Need an extra special, lower calorie/fat/carbs spring dessert that the whole family will LOVE? Try spring carrot “gardens” with chocolate cookie and pudding “earth” and grow candy carrots! The dessert assembles in minutes and the recipe allows you to control your ingredients and nutrition content. This dessert can be made gluten free and lower sugar by using gluten-free cookies and sugar free pudding, or Oreos and regular pudding – it’s up to you. Serving pudding instead of cake eliminates calories, fat, and carbs so let’s start planting!
Carrot “Gardens”
The ingredients are simple. Start with chocolate cookies, pudding mix, orange peanut candy or Starburst candies, green licorice strips candy, and a tablespoon or so of cocoa.
Ingredients
I used three candies trying to come up with a candy carrot. Starburst and orange peanuts worked best. I tried gummy orange slices and the carrot looked like a snail (see the middle candy in the photo). Heat the Starburst candies a few seconds in the microwave and they become easy to mold into a carrot shape. Mash the peanuts with your fingers and they form carrots very well. My local dollar store had “Rips” candy, which are strips of narrow green licorice. Pull the strips into pieces and to make the carrot tops. Kids could easily make these carrots without supervision.
Candy carrots
Make the pudding according to the package directions. You could also purchase premade pudding. Spoon it into serving dishes. Leave about one inch at the top for the “dirt”.
Add the pudding
Next, crush the Oreos or other chocolate cookies in a plastic bag. To give the crumbles a more dirt like effect, add 1 tablespoon or so of powdered cocoa to the bag and give it a good shake. The crumbles look like real dirt. Spoon the “dirt” crumbles onto the pudding. You will probably not want to fill the dish completely full – it makes a huge mess while eating if you don’t leave a space at the top.
Add the “dirt”
Place one or two candy carrots into the dish and that’s it – your “carrot garden” is complete! You can feel great that this dessert is lower in sugar and fat than many out there and everyone will love to eat your sweet creation!
