Fun Ways To Fruit- Jazz Up Your Fruit with Dips, Syrups, Parfaits and Pizza
Fruit is delicious and wonderful - in the spring when everything feels fresh, refreshing in the dead heat of summer, the early fall when the farmer's markets are busting at the seams with fresh produce and in the winter when you need to break up the heavier meals. But sometimes we want to dress it up a little. Maybe we have a potluck or dinner party to attend and we just bought a bunch of berries or our garden is bursting with rhubarb. Or maybe we just want a little variety. We quizzed the Babble Panel and are sharing all our our fun ways to fruit!
Honey Lime Fruit Syrup
This is so simple it's silly, but it it really adds a fun and fresh new twist to dress any fruit salad with.
1/4 C. honey
2 tsp. lime zest (zest of 2 medium limes)
1 1/2 Tbl. fresh lime juice
Whisk together ingredients and pour over fruit and toss just before serving. If you want you could add mint as well! Don't worry about exact measurements. It's all delicious!
Easy Yogurt Fruit Dip
This was an absolute go-to when my kids were growing up. Always made the fruit go down faster!
1 package softened or whipped cream cheese
1 carton honey-flavored Greek yogurt
1-2 tablespoons vanilla
Mix together and slice up a bunch of your favorite fruits to serve with it. Favorites of ours are grapes, strawberries, honeydew, cantaloupe, and peaches
Fruit Pizza
One of my mom's go-to recipes growing up I have the fondest memories of fruit pizza. Now when I make it for my kids, I'm reminded how absolutely delicious it is, and of course they love it too (plus it's fun for them to make and decorate)!
1 roll and slice Pillsbury Sugar Cookie
1 (8 oz.) soft, cream cheese
4 1/2 oz. Cool Whip
1 pint of fresh strawberries
2-3 sliced bananas, dipped in lemon juice to avoid browning
blueberries
grapes
peaches
pineapples
whatever fruit you like or have on hand!
Spread dough on pizza pan and cook at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes.
Blend the cream cheese and Cool Whip together and spread over the cooled cookie.
Arrange fruit on top of the cookie with a whole strawberry in the middle to hold up saran wrap when you are taking it somewhere.
Best Fruit Dip!
Literally the BEST fruit dip out there! Goes best with strawberries, but honestly any fruit works here. Place a bowl of this on a platter surrounded by cut-up fruit and be the talk of the dinner party!
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
Mix together until smooth. Enjoy!
Dark Chocolate Berry Clusters
Ingredients:
1 ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
2 cups berries (blueberries and/or raspberries)
Toasted coconut flakes and/or flaky sea salt for garnish
Directions:
Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, mix melted chocolate with coconut oil. Spoon a small dollop of chocolate on the parchment and top with 4-5 berries. Drizzle chocolate over blueberries and sprinkle with coconut/sea salt. Freeze until set, about 10 minutes. Serve.
Strawberry Chia Yogurt Pudding Cups
(from: Babble Panel member Romy following @seattlehanddoc on Instagram)
Ingredients:
2 pounds fresh strawberries, pureed
24-32 ounces full-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup canned coconut milk or coconut cream (optional)
1/2-1 cup chia seeds
1-3 teaspoons vanilla
Maple syrup to taste
Chocolate chips, for topping
Flaky sea salt for topping
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the pureed strawberries, yogurt, and coconut milk/cream until smooth. Add vanilla and maple syrup to taste (depending on how sweet you like it). Stir in the cia seeds until fully combined. Pour mixture into glasses or jars, filling almost to the top. Microwave the cocolate chips in 20-30 second intervals, stirring between each round until melted and smooth. Pour a very thin layer of melted chocolate across the top of each glass to create a shell. Sprinkle with flky seas salt. Refrigerate about 30 minutes, or until the chai seeds thicken and the chocolate shell is set.
Frozen Fruit Cups
This is a specialty of Brooke's mom Glammy. She has these in her freezer year round and the grandkids love them just as much as she does. Every time Brooke and her sister have them they are reminded what a delicious treat they are too!
1 (12 oz) can pink lemonade
1 pkg. frozen strawberries, thawed
1-2 small cans crushed pineapple with juice
1 can mandarain oranges
2-3 bananas, sliced
a little sugar
2 1/2 cups 7-UP, Squirt or Sprite
Mix all together and freeze in individual cups (we use 5 oz. clear, plastic cups) ready to enjoy- it's like a slushie! Set them out a half hour before serving. The soda really gives it the most delicious and unique flavor.
Spicy Fruit Bowls
From the cookbook Seriously, So Good: Simple Recipes for a Balanced Life.
Juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon Tajín (or 1 tablespoon chili powder and 1 teaspoon kosher salt)
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
5 to 6 cups bite-size pieces of mixed fruit- you can use whatever you like but watermelon, mango, pineapple, strawberries, honeydew, cucumber, and jicama are recommended.
In a large bowl, combine the fruit, lime juice, mint, and Tajín and gently toss to combine evenly. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs.
Frozen Pound Cake Fruit Salad
Babble Panel member Stephanie loves making this easy dessert! Make a fruit salad with whatever fruit your little heart desires. Then cut up squared of frozen pound cake and serve it for dessert. Add some homemade whipped cream, if desired. Always a hit!
Frozen Banana Bites
Dip slices of banana in melted chocolate and freeze on a cookie sheet. Eat as is, or add to a bowl of ice cream.
Pancake Cups
Use your pancake batter in a muffin tin to make pancake muffin cups. Top with chopped up berries. Add syrup and/or whipped cream.
Yogurt Parfaits
Add yogurt and crushed berries along with some crushed-up graham crackers and a cocktail umbrella!
Strawberry & Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients:
4 cups fresh rhubarb, diced
¾ cup sugar
2 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
¾ cup oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, melted
Directions:
Spread rhubarb in baking dish. Combine sugar, cornstarch, water and vanilla in pan. Cook until clear. Pour over rhubarb. Combine remaining ingredients and spread over top of rhubarb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 min.
[Can use plums instead of rhubarb – use 1/3-1/2 c. sugar.]
Strawberries & Whipped Cream
That's it. You can even layer in glass cups/jars for dessert. Looks and tastes fancy, but oh so easy and always a crowd-pleaser.
Strawberry Syrup: Wastelessly Delicious!
This is made entirely by using the tops of strawberries that you cut off and throw away. We got the idea from this woman's IG post. Check it out!
1/2 C. of sugar
The tops of your cleaned strawberries
Just take the tops of the strawberries that you cut off and put into a mason jar with your sugar. Shake every day and leave out on the counter for 2-3 days. Strain into another jar and use as you would like.
Some ideas- put in your tea, drizzle over ice cream, sweeten your lemonade, make a vinaigrette, etc.
CooCoo's Fruit Cocktail Recipe
Babble panelist Gretchen shared this special recipe of her late mother's. Her mom would serve this every Christmas Eve, and it added a nice fruit taste among all the other heavy Christmas stuff.
3 lb. peaches, cut into bite size pieces
2 C. sugar
1 can crushed pineapple
2 lemons, juiced
3 oranges, juiced
put the sugar on the peaches and let stand. Then combine other ingredients and put into freezer bags. Let them stand at room temperature for three hours before freezing. Thaw and add fresh bananas when serving.
Sweetened Condensed Milk Topping
Not all of us are trying to add calories to our diet. But a lot of us have kids who are trying to do just this. As my teenage son told me, "Mom, it's bulking season." A trick we learned: cut up any fruit and drizzle sweetened condensed milk over the top. It's freaking delicious! (I wish I could eat it all the time.) And it adds much-desired calories to a healthy snack. Eagle Brand now sells their condensed milk in a squeeze pouch that lasts in the fridge for about a month. Genius!
Homemade Granola for Fruit Parfaits
Babble Panel member Alyson makes this once a week and now has Brooke doing the same. It is so much more delicious than store purchased granola and is such a great way to enjoy fresh fruit!
Ingredients:
¼ cup pure maple syrup
3 Tablespoons melted coconut oil (I use avocado/olive)
2 Tablespoons honey
1.5 teaspoon pure vanilla
3 cups oats
Sprinkle cinnamon to preference
Mix everything together, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spread mixture across baking sheet, bake at 300 for about 30 – 40-ish minutes, allow to completely cool.
Sometimes I add in shaved almonds to change up the flavors.
Serve with yogurt and whatever fresh fruit your heart desires!
Homemade Jam
Another Alyson go-to recipe we are lucky she has shared with us!
1 pound strawberries
3 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons chia seeds
Chop the strawberries and cook on the stove, stir in the honey. Cook until super soft so you can mash with a fork. Mash to your preferred texture. Add chia seeds and let cook on low for a little while, may 10-15 minutes. I watch for consistency of the jam to determine when to remove from the heat. Let cool to room temperature and then put into an air tight container and keep in refrigerator.
(There is a great idea of what to do with all of those leftover strawberry tops up above!)
Diced Fruit Salad
Sometimes its the most simple things that make the biggest difference. One of our Babble Panelists said that she likes to dice her fruit when she's serving a fruit salad. Instead of those big, chunky pieces of fruit she likes it manageable to meld all the flavors together.
Watermelon Water
If you've been around Babble for a while, you know that Brooke and her family became completely obsessed with this. It is an incredible way to use up the last bits of your watermelon and is addictively delicious. The perfect treat for the kids and the adults and every single 4th of July! There is a more in-depth article here.
Ingredients:
One ripe, seedless watermelon (a small one or leftover bits to fill your blender)
2-4 C Water (again, whatever fills your blender)
1/2 C Sugar (to taste)
Cut the watermelon into chunks and place in your blender. Add the water and blend until smooth (about 30 seconds). Pour into a pitcher and add the sugar. Stir that up vigorously. Serve chilled over ice. You can add mint or other garnish to make it look cute.
Easy Mango Salsa
Mango, chopped and drained from all juices
2-4 green onion stalks
Sweet Chili Sauce
Mix all together and serve with tortilla chips.
Fruit & Veggie Rainbow
We'll do anything to get our kids to "eat the rainbow" won't we? This is a fun, simple, use what you've got idea that is extra fun on St. Patty's Day.
Decorating with Fruit
Don't forget that fruit can be a fresh way to decorate whether it is everyday with a big fruit bowl or bowl of fresh citrus fruits like lemons or oranges on the table or even sliced and displayed for a dinner party like the grapefruit above.
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