Easy and healthy desserts with yoghurt

Fair warning: my idea of a salad is the bowl of coleslaw that goes with my fried chicken. So when I see the words clean eating, the only thing growling is me – not my stomach.

But I’ll be darned. Turns out, trying to be healthy doesn’t mean stuffing a wad of lettuce into my system. And the better part? Eating clean can start with the best course of them all: dessert.

We teamed up with the good folks over at Magnolia to give their new low-fat yoghurt range a go, and to see if we could whip up 6 no-fuss healthy desserts at home:

1. Apple Crumble Parfait

If there’s one thing I wish smell-o-vision existed for, it’d be apple crumble pie. But since the year 3000 has yet to arrive with all of its gizmos and I have no skills to bake an actual pie, we decided to go with a homemade Apple Crumble Parfait using Magnolia’s Apple & Pomelo yoghurt, granola, fresh apples, and the magic ingredient to make it all come together: cinnamon.

Yield: Serves 2
Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cinnamon sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 apple, cubed
• 1 cup granola
• 1 cup Magnolia Low Fat Yoghurt with Apple & Pomelo

I wish you could smell this picture.

Steps:

1. In a bowl, mix apple cubes with cinnamon sugar and honey
2. Get a glass and start assembling. We went in this order: Yoghurt, apples, yoghurt, granola, yoghurt, apples
3. Sprinkle with granola to top it off

2. Aloe Vera Yoghurt Bark

When Google first led us to images of Yoghurt Bark, it looked like something straight outta the picture-perfect depths of Pinterest. But in the words of Justin Bieber, never say never.

Turns out, making yoghurt bark is easier than expected – all you need are fresh fruits, yoghurt, and some honey. We were able to put this together in just 4 steps, all under 10 minutes. Of course, we had to wait for everything to come together in the freezer for a couple of hours, but the results were worth it.

Yield: Serves 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Freeze time: ~3 hours

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp honey
• 4 strawberries, sliced
• ½ cup blueberries
• 1 cup Magnolia Low Fat Yoghurt with Aloe Vera & Nata De Coco

Steps:

1. Mix yoghurt with honey till well combined. Once complete, add in blueberries and stir again
2. Pour yoghurt mixture into a baking tray lined with a sheet. We used a medium sized baking tray, so spread your yoghurt into a thickness you prefer. We recommend it to be around 1.5cm thick.
3. Arranged sliced strawberries on top and place into freezer until completely frozen
4. Once frozen, slice bark into smaller pieces with a sharp knife

3. Peanut Butter Cookie Shots

For something a little more on the sinful side, opt for Peanut Butter Cookie Shots – 0% alcohol included. Plus, these make fantastic party desserts and are super easy to prepare. After some testing, the best flavour for this is good ol’ plain yoghurt, so feel free to add more goodies to your liking such as nuts or granola.

Yield: Serves 15
Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 5 chocolate chip cookies, crushed
• 1 cup Magnolia Low Fat Yoghurt Natural Plus

The PB’s nuttiness and slightly sour tang from the yoghurt was a surprisingly good mix

Steps:

1. Mix yoghurt, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla essence in a bowl until well combined.
2. Crush chocolate chip cookies until you have a mix of chunks and crumbs
3. In a shot glass, layer your yoghurt and cookie mix. Sprinkle crumbs on a dollop of yoghurt to finish.

4. Mango Lassi

One of my favourite drinks to order when I’m out for prata has got to be Mango Lassi. If you’re unaware of what a lassi even is, think along the lines of a milkshake – except this time with yoghurt, which makes it naturally creamier without needing to add calorie-monsters like ice cream or whipped cream.

Yield: Serves 2
Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 mango
• ½ cup milk
• 1 cup Magnolia Low Fat Yoghurt with Mango & Nata De Coco
• 2 cardamom seeds

Steps:

1. Chop mango into chunks.
2. In a blender, mix mango, milk, yoghurt, cardamom seeds, and ice cubes until smooth.
3. Serve in a glass and garnish with mint leaves and extra mango chunks for a bite. Serve chilled.

5. Mini Strawberry Yoghurt Pops

While we’re on the topic of no-ice-cream, these Mini Strawberry Yoghurt Pops fit the bill. And for those of you that are strapped for time, just prep this in the morning and leave it to freeze – once you’re back from a hard day of work, just pop these outta the freezer for a quick after-dinner treat.

Plus, these are super easy to prepare, so kids can join in the fun too.

Yield: Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Freeze time: ~3 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp honey
• ½ cup blueberries
• 3 strawberries, chopped
• 1 cup Magnolia Low Fat Yoghurt with Strawberry

We cubed our fruits into small bits to ensure we got a little bit of everything into each mini pop

Steps:

1. In a bowl, mix yoghurt and honey until well combined. Throw in your chopped fruits and stir again.
2. Fill jelly moulds with yoghurt mixture and freeze. Once completely frozen, pop ‘em out and serve.

6. Mixed Berry Bowl

We all have that 1 acai bowl obsessed friend. (Y’know, the #basic one)

If you wanna do them one better instead of forking out double digits for a healthy meal, you can make one at home for half the price. Swapping an acai berry mix for Magnolia Mixed Berry yoghurt, we created our very own Mixed Berry Bowl, which we topped up with fresh frozen fruit like grapes, raspberries, and bananas.

Yield: Serves 1
Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 1 tsp sunflower seeds
• 2 tsp raisins and dried cranberry
• ¼ cup blueberries and raspberries, frozen
• ¼ cup grapes, frozen
• 1 cup Magnolia Low Fat Yoghurt with Mixed Berry and Aloe Vera

Tip: Freeze your fruits to get an extra creamy morsel in every bite. Frozen grapes were our faves – they’re like mini sorbets! 

Steps:

1. In a bowl, pour 1 cup of yoghurt
2. Assemble fruits to your liking
3. Garnish with mint leaves and sunflower seeds for extra texture

Easy DIY healthy desserts with Magnolia

If I learned anything during my cooking adventure, it’s that I’ll never make it on Masterchef. But that’s the beauty of it – you don’t have to be worthy of the likes of Gordon Ramsay to be making any of the desserts we’ve featured in our article.

All you’ll need is determination, your taste buds, and a good dose of Magnolia’s new low-fat yoghurt range, which made the tasting part a whole lot easier.

Proof: My 2 guinea pigs colleagues who informed me that the parfait was 10/10. 

As a fan of slightly thicker yoghurt, the new Magnolia range has just the right consistency. It remained creamy enough to be used as the main ingredient in all our dessert creations while not being too goopy, which is great especially if you’re eating it on its own.

Mix n’ match their single packs (135g) for a snack on the go…

…or 1kg tubs – perfect for all the dessert making at home. 

The yoghurt comes in 6 flavours, so whether you prefer it fruity or au naturel, there’s something for you:

• Natural Plus
• Aloe Vera & Nata De Coco
• Apple & Pomelo
• Mango & Nata De Coco
• Strawberry
• Mixed Berry & Aloe Vera (Only in 135g)

And if you haven’t already noticed, Magnolia yoghurt are all low in fat, meaning guilt-free desserts that are lighter on the calories. They also come with live cultures (aka the good sort of bacteria we need) and real fruit chunks – so for those of us that run away at the thought of “healthy food” can rest easy knowing that eating clean ain’t that tough after all.

Find out more about Magnolia aLIVE here!

This post was brought to you by Magnolia.
Photography by: Tan Wen Lin and Thaddeus Lim