Summer Kitchen Camp: No-Bake Greek Yogurt Tarts

As you probably gathered from my brownie post, I love baking. However, it’s been a hot and humid summer, so for the final installment of my Summer Kitchen Camp series I decided to whip up a no-bake treat. This recipe rocks for many reasons: It’s easy. Your kids can help with pretty much all phases of the process. You don’t need to turn on the oven. You can do multiple flavors with ease. They are delicious. They’re relatively guilt free (actually, I consider the fruit version totally guilt free).

I decided to experiment with three flavors — peanut butter, chocolate, fruit — partially because I like having multiple options and partially because I wanted to play around with Unreal, an “unjunked” candy (less sugar + no corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or preservatives + more protein and fiber…woo!) that I recently learned about at SocialLuxe Lounge in New York.

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons melted butter
• 8 whole graham cracker sheets (4 ounces) or the equivalent in graham crumbs
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 32-ounce container Stonyfield vanilla Greek yogurt, split in half
• ¼ cup smooth peanut butter
• 8 ounces of Stonyfield chocolate Greek yogurt (I used two small Stonyfield snack cups)
• One package Unreal Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
• One bag Unreal Candy Coated Chocolates
• Blueberries + chopped strawberries

1. Break graham cracker sheets into small pieces into the bowl of a food processer. Pulse food processor until graham crackers turn into crumbs. Pour crumbs into a medium bowl and mix in melted butter and sugar until well combined. Divide graham cracker mix evenly across 12 muffin cup tins. Press graham cracker mix firmly against the sides and bottom of each muffin cup, creating a crust/shell for each tart.
2. For the peanut butter tarts: In a small bowl, mix 16 ounces of the vanilla yogurt with the peanut butter until well blended. Gently spoon evenly into four of the prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle chopped peanut butter cups on top.
3. For the chocolate tarts: Mix the chocolate yogurt (the individual Stonyfield cups have chocolate on the bottom) and gently spoon evenly into four of the prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle candy coated chocolates on top.
4. For the fruit tarts: Gently spoon the remaining 16 ounces of vanilla yogurt evenly into the last four prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle strawberries and blueberries on top.
5. Place muffin tray in freezer. Once frozen, take tray out of freezer and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Gently run a paring knife around the edge of each tart until the tart loosens and pops out. Arrange tarts on dessert dishes or a large plate or tray. You can eat the tarts frozen (in which case I recommend picking them up because a fork won’t work well) but the flavor of the yogurts best translates and is easier to eat with a fork closer to room temperature. I’d recommend letting the tarts sit out to defrost before serving.

We served these tarts for dessert and they were a huge hit, with first place votes distributed across all three flavors. The fruit tarts also proved excellent for breakfast (normally Laurel doesn’t have much of an appetite for early breakfast before camp, but she was all over the fruit tart). I’m excited to make these again and will most definitely include the Stonyfield caramel yogurt on the next go around!

How kids can help: The great thing about this recipe is that the kids can help with any phase of the process. My 7-year-old especially loved pressing the graham cracker mix into the muffin tins and filling and topping the tarts.

Christine Koh is a former music and brain scientist turned writer, editor, designer, consultant, and conversationalist. Her first book, Minimalist Parenting: Enjoy Modern Family Life More By Doing Less, will hit bookstores Spring 2013. She tweets about it all at @bostonmamas.