Summer break means it's time for fun, refreshing snacks to keep kids fueled up for summer fun! This Summer Parfait Snack Bar is easy to set up and so much fun for the whole family to personalize their own parfaits!
School's out for the summer!
In between water balloon fights, park time, reading in the shade, and general outdoor summer fun, I like to give the kids a chance to have fun with their food as well. Building a parfait snack bar is super easy to put together in no time at all, and it gives the kids a chance to refuel with beautiful, tasty snacks that are customized to their own tastes.
Build a Summer Parfait Snack Bar
You can truly include whatever fillings and toppings you have on hand, which is one of the things I love about this.
Here are some of my favorite add-ins and toppings to build perfect summer parfait snack bars:
- Ice pops and yogurt bars - my kids love the Outshine Fruit & Veggie Bars, Outshine Yogurt Bars, and Outshine Fruit bars, then we chop them up and put them into bowls
- Fruit - blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, bananas, orange slices, strawberries... summertime is berry season, so this is a great way to make use of those beautiful, in-season berries!
- Chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, toffee chips, or mint chips
- Nuts - if there are no allergies, my fave for fruit & yogurt parfaits are chopped up peanuts, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts
- Marshmallows - makes for a tasty s'mores parfait!
- Graham cracker crumbs - great to use as a base or as a topping!
- Greek yogurt - awesome way to build in some protein into their snacks
- Fun final toppings - colorful sprinkles, cocoa powder, whipped cream
Set these all out and let your kids have fun building their own parfaits!
I usually recommend they start with a layer base of the chopped ice pops and yogurt bars, then add the Greek yogurt, then fruit, then another layer of another flavor of the ice pops and yogurt bars, and then another layer of fruit or nuts with a final layer of whipped cream topped with sprinkles or nuts.
Fun flavor combos
For your summer parfait snack bar, here are some fun flavor combos to get you started that the kids and I personally love:
Outshine Fruit & Veggie Bar: Blueberry Medley + Greek yogurt + Outshine Fruit & Veggie Bar: Tangerine Medley + blueberries, kiwi, and whipped cream. The fruit & veggie bars are genius: they're made with real fruits and veggies and pack a whole lot of summery flavor. I personally love these the most out of all the Outshine bars. The tang of the tangerine medley flavor goes so well with the richer sweetness of the blueberry medley flavor.
Outshine Fruit Bar: Strawberry Kiwi + Greek yogurt + Outshine Fruit Bar: Black Cherry + raspberries, strawberries + whipped cream + colorful sprinkles.
This is my son's personal favorite. He actually declared: "This is my favorite of all of the desserts we've ever made!"
I wish I got him on camera saying that! That's a pretty strong statement, especially considering how many desserts we've made and the kids have tested for the blog alone over the years, not to mention for everyday life! I love how there is, again, a balance between the richness of the black cherry flavor and the lightness of the strawberry kiwi flavor. And seriously: what dessert couldn't use a few fun and fabulous colorful sprinkles on top?
Fancified Fruit Yogurt Bar
My son also loves the Outshine Simply Yogurt bars in Blueberry. They are great to add to the parfait bar, but they're also great to dip into store-bought or homemade chocolate dip and then add nuts or sprinkles to it. So if you have one kid who doesn't want to go all in for the variety of the parfait bar, try this simplified tasty treat!
Delicious, easy, and so much fun!
Outshine Bars
My kids have loved the taste of Outshine Bars for years. This is the brand that we always get and we love trying all of the new flavors as well as the favorites. I also love that they are non-GMO, and have no artificial colors or flavors, or high fructose corn syrup. As a bonus, they are also fat-free and gluten-free!
My son received a gift card to Walmart for his birthday from one of his friends, so while we were there, I found these Outshine Fruit & Veggie bars, made with real fruit and veggies, in the frozen food aisle next to other frozen snacks. I also picked up a pack of my kids' regular favorite Outshine Fruit Bars, which are made with real fruit or fruit juice, and a pack of Outshine Simply Yogurt bars.
What combination of ingredients would YOU put together for your personal parfait summer snack?
Thanks to Outshine® for sponsoring this post. My kids truly love Outshine bars - it's our family's personal favorite brand! As always, all opinions and photos are my own.
Logan says
We LOVE Outshine bars! They are a staple in our household during the summer! This parfait bar is too cute! I will have to remember it for my niece's birthday party coming up!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Aren't the Outshine bars the best? We can't get enough of them! Thanks, Logan!
Leila says
I love this idea! We will definitely need to stock up - it's such a great snack for hot summers too! I've done parfaits before, but the Outshine bars will be a fun new thing to try!!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thanks Leila! We need to restock already... my kids and their friends go through boxes and boxes of Outshine bars so fast!
Rachel says
I love this idea! All of that fruit looks so yummy!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thanks, Rachel!
Renée ♥ The Good Hearted Woman says
What a fun, colorful, refreshing party-bar idea! (That kiwi & blueberry parfait is making me so hungry.) We are BIG fans of Outshine bars - our fridge is packed with them even as I type! My favorite are the pineapple fruit bars - I love the clean little bits of frozen pineapple.in them.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
I've heard the pineapple bars are amazing. We'll have to try those the next time we're at the store -- thanks, Renée!
Betsy says
I want these now! I never thought about dipping ice cream bars. Brilliant!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thanks, Betsy!
Melissa says
Great ideas! Especially to beat the summer heat
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thanks so much, Melissa!
Denay DeGuzman says
What a beautiful idea for backyard parties and summer entertaining. Marlynn, I love your blog. It's so fresh and inviting. A lovely place to hangout and ready while sipping a cool beverage. :-)
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thank you so much for your kind words, Denay! I am so happy you feel that way when you visit my blog! :)
Jen says
I love this idea for summer afternoon parties for *adults*...!
Chrisy @ Homemade Hooplah says
So creative! I've been so obsessed with parfaits lately I know my neighbors would be beside themselves if I rolled this out for a party. Especially love all of the flavors - YUM! :D
Kendra Cardoza says
What a fun idea! Love all of the combinations you can make with this sweet treat!