Whole Grain Flower Pops

I was recently sent some boxes of Nestle cereal and some fun recipe cards for my daughters and I to try out.  The fun recipes are designed to support the Team Whole Grain initiative, which is made up of Zoe Ball, Matt Dawson, Greg Searle and independent nutritionist, Juliette Kellow.  Team Whole Grain are encouraging busy families across the UK to be aware of the benefits of whole grain and to help increase their daily whole grain intake.

All of the recipes use whole grain cereal favourites such as Cheerios, Shredded Wheat, Shreddies and Oats & More, to count towards your 3 whole grains servings a day and are available to download at http://www.wholegrain.co.uk/.

We decided to try the Whole Grain Flower Pops.  They are so easy to make!   The options for decorating the flowers really are endless, sit back and let your children use their imagination.  These would be fab as a kids birthday party activity or task to keep kids amused on a rainy half term holiday afternoon.  

To make 12 flower pops you will need:

200g dark chocolate

And a variety of different whole grain cereals to make your own designs – we used:  Shreddies, Golden Nuggets, Cheerios, and Curiously Cinnamon

12 wooden skewers, remove the sharp ends if you wish

Here's how you make them:

Break the dark chocolate into small pieces, and microwavable on medium in 20 seconds blasts, stirring every time, until melted, but not hot.

Using the teaspoon, make round pools of chocolate on the prepared baking sheet, and place the wooden skewers into the chocolate, at one end, twisting it to coat it and make secure.

While the chocolate is still set, press in your desired cereals to form petals and the flower centres; try to mix up the colours to make pretty coloured flowers.

Chill for 10 minutes, until set.

Peel the cereal flowers off the greaseproof paper.

Push the other end of the skewers into a melon or pineapple to make a pretty display, or you can use a glass or cup as a vase.

We're going to try making sheep out of Cheerios next!