100% fruit juice recipes for kids

For most kids, their favourite foods are sweet foods – which usually means they’re packed with added sugar. As a parent, this poses a huge challenge in terms of making sure your kids eat healthily while still letting them enjoy the foods they love.

Here’s a nifty trick though: if you substitute sugar for fruit juice (e.g. 100% pure fruit juice like *Clover Krush’s 100% pure fruit juice range), delicious sweet treats suddenly become that much healthier for your little ones. With this in mind, here’s a roundup of kid-friendly recipes that are packed with natural fruit sugars instead:

Healthy fruit ice cream pops

These healthy alternatives to store-bought ice creams make the perfect healthy snack for kids to enjoy on hot summer days outside:

Ingredients

• 1 litre of any fruit juice, such as orange, apple, berries, mango or red grape
• Pop freezer moulds (like Yuppiechef’s range of Zoku moulds)

Method

Pour the fruit juice into the moulds and freeze overnight until solid.

“If you substitute sugar for fruit juice, delicious sweet treats suddenly become that much healthier for your little ones.”

Fruit juice jelly

Ingredients

• 3 tsp. gelatine powder
• 1 litre of fruit juice

Method

1. In a medium bowl, combine the gelatine powder in a quarter of the juice and mix well.
2. Meanwhile, heat up the remaining juice in the microwave or on the stove until it’s hot but not boiling.
3. Pour the hot juice into the cold juice/gelatine mixture. Stir until the gelatine powder has dissolved.
4. Pour the jelly into a container or mould and allow to set overnight in the fridge.

Fruit juice ice cream

What child doesn’t love ice cream? Here’s a healthier option to try:

Ingredients

• ½ cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1½ cups fruit juice

Method

1. In a medium bowl, stir the corn starch with 1/4 cup of the coconut milk until smooth. Set aside. Heat the remaining coconut milk in a small saucepan over low heat until it bubbles around the edges.
2. Whisk the starch mixture into the coconut milk and cook gently over low heat, stirring briskly, until the mixture begins to thicken. Once it starts to thicken, remove immediately from heat and whisk in the juice. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.
3. You can also add in fresh fruit at this point. Stir in the fruit pieces (small chunks are best) and blend together using a blender or food processor.
4. Freeze overnight.

Sweet potato orange muffins

Ingredients

• 1 medium carrot
• 3 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 cups of whole-wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ¹/₂tsp cinnamon
• ¹/₂tsp nutmeg
• ¹/₂tsp allspice
• ¹/₂cup brown sugar
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C and line the muffin pan with the paper liners.
2. Grate the carrot and set aside.
3. Poke the sweet potatoes with a fork a few times each and microwave on high for 5 minutes or until soft.
4. Cut open the cooked potatoes, scoop out the flesh into a large bowl, mash, and set aside.
5. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices.
6. Add brown sugar, egg whites, orange juice, carrot and vanilla to mashed potatoes and mix well.
7. Add dry ingredients to the sweet potato mixture and stir just until combined.
8. Fill muffin cups three quarters full with batter, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are brown.
9. Cool slightly before removing from the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Recipes and images supplied

*Using Clover Krush in any of these recipes means you’ll be spreading goodness not just within your family, but within your community too. Krush is calling upon South Africans to nominate schools whose children are most in need of school shoes, where 20 000 school children will receive brand new school shoes when the 2019 school year kicks off. Nominations are now open and can be made by following the on-pack instructions on promotional Krush products. Krush will go through all nominations and by December 2018, 20 schools from provinces across SA will be selected. These schools will then be visited in the new year when 20 000 scholars will receive their brand-new school shoes.

Also read:

5 tips to keep your toddler hydrated
Top tips to get your kids involved in home cooking