Originally posted June 23, 2015. Revised and updated July 29, 2016.
For a busy mom, breakfast has to be the most challenging meal of the day. In my house, no one can ever agree on what they want to eat.
There have been mornings when some of the kids are clamoring for a hot meal while I can barely get the others to eat a handful of dry cereal. Yogurt has always been something they can all agree on.
Now that the weather is warmer, I have been freezing Greek yogurt tubes and handing them out as the kids head out the door to the bus stop. This is significantly more nutritious than homemade ice cream, which they also love, and it still manages to be a great cooling food for summer.
And let’s not forget that yogurt is a type of fermented food, which can be helpful to maintain a healthy, happy gut!
This one-handed breakfast is cold, sweet, and healthy, but I still felt like there was something missing.
I decided that I wanted to recreate a homemade frozen yogurt for the kids to enjoy on their way to school or camp. Instead of yogurt tubes, I wanted to create frozen yogurt popsicles packed with fresh fruit and oats using a set of popsicle molds.
I dug out our favorite popsicle molds and headed out to the market where I picked up a large container of vanilla yogurt, a few pints of fresh blueberries, and a bag granola.
My kids love to eat granola by the handful, especially a batch of homemade granola. So I always keep extra in my pantry! I found that any flavor works for these breakfast pops. I usually look for varieties packed with extra protein.
Whenever I have a berry surplus I make a sweet berry jam, which we put on top of waffles and ice cream. This jam is perfect to infuse the popsicles with. You could always use store bought jam or fruit syrup if you are short on time.
I chose blueberries for this recipe because they were plentiful at the market, but I have used strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries (and even a mixture of berries) to create my jam. If berries are not in season, you can always use frozen berries instead.
The Recipe
- 3 cups blueberries
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 cups vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup granola
- 1 cup blueberry jam
- handful fresh Blueberries (optional)
- Place blueberries and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and stir to combine.
- Continue to cook until thickened, about 30 minutes.
- Scrape jam into a large mixing bowl with a rubber spatula and set aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl, mix yogurt, ¼ cup of granola, and ¼ cup of the jam together. Stir until well incorporated.
- Place a heaping spoonful of the yogurt mixture in the bottom of each mold.
- Add a heaping spoonful of granola, and then a spoonful or two of jam.
- Continue layering until the molds are filled.
- Insert a popsicle stick into each mold and place into the freezer, leaving space at top since filling will expand as it freezes. Freeze until solid, at least 6 hours.
- Unmold and enjoy!
Cooking By the Numbers…
For the Jam:
Step 1 – Combine Blueberries & Sugar
Place the blueberries and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, and stir to combine.
Step 2 – Cook the Jam
Continue to cook the berry and sugar mixture for about 30 minutes until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Step 3 – Cool (or Chill)
Using a rubber spatula, scrape your homemade jam into a bowl. Set it aside to cool before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
To speed this process along, try placing the jam in a large stainless steel mixing bowl nestled into another large bowl filled with ice and a little bit of water. Be sure that the water does not come up over the lid of the bowl of jam when you set it into the ice bath.
Stir occasionally, so the jam cools evenly. When it reaches room temperature, you can place your jam in the refrigerator or freezer to chill even faster.
If you’re avoiding granulated sugar in your diet, use our recipe for spiced blueberry jam which uses dates and agave as the sweeteners.
For the Popsicles:
Step 1 – Make the Yogurt Mixture
Place the vanilla yogurt, 1/4 cup granola, and 1/4 cup of your homemade jam in a medium-sized bowl, and stir to combine.
Step 2 – Fill the Molds
These are going to be layered popsicles, so you should set your popsicle molds up in a stand if they came with one, so they’ll be easier to fill.
First, place a heaping spoonful of the yogurt mixture in the bottom of each mold.
Next, add a heaping spoonful of granola.
Follow this with a spoonful or two of the jam, and a few fresh blueberries, if you’d like.
Continue layering in this order until all of the molds are filled, finishing with either yogurt or granola.
If you have leftover yogurt mixture at this point, you can save it in the refrigerator for a few days to make your next batch.
Step 3 – Insert Sticks
Make sure your molds are filled to the fill line (or within about an inch of the top) and no more. Fillings will expand as they freeze, and popsicles can be difficult to remove from overfilled molds!
Insert the sticks into each mold, according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Step 4 – Freeze
Freeze your pops until they’re solid, about 6 hours depending on the size of your molds and freezer temperatures. I like to make this recipe the night before, so they’re ready for breakfast in the morning.
Step 5 – Unmold & Enjoy!
Unmold your pops, giving them a few minutes to defrost on the counter or running the molds quickly under warm water so they will be easier to release. Serve immediately.
If you want to keep your popsicles in the freezer for more than a day or two, recommended them from the molds is recommended, especially if they are not airtight. Individual popsicles may be wrapped tightly in plastic and then stored in a zip-top bag in the freezer for several weeks.
Time to Jam Out!
If you run out of flavored yogurt or granola, don’t forget – this homemade blueberry jam is also delicious spread on fresh homemade scones or muffins, and it’s made with no artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup, and no artificial food coloring!
And consider making our recipe for homemade frozen yogurt if you want this treat to be extra sweet and creamy!
What’s your favorite popsicle flavor or fashion? We’ve seen many through here besides the breakfast-y type:
Send us your suggestions and questions about this recipe in the comments!
Photos by Kendall Vanderslice, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Additional writing and editing contributed by Allison Sidhu.
About Jennifer Swartvagher
Jennifer is an experienced journalist and author. Her work has been featured on TODAY Parents, The New York Times Blog, BlogHer, Scary Mommy, and scores of other parenting and cooking publications.
Fantastic idea, and I don’t even have kids. Do you think the jam would give it enough flavor to work with just plain yogurt? I find that where I live all the flavored yogurts are really packed with too much sugar, but I can’t imagine a slightly sour popsicle really being that satisfying.
Personally, I use vanilla yogurt. I would suggest adding a few tablespoons of honey (or a little extra jam) to sweeten plain yogurt.
Ah honey, of course. Now I feel kind of stupid, thanks for the suggestion. I’m in China, and I don’t know what it is here but the flavored yogurts are just packed with sugar.
These breakfast popsicles are a genius idea! What a fantastic way to save time and hassle with the kids. They think it’s a treat, you did hardly anything, everyone’s happy! Result!
This picture looks so delicious I want one right now. I know I have some molds around here somewhere, and I’m going to have to go looking for them, so I can try out this recipe. I think I might add a dollop of honey, to bind the ingredients, although I’m not sure how that would work as far as the freezing process, but I’m sure it would be delicious.
Honey would be a great addition.
WOW – they look great for any meal. I do love the idea of the layers of flavours and textures, going from the plain and soft to the sweet and crunchy with the sweet and soft in there as well. It is a stunningly simple idea exceptionally well executed. I can imagine them making a great dessert for adults as well.
This is just so inventive! My mouth watered just looking at the picture of the popsicles; they’re absolutely beautiful, and I’d be almost afraid to try one because of that. 😀 I love the simplicity of this recipe as well; it would be easy to make the night before work for me. Thanks for the new recipe!
I agree with @Liv6. This recipe had me on my toes reading it. I’m so excited to make this recipe. It’s such a great idea and I love that it’s healthy! It’s a great snack for the summer!
I haven’t thought of adding granola to yogurt pops! That’s an awesome idea. I don’t like the consistency of yogurt so I have been freeing them in popsicle molds for years and sometimes add berries etc, but now I’ll be adding granola 🙂 Maybe even some quick brown sugar oats crumbled on them – I love the crunchy texture. I usually use frozen berries to make a simple jam and it always comes out great. Thanks for the recipe inspiration and beautiful photos 🙂
There’s this healthy popsicle store at a mall I went to before and I had one of their yogurt pops. Ever since then I’ve been craving for it and now I can make it at home! The layering technique reminds me of when I make mango float for the family. I’d also like to try this with strawberry jam since I love strawberries! I need to remind myself to buy a mold first before I start making this, though.
Omg I Love this! Its really a good thing for summer. Its healthy but again tasty! Love your recipes!
Kids? Nope, I want to make these for myself. Haha. They look so yummy.
Seriously though, these are a great idea for kids. What better way to get them to eat something healthy than to make it look like something they shouldn’t have? Frozen pops for breakfast? What kid would say no to that? I thought these were going to be for dessert!
Actually, this sounds like something my daughter would actually allow her kids to have for dessert, since she makes sure they eat only healthy, good, stuff. I’ll have to tell her about these.
Haha, I’m another one who wants to make these for myself. I have no kids, so I can get away with it. They look like a delicious, nutritious dessert option for the health-conscious. Heck, I’d have one for a quick lunch on a super hot day. Thanks for the idea!
This looks so yummy. What great breakfast to have that is literally cool. One of my favorite berries is cranberries. I would like to do some experimenting with this breakfast treat for sure.
I can see adding my homemade cranberry sauce to this recipe. Thanks for the idea.
Made this. AMAZING. Gave this 5 stars. It was soooo yummy, i’m going to make them all summer. They are easy to make, pop them in the freezer, and ready to eat. You could make this with any sweet berries/jam. It’s layer of goodness all over. By the way, good photography with the berries on the plate.
Oh my goodness this looks so delicious! Growing up I had the popsicles that were pretty similar to Otter-Pops but were bigger and more circular (it may be a regional thing; heck it may even be a country thing since I didn’t grow up in the United States!)
Then I switched to Otter-pops, and as I got older I enjoy the taste of frozen yogurt a lot more than I do with icy syrup mixes. This is such a great healthy, yummy, and creative alternative! I bet you can even put other fruits in it and play around with the flavor; strawberry sounds like a good one, don’t you think so?
These look so good I would eat every last one of them. I enjoy making my on frozen treats. I do it all the time I must add these to my treat list I usually go to the farmers market to get my produce for my treats I love fresh berries.
Looks like a really summery and creative breakfast! Sounds easy to prepare for a busy working week, and I think that this would be really simple to serve up in the morning. This recipe is more like a treat than breakfast! I love yogurt, blueberries and oats, so I’m definitely going to try this out for the week. All I need to buy is the molds.
Let me begin by just saying, “Wow!” The picture of these yummy looking treats caught my eye so I had to take a further look. Berries are a part of my every day diet and one of my favorite protein fixes is Greek yogurt with fruit on the bottom. How delicious would it be to make these treats! I’ll need some molds first so I’ve put that on my list, and I also need some plain vanilla yogurt. I wonder if Stevia would work okay rather than sugar?
Hi Mama Bulldog,
Sorry for our late reply. Stevia would work to sweeten the yogurt, but it would not work as a replacement for sugar in the blueberry jam. Without sugar, unfortunately the jam won’t set properly. Hope this helps!
Yes, I think Stevia would work the same as sugar.
This looks like a great fun way to get kids to eat healthy. In this digital hands free world we’re living in today, nothing says practicality like a one handed snack. The fact that it’s nutritious is an added bonus.
What a great idea! I don’t have any kids, but these would also be great for busy adults. They sound like they would taste very good and are pretty simple to make. They look delicious and I am sure kids absolutely love them. They could also eat them in the car or on the bus on the way to school.
There’s something magical about pairing yoghurt with fresh, sweet berries. It gives a perfect mix of sweet and sour notes on the palate.
Yoghurt and berry ice-cream is all the rage in Germany, and this recipe looks like a healthier but equally tasty alternative. Kudos to you!
These look absolutely amazing!
Today was abnormally warm for the middle of winter, so it had me craving ice cream! Unfortunately I’m on a diet, but this seems like a healthier alternative! I’d love to possibly try it with either chia seeds or flax seed mixed in for a little nutritional boost, although it seems to be pretty healthy to begin with, especially for a desert! Hopefully tomorrow I can pick up some yogurt, so long as the weather stays warm! Although it’s strange not to be cold in December I’m enjoying the sunshine!
These look absolutely mouth watering. Its winter where I am right now but I am making these anyways for my daughter to eat. They are perfect for her to have in the morning and throughout the day! Its a fight with her sometimes to get her to eat her breakfast but I am almost certain she will be asking me if she can eat these when she wakes up, its a win win for both of us! 🙂
These look fantastic!! I can’t wait for the weather to warm up to try these. I’m sure my kids will enjoy them too, but I know these will be a favorite of mine as well.
It is a great idea for kids, but adults will also love it! Adding honey to sweeten is a good idea. I can see myself making this with many other fruits, some orange marmalade maybe? I am also going to try this with avocado and cocoa and maybe even banana. Thanks for the recipe.
Delicious fro-yo is my favorite. Where I am from we call this concoction fro-yo. I have made some homemade on occasion but I don’t think there was enough sugar. It tasted bland and not at all like ice cream. I never though to add fresh fruit and will certainly try this. Maybe strawberry and pineapple seems like a good choice. Thanks for this recipe.
I have been looking for ways to make a delicious side-snack that I could eat at any time of the day, and I think this one is going to my list!
Thank you very much Jennifer! I am certainly going to try this recipe very soon, you have laid it out in an easy-to-understand way.
I have never tried oats with blueberry jam before (especially in frozen yogurt!) so this sounds interesting and hopefully tastes good too!
These interesting pops may work. I have been trying to find a different breakfast concoction for my three year old. All he seems to want to eat is cereal. I am trying to expand his palette but it is so hard. He loves yogurt and strawberries for sure, so this might be worth a try.
I’m about to become a stepmother to teenagers and this looks like a great, healthy breakfast idea for them as well as myself. I would never have thought of something like this as a breakfast item. The images of it are making my want to make them right now just to try them… they look so delicious. The recipe looks so simple and the ingredients are both inexpensive as well as easy to find.
This sounds delightful. Fresh, healthy Popsicles that are quick and easy to make and popular with all of the kids in the family, sound like the way to go, especially on those hectic school-day mornings. Rather than scrabbling around trying to prepare something they are going to hate anyway, make it fun for them and yourself, make it easy on yourself, and do everything in your power to make breakfast as easy as possible. I love the idea. 🙂
Forget about kids, I’ll make those for myself very soon, they look absolutely delicious! I’ve tried to freeze directly the jars, with a stick in the middle but my attempt sounds rather ridiculous compared to your magnificent result. There are perfect for a cool and tasty dessert now that the weather is getting hotter and I won’t feel guilty because they look quite healty too. I’ve already written the recipe down and I can’t wait to try it out. Maybe if there will be some left I could think about sharing them with my niece. Just kidding, she’ll be the first one to have them.
This looks absolutely delicious, and I can only imagine that the texture of them is really nice as well (I’m really big on texture). I’ve made yogurt pops before and even my boyfriend, who is very very picky about what goes in his mouth, loved them. However, I’ve never made them like this. I think they would taste wonderful with strawberries and honey granola, which I’ll probably try next month. Thanks for giving me the idea for these!
Oh my God, that seems to be the best alternative for regular yogurt, it’s an easy and fun way to eat healthy, without mentioning how delicious that must be, specially in summer.
I only have made regular water popsticles before and they end up being not that good, but I think that almost everything is possible with a little of practice, and I’m on my summer break so what a better time to start trying new, healthy and delicious things.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
These popsicles are absolutely beautiful! I am going to try your recipe out right away. I love ice cream so much, especially during the summer months. However, the junk that is sometimes put in store brand ice creams isn’t so good for me, and yogurt agrees with my body so much more than ice cream does. Yogurt also really agrees with my skin, so I try to eat it as much as I can. If I can eat these in place of ice cream this summer, that would be fantastic. Thank you so much.
How do you think this recipe would fare if I eliminated the jam and added more blueberries instead. I love the fact that it is a healthy alternative to ice cream, but the blueberry jam seems like this might have a high sugar content. I’m not sure it would be sweet enough without it though. Anybody have any ideas?
This would be delicious with just blueberries rather than blueberry jam — quite a bit more tart, but tasty nonetheless. If you are concerned about the additional sugar, but don’t want anything too tart, you could cook the berries without sugar. They won’t set like a jam, but they will form a syrup that is not quite as mouth-puckering as fresh blueberries.
Do you think these popsicles will still be good if I don’t add granola to it? It seems pretty weird to eat frozen yogurt with oats, didn’t really like the mixture. Other than that it looks really good, a perfect treat for the hot summer weather! 😀
They would be tasty even without the granola, but the nice change in texture might surprise you! It really is quite delicious!
I love making popsicles when it’s hot out! I’m always looking for new and interesting recipes. This one is nothing close to anything I’ve ever made previously! I love blueberries and always seem to find such a great deal on them around here at the farmer’s market because apparently they’re not that popular of an item here. I like the addition of oats. Seems like it would be an interesting change to the texture of the finished product perhaps!
Well even though I have found some great recipes and tips and techniques here and I have learned so much, the critic in me still needed something to complain about, and until now it was that there not that many blueberry recipes and things that incorporated blueberries. Just when I needed it too, it comes through and gives me this. These look delicious, and healthy, and a perfect little snack for the summer. Thanks for sharing.
Very creative recipe. I have to admit though it doesn’t look too appealing to me visually. I don’t know how popular it’s going to be with the kids though when I try it out for them. I’m hoping that they will really love it, they love anything that resembles a popsicle and they love trying new flavors.
My kids would think I’m giving them ice cream but it would be healthier..MOM WIN! As a mother of two, I absolutely love this idea. Thank you for sharing!