If you think eating healthier means you have to given up all sweet treats and desserts, think again. By choosing whole food ingredients and making much of your food at home, you can absolutely enjoy all kinds of delicious (and nutritious) dessert-like treats and still stick to a well-balanced diet. Let's me show you how with this simple to make frozen protein yoghurt bark. Ready? Let's start cooking..
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This wholefood dessert snack recipe is such a win for both parents and those looking to eat healthier and low carb. Its even safe for diabetics like myself as well if you choose your yoghurt and fruit carefully (low sugar). You can make this yoghurt bark in small or big batches, and simply freeze it in a sealed container to store in the freezer. It'll last for several months that way, so you always have a quick, high protein-based snack on hand.
What Is Yoghurt Bark?
So, just what is yoghurt bark? This super healthy snack is prepared by mixing fruit, nuts and seeds into yoghurt and freezing in a shallow pan. When ready, you simply crack the bark into pieces to enjoy. It makes such a healthy treat and kids absolutely love it.
Is Frozen Yoghurt Bark Healthy?
As I mentioned above, yoghurt bark is a deliciously healthy treat providing a serving of dairy or vegan based protein, high fibre fruits and other nutrients depending on how you choose to flavour it. I almost always add a scoop of vegan protein powder to mine to really boost the nutrition and make it a diabetic-friendly snack. The protein and healthy fats from nuts, balances any fructose from the fruit perfectly.
On A Budget?
This recipe is quite affordable to make using only a $3-5, mid-sized tub of yoghurt and your toppings of choice. You can use fresh or frozen fruits, but I do recommend eating in season whenever possible for the maximum nutrition. For the nuts, you use them sparingly so this makes the recipe very affordable, or you can substitute with seeds instead.
Key Ingredients Used
My yoghurt recipe is the perfect wholefood snack. All you need to make it is three ingredients. The wonderful thing about this recipe is that you can flavour it any number of ways by varying the fruit, nuts, seeds, and other ingredients.
yoghurt: this is the base of the recipe. Whether you prefer Greek or a vegan version such as soy or coconut, a good quality, low sugar yoghurt is the key to a tasty bark.
fresh or frozen berries: high fibre berries and vitamin-rich fruit give this recipe a punch of sweetness and flavour. I recommend chopping the fruit into small bite-sized pieces.
nuts and seeds: adding these to your bark provides a nice, satisfying crunch as well as provides an excellent source of protein, healthy fat and trace minerals.
These are the key ingredients really, however there many other way to make it which I will share below.
Healthy Variations
Aside from just yoghurt, you can boost the nutrition and flavour of your yoghurt bark by adding a variety of other healthy ingredients.
protein powder: make a super high protein, low carb snack by stirring in 30g of whey or vegan protein powder into the yoghurt before freezing. I recommend a top quality whey protein from grass-fed cows or a clean plantbased variety that contains both pea and brown rice protein to create the full amnio chain.
nuts and seeds: add a little crunch with crushed nuts like cashew, walnut, or pecan. Try seeds such as chia, flax, pumpkin and sesame.
spices: a sprinkling of cinnamon can add a lovely flavour dimension and rev your metabolism; turmeric can boost immune, anise can help keep blood sugar levels in check. A few drops of vanilla gives the bark a divine ice cream-like flavour
superfood powder: boost the nutritional profile by adding your favourite superfood powders to the mix. Try a 1/2 - 1 tsp of acai berry, a greens blend, maca root, raw cacao, spirulina, or turmeric root.
probiotics: yes, that's right. Crack your probiotic capsule or powder into the yoghurt and stir well before freezing.
One of the best part about this yoghurt bark recipe is how simple it is to make and freeze! It'll literally take you 5-minutes to whisk, pour into a baking tray, flavour, and tomorrow's healthy snacks are done and dusted!
Food Sensitivities
What if I am dairy-free or allergic? This recipe can be made with any type of yoghurt, not just Greek. Experiment with coconut, cashew, soy or other non-dairy yoghurts to find one that provides the best consistency. Personally, I find a nice, unsweetened coconut yoghurt to be the best dairy-free option. Its freezes well and has that slight coco-nutty flavour that I really love, and since I am dairy-free, it won't bother my tummy.
What if I am diabetic, can still enjoy this recipe? As a person living with T2D, balancing your blood sugar is super important to your well-being. You can definitely still enjoy this recipe by focusing on using low carb, high fibre fruits like blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries, and counter balancing this with the addition of high fibre chia seeds, healthy fats from pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Choose a yoghurt that is very low in sugar and be sure to add a high quality protein powder to really ram up the protein content.
If you choose a dairy-based protein, go for organic whey. And if you are plantbased like myself, go for a vegan version that has both pea and brown rice proteins to create the full amino chain. For me, I use Aussie Bodies, "Nourish". This brand has 16.5g of vegan sourced protein and only 3 carbs, 0.3g sugar and over 7g of dietary fibre per serving.
Frozen Protein Yoghurt Bark Recipe
This yoghurt bark recipe is a delicious sweet treat you can enjoy guilt-free. It only takes a few minutes to prepare and is ready within 2-3 hours. It makes a nutritious snack or dessert instead of chocolate bars due to its high protein content and wholefood ingredients.
Frozen Protein Yoghurt Bark Recipe |
Ingredients |
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Method |
In a bowl, add the yoghurt, protein powder, vanilla, cinnamon and stevia. Stir well to combine, then pour the mixture into a deep cake pan lined with baking paper. Spread evenly to cover the bottom of the pan. Depending on its size, the yoghurt mix should be a few centimetres thick. Add the berries and walnuts evenly across the top. You can swirl the surface a little to help anchor the toppings in place. |
Cover and freeze the pan with the yoghurt mix for 2-3 hours. To serve, break off or cut into pieces. One to two small piece of bark count as a portion. |
Batch Cook & Meal Prep
Yes, you can totally batch cook yoghurt bark. Yoghurt bark needs to be kept frozen to remain solid (or at least in my climate here in Australia, it sure does). You can store it right in the pan or break it up into pieces and keep in a plastic or glass container for freshness. It also freezes very well, so you can batch cook for weeks ahead and always have a healthy treat on hand for snacking or dessert.
Healthy + happiness,
Emma Lisa xx
HEALTH & NUTRITION PRACTITIONER
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I tried this and LOVE IT, and just saw your chocolate recipe, can't wait to give it a goo! Thanks Liv x
I am so trying this, looks so good!