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It’s my constant goal to consume as little sweetener as possible, because I think that white sugar is going to wreak havoc on my health, and alternative sweeteners are very expensive and not always that much better for your health.
I can’t exactly trick myself, but here are FOUR ways to reduce the sweetener with your yogurt:
1. Start kids young and don’t give options.
My babies eat plain yogurt. They are not offered anything with sugar when they are 8 or 9 months and we’re introducing yogurt, so although Lovey Girl may have made strange pucker faces at the taste of the tart yogurt for the first few weeks, she is now on board with the project.
2. The fruit on the spoon trick.
It sounds mean and sneaky to trick your kids, but you know we all do it when the outcome is in their best interests. This tactic is a little diversionary tool – provided your babies/toddlers like fruit, you talk up the fruit and show them how it’s right there on the spoon. The fruit goes right at the front of the spoon at first, in front of the yogurt so it stands out. Later bites find the fruit more towards the back, so that the child has to take yogurt in his/her mouth in order to get to the fruit.
This trick works for adults, too. Even my 4-year-old son has learned to ration the pieces of frozen fruit in his yogurt so he has some in every bite and a bit left over at the end to eat last. I enjoy my yogurt a whole lot more if there’s something very cold and pleasantly sweet in each bite.
3. The honey on the spoon trick.
We all know adults are going to have a harder time than kids going to plain yogurt from whatever they’re used to. The big people need a bit more sweet “trick” to get them eating almost plain yogurt. If you like to add a little honey to your yogurt, try this: Put just the right amount (or a little less, especially as time wears on) of honey right on your spoon. You won’t need much!
With every bite of yogurt, your lips and tongue absorb just a little bit of that honey (preferably raw honey) along with the yogurt and maybe fruit. It’s just enough to get some sweetness, and you usually can use less honey than if you put it right in the yogurt.
4. Try cinnamon applesauce.
Applesauce and yogurt is not perhaps a standard combination, but when my son was little it was an easy way to use the 2-part food containers and still give him 3 foods. My homemade applesauce has a boat load of cinnamon in it, which adds just enough sweetness and depth of spice to trick my body into thinking it’s getting sweetener. I really like the mixture of applesauce and yogurt, and it’s the one way I can go with ZERO sweetener in my plain yogurt.
My son demonstrates his love for cinnamon applesauce and yogurt.
I’m just finishing a bowl of yogurt, and my fruit didn’t make it to the end. I can tolerate and even enjoy the “just plain” stuff at the bottom of the bowl. You might think that’s absolutely crazy, but it’s all a matter of training. I didn’t like yogurt of any kind until five years ago, so anything’s possible with some baby steps and a little dedication to weaning off the sweeteners. (If only I could find cookies and ice cream that had no sweetener but still tasted good!)
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The Basics: How to Make Homemade Yogurt
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Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
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i have now trained MYSELF to need no sweetener in my plain, whole milk yogurt. I used to douse on the maple syrup like it was going out of style! stevia does the trick too, just one drop or so per bowl.
emily´s last blog ..Curried Coconut Mussels on a Sea of Green
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Activia plain yogurt is so good i can eat the whole 24 oz carton and never look back, and why not use it for a starter.
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This morning we had plain homemade yogurt with sugar free fruit sweetened granola for breakfast. All three children ate it right up! A little honey on this is good too if you need a touch of sweet.
You’re blog helped me make my first batch of yogurt a few months back and I’ve continued to ever since. Thanks!
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Katie Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 12:07 am
Katrina,
Katie
Love to hear the success stories!
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I haven’t made yogurt in a long time, but where I live I can buy 10% fat yogurt…its ssssoooo good, and the fat makes it sweeter too. I don’t buy it much though because my daughters can’t eat milk products, but now that I’ve stocked up on sheep’s milk yogurt maybe I’ll indulge some more. I love yogurt with applesauce! And on pancakes too!
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yum, 10% fat yogurt is the best, its lowerin carbs, higher in fat and i think protien too! try fage total fat brand. delish
emily´s last blog ..Curried Coconut Mussels on a Sea of Green
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Katie Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Emily,
Katie
Fage might have been the brand I tried! It was def. at the store when I looked – I’ll have to check now. I thought is was amazing.
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I can eat plain homemade yogurt fine but the store bought stuff tastes tart to me. The kids like a touch of maple syrup and vanilla.
Mindy M´s last blog ..Crispy Nuts
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Hi Katie. My future DIL got me a yogurt maker for Christmas so I am just thrilled. I normally buy the gigundo container of plain fat free yogurt and eat it with homemade jam that I made over the summer. It’s made with agave nectar so it’s low on the glycemic index and good for you. If you don’t have any homemade jams, try thawed frozen fruit or fresh fruit mixed with a little agave if you need it. So good with mini shredded wheat or toasted oatmeal.
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Stacie Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Hi Cindy,
I just wanted to let you know that agave syrup is actually pretty rotten stuff…it’s as heavily processed as corn syrup and does about the same things to your body. And your body NEEDS good animal fats and unprocessed (cold pressed) vegetable fats! Sometimes I add coconut oil to my yogurt…it’s sweet and delicious, and an excellent source of very healthy fats.
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Katie Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Stacie,
Katie
Thank you for jumping in – I never tried c.oil in the yogurt. Interesting idea…do you use it in its liquid form? I second everything else that you said!
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Katie Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 11:46 pm
Cindy,
…I have homemade raw raspberry jam sweetened with raw honey, and that’s a great way to use it as it goes bad faster than cooked jam. Thank you! 
Katie
I hear agave is very processed and not so good for you
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I’ve been weaning myself off sweetener in my yogurt, too. I love 7 Stars plain as it’s so not tart, but I still used to add a T. of maple syrup to every bowl-full. Recently I discovered that a 1/2 to 1 t. of vanilla does the trick for flavor without sweetening!
Lisa Z´s last blog ..Are We Raising Our Children To Be Parents?
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Slightly Indulgent Tuesday – 1/12/10 : Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free // Jan 19, 2010 at 5:56 pm
[...] Sauce)5. HoosierHomemade{Taco Soup}6. Katrina @ Gluten Free Gidget- Butternut Polenta Lasagna7. Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship (Less Sweetener in Homemade Yogurt)8. Aubree Cherie @ LivingFree – Peanut Pumpkin Cookies9. Jennifer (Hot Bacon Dressing)10. [...]
Hey, the real reason agave is a problem isn’t that it’s processed, I mean, the stuff we do in our kitchens is technically food processing too. The real problem is it’s massively high in fructose. Low-carbers have been saying for years that fructose causes a lot of health problems even though it’s low on the glycemic index and what do you know, the scientists are finally admitting it (or, the media is finally acknowledging them).
The tiny amounts of fructose you get in fruit, even modern hybrid fruit, are OK. The concentrated fructose in things like agave and honey and sugar isn’t so hot. It leads to things like fatty liver and type 2 diabetes.
Hope that helps.
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Katie Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Dana,
Katie
Thank you! Sweeteners is one frontier I have yet to cross on my own, so I’m happy for the help!
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I’m worried about kids eating flavored yogurt from the supermarket and they believe it’s the real thing. They are just loaded with sugar. THank you for your tips here.
Divina´s last blog ..28 Day Real Food Challenge: Week 3 Evaluation
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