melts, but it is a lot cheaper and I guarantee your kids will love them!
You can make yogurt melts a couple different ways. The easiest way is to buy some plain or flavored yogurt, spoon it into a ziplock bag, cut a small hole in the corner and pipe dots on a pan covered in wax paper. Once you are done piping the dots, pop the tray in the freezer and let sit until frozen. Store in a ziploc bag, freezer bag or air tight container in the freezer. Easy as that.
The second way you can make the yogurt melts is with real fruit and yogurt. This way takes a little longer to make but it is healthier than plain yogurt melts because it contains real fruit where as the others are just yogurt.
Ingredients:
- 2 pears
- 2 apples
- 1 cup Yogurt (I used ¼ of a 32oz container)
- Food Processor
- Ziploc or Freezer Bag
- Flat pans covered in wax paper
You can use any combination of fruit you prefer. I made apple pear yogurt melts but some other combinations are strawberry banana, apple pear pineapple, peach, strawberry banana orange or strawberry blueberry.
You can also sneak some vegetables into the yogurt melts, just make sure you use more fruit than vegetables to help mask the veggie taste.
1. First you need to peal the apples and pears and cut them into small pieces. Pour all the fruit into a food processor and process it until it is all mashed up.
2. Add at least one cup of yogurt. I did not measure the yogurt but I used ¼ of a 32oz container.
Run the food processor again. Do not over mix the fruit and yogurt or add to much yogurt because it will make it too runny and it will be harder to make the yogurt melts.
I used light vanilla yogurt to add flavor but you can use any kind of yogurt you want. Plain or vanilla will help the fruit taste stand out. Plain yogurt and Vanilla yogurt are also lower in sugar than flavored yogurt so they are healthier for children.
Organic, Low Fat or Greek Yogurt are also great choices when selecting a yogurt. Greek Yogurt is thicker and higher in protein which is good for younger children.
Below is a picture to show you the thickness of the apple, pear, yogurt mix once it was processed.
*Scroll to the bottom for a FASTER way to make the yogurt melts
3. Pour the fruit/yogurt mixture into a Ziploc Bag or a Freezer Bag and cut a tiny hole in one of the corners of the bag.
If you cut the hole to big the mixture will come out very fast making it harder to make the yogurt melts so make sure you cut the hole very small.
4. Line a flat pan with wax paper and begin piping dots onto the wax paper. Once the pan is completely covered, place the pan in the freezer until the yogurt melts harden. This will take 20-30 minutes.
I only had two flat pans that would fit in my freezer so I waited until the yogurt melts were frozen then repeated step 4. I filled a total of four pans making over 500 yogurt melts using the 2 apples, 2 pears and some yogurt. Crazy right?!
5. Once the yogurt melts have hardened remove them from the wax paper and store them in a Ziploc Bag, Freezer Bag or an air tight container in the freezer. Serve to your toddler as needed.
You can't leave the Homemade Yogurt Melts sitting out or they will soften and eventually melt but they do last plenty long enough for your toddler to eat them. We have yet to have any of them completely melt on us.
Homemade Yogurt Melts are the perfect snack for your toddler. Not only are they a lot cheaper than the Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts but they are cold so they will help with teething babies; they melt in your mouth to avoid chocking and they are healthy because they are made with real fruit.
Homemade Yogurt Melts don't taste bad either. They taste a whole lot better than the Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts thus making them the perfect snack for both your toddler and you. I catch my husband sneaking a few from time to time and you can tell from the pictures above that both my little ones love them and want more every time.
UPDATE: FASTER way to make the Yogurt MeltsHomemade Yogurt Melts don't taste bad either. They taste a whole lot better than the Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts thus making them the perfect snack for both your toddler and you. I catch my husband sneaking a few from time to time and you can tell from the pictures above that both my little ones love them and want more every time.
My kids love the yogurt melts so much that I had to make another batch sooner than I thought I would. I started making the yogurt melts the same way as listed above but I either cut the hole to big in the freezer bag or added to much yogurt making it runnier. When I went to make the dots, the mixture was coming out to fast so I decided to pour the mixture onto a pan covered in wax paper and smooth it out, freeze it and cut it into small squares. It wasn't as time consuming as making over 500 dots was and they taste the same so if you are in a hurry or just don't feel like making the dots this way is definitely easier!
1. Cover a pan in wax paper.
2. Mix fruit and yogurt in a food processor.
3. Pour mixture onto the pan and smooth out. The thinner you spread it the more you will have.
4. Freeze. The thicker the mixture is spread the longer it will take to freeze. The pan in the picture took 10-15 minutes to freeze, the other pan I made took about 45 minus because it was a lot thicker.
5. Once the yogurt fruit mixture is frozen, pull it off of the pan, remove the wax paper and cut into tiny squares. It is very important to remove the wax paper before you cut the squares. If not the wax paper will stick to the squares and will take forever to remove.
6. Store them in a Ziploc Bag, Freezer Bag or an air tight container in the freezer. Serve to your toddler as needed.
You can make the yogurt melts any way you want but after making them a couple of times, I promise you it is a lot easier and faster to pour them in a pan, freeze and cut them up. The yellow yogurt melts are apple pear and the pink yogurt melts are strawberry, banana, orange. The pink ones are amazing so I definitely recommend trying the flavor. I used 1 banana, 4 frozen strawberries, 2 cutie oranges and ½-1 cup vanilla yogurt.
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