Wellness Wednesday with Healthy Kids: Taste Tests, ABC Pudding, and Fruit Hand Pies for the Win!
- by bonappetit
This week we’re featuring some of the recipes and tips our Healthy Kids team of educators and chefs have honed with thousands of kids to date (read the impact report!). You can find even more on our Healthy Kids website.
All Healthy Kids classes include a “taste test adventure.” Tasting uncommon fruits and vegetables is an excellent tool to get kids excited about trying new foods and introduce their taste buds to new flavors.
So, next time you’re at the supermarket, pick up something you’re unfamiliar with yourself, and hold a family taste test together! We’ve got a handout to guide you through it. And two recipes for two tasty, healthy-ish desserts from the Healthy Kids repertoire that are easy and fun for folks of all ages to make together.
ABC Pudding
Got bananas that are going brown? Peel them and toss them in a bag to freeze, then make this avocado, banana, and chocolate-y treat!
Makes 6 servings
1 avocado, peeled and deseeded
2 frozen bananas, peeled
2 raw bananas, peeled
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
Place avocado, bananas, cocoa powder, vanilla, and honey in a blender and mix until smooth. Enjoy with fresh berries on top!
Fresh Fruit Hand Pies
A hand-sized dessert that highlights seasonal fruits.
Pie Dough (yields 4 hand-pies)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup cold sour cream
Filling
1 cup your favorite in-season fruit, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pinch sugar
To seal and glaze
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Coarse sugar
Directions
In a food processor or by hand, stir together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the butter, working it in to make a coarse/crumbly mixture. Leave most of the butter in large, pea-sized pieces. Don’t overmix.
Add the sour cream, and stir until the mixture starts to come together in chunks. Turn it out onto a floured work surface, and bring it together with a few quick kneads.
Transfer the dough to a well-floured work surface. Use your hands to form dough into a ball, then flatten into a round disk, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour before you begin to roll it out.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Toss the chopped, seasonal fruit with the lemon juice and sugar.
Remove the dough disk from the refrigerator. Roll the dough out onto a well-floured piece of parchment paper until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Using a cookie cutter or mug/bowl, cut out as many circles as will fit.
Lay the pastry circles on a sheet pan and top with a spoonful of fruit. Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the circles with the whipping cream and fold the circle in half to create a hand-pie. Use your fingers to gently press the edges together.
Gently press down on the edges with the back of a fork to create a seal along the edge (this is called crimping).
Lightly brush the top of each hand-pie with the cream, sprinkle lightly with sanding sugar, and cut a small x-shaped slit in the top of each pie.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the pies are golden brown and cooked through.
Transfer to wire rack, let cool for 10 minutes, and eat!