Around 4 p.m. every day, I remember that dinner is still a few hours away, and I’m already hungry enough to eat the house down. Packaged snacks can fill the void, but they often leave me unsatisfied, so I’m always looking for homemade snack ideas that are as delicious as they are easy to make.
These frozen chocolate-covered fruit and yogurt clusters had their 15 minutes of fame on social media a couple years ago, but I’ve been making them ever since because they’re easy, require minimal ingredients, and taste like ice cream.
The original trending recipes involve combining strawberries or blueberries with yogurt, freezing the mixture into individual dollops, and then dipping each cluster into a mixture of melted chocolate chips and coconut oil, which solidifies into a hard shell on contact.
A Few Tips
- Frozen vs. Fresh Fruit—If you use frozen fruit, you may want to increase the amount of yogurt you use slightly. Yogurt freezes and sticks to frozen fruit, which makes it more difficult to distribute evenly when combining in the bowl.
- Make Double—If you’re feeding a crowd or want to make a bigger batch, the recipe can easily be doubled.
- Use a Different Chocolate—Substitute the semi-sweet chocolate with milk, dark, or white chocolate if you prefer.
- Play With Toppings—A sprinkle of salt, a dusting of cardamom, or spicy chili flakes or Tajín (especially on mango clusters) can pack an extra flavor punch.
What Yogurt Is Best For Clusters?
I use regular vanilla yogurt for these clusters, but you can substitute it with plain yogurt, Greek yogurt for extra protein, or your favorite plant-based yogurt. You can also add more or less yogurt depending on your preferred yogurt-to-fruit ratio. I prefer 1/4 cup of yogurt to 1 cup of fruit.
Simply Recipes / Nea Arentzen
Strawberry Yogurt Clusters
These strawberry yogurt clusters remind me of the classic summer flavor of strawberries and cream. Fresh strawberries are best here as they offer a lot more flavor than frozen, and they can easily be cut into small pieces.
Strawberry Yogurt Clusters
INGREDIENTS
1 cup chopped strawberries (aim for 1/4-inch pieces)
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Flaky sea salt or kosher salt (optional)
PREPARATION
- Line a plate or baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the strawberries and yogurt until the fruit is covered. Dollop the mixture into 5 equal-sized clusters on the parchment. Freeze until solid, about 30 minutes.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until the mixture is smooth and easily pours off a spoon (add a little more coconut oil if the chocolate seems too thick). Let the melted chocolate cool for a few minutes.
- Working quickly, dip the frozen clusters in the chocolate to completely cover them. Return to the parchment, then sprinkle with a little salt, if desired. Return to the freezer for 10 minutes. Once the chocolate is hardened, place the clusters in a freezer container until ready to enjoy.
Simply Recipes / Nea Arentzen
Blueberry Yogurt Clusters
Blueberries are a great option for these yogurt clusters because they don’t require chopping, which means one less step! I prefer fresh blueberries over frozen, but frozen work just fine as well (although, as mentioned above, you may have to increase the amount of yogurt slightly).
To make blueberry yogurt clusters, follow the recipe above, substituting 1 cup whole blueberries for the chopped strawberries.
Simply Recipes / Nea Arentzen
Mango Yogurt Clusters
Although I tend to use semi-sweet chocolate for the hard shell here too, this would be a good opportunity to experiment with a white chocolate hard shell. Also, just like the blueberry clusters, you can use either frozen or fresh mango, but no matter what type of mango you use, chop it into 1/4-inch pieces.
To make mango yogurt clusters, follow the recipe above, substituting 1 cup chopped mango for the chopped strawberries. Instead of the optional salt, sprinkle these with chili flakes or Tajín.
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