Quick and Healthy Candy Corn Fruit Cups

Halloween food doesn't have to be all about candy. These cute fruit cups don't contain any candy (or sugar), and they have a nice balance of healthy carbs and protein. These would be a welcome treat for a Halloween party or Thanksgiving dinner, or just a healthy snack.

candy corn fruit cups, vert bright

I came up with this healthy treat years ago when I was looking for something fun to pack in my kids' lunches when it was close to Halloween. It was so easy to put these together at the last minute, and they were so cute! 

Now my kids are all adults, and it was my grandkids who got to eat the cute little candy corn fruit cups after I took the photos that you see in this post. 

If You're Not a Cook, this Dessert is for You

🍁Easy, last-minute dessert
This recipe (if you can call it a recipe) is a big help when you need a quick party treat or a healthy snack without any fuss. You only need three main ingredients and about five minutes!

🍁Healthy with a fun fall theme
Kids and adults alike will appreciate this classic candy corn color scheme that's all natural and nutritious (even if you're not a fan of candy corn). You get a sweet treat without added sugars, plus vitamins and protein that keep everyone happy and healthy.

🍁Great for multiple occasions
These candy corn fruit parfaits aren't just for Halloween-they would be fun at Thanksgiving dinners, family gatherings, or just as a cute after-school snack. The candy corn colors make everyone smile.

candy corn cups, round board

Just Three Ingredients

  • low fat cottage cheese, or vanilla Greek yogurt - Be sure that it's Greek yogurt, since regular yogurt will be too runny and blur the colorful layers.
  • mandarin orange slices, canned in fruit juice - definitely go with canned fruit here for the brightest color.
  • pineapple tidbits, canned in juice - don't be tempted to top it off with a pineapple ring, it will be too hard to eat! You could always use fresh pineapple if you have some, but for  convenience I wanted to stick with ingredients that you could pick up at the last minute at any grocery store.

How to Layer

This is really easy, but it might help to look at a simple breakdown of how to do the layers. Read each step, and look at candy corn for reference. You'll be done in minutes!

candy corn cups how to layer
  1. White layer (small amount)- cottage cheese, or vanilla Greek yogurt.
  2. The largest amount of orange fruit goes here - canned mandarin oranges have the brightest color, so that's what I recommend. Take some time to lay down the orange slices so they make a clean line next to the white layer. They will sink down a little, but doing this helps.
  3.  Top it off with a small layer of pineapple chunks or tidbits.
  4. Cover with a clear lid or plastic wrap and chill until serving time.

Tools You Need

I found some cute cone shaped glass dessert dishes online, if you want to really drive home the candy corn theme, but I've always just used disposable 9 oz. cups with lids.

Here are some links to both:

Candy Corn Cups, Step by Step

This recipe is barely a recipe. All you really need is to look at these step by step pics and you'll be ready to go.

step 1. drain fruit

Step 1. Drain the mandarins and the pineapple very well. I would even blot them with a paper towel to remove the excess liquid.

step 2. white layer

Step 2. Spoon a small amount of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt in the bottom of each cup.

step 3. orange layer

Step 3. The layer of oranges goes in the middle. The drier they are, the better they will lay next to the white layer.

step 4. pineapple layer

Step 4. Add a small amount of pineapple tidbits on top. Look at a piece of candy corn for inspiration πŸ™‚

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Quick and Healthy Candy Corn Fruit Cups

Halloween food doesn't have to be all about candy. These cute fruit cups don't contain any candy (or sugar), and they have a nice balance of healthy carbs and protein. These would be a welcome treat for a Halloween party or Thanksgiving dinner, or just a healthy snack.

  • Author: beneficialbento
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 4 fruit cups 1x
  • Category: snacks

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 cans of mandarin orange slices, 15 oz. each
  • 1 can of pineapple tidbits, 20 oz.
  • 1 cup of vanilla Greek yogurt or cottage cheese

Instructions

  1. Drain the mandarins and the pineapple very well. I would even blot them with a paper towel to remove the excess liquid.
  2. Spoon a small amount of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt in the bottom of each cup.
  3. The mandarin orange layer goes in the middle. The drier they are the better they will lay next to the white layer.
  4. Add a small amount of pineapple tidbits on top. Look at a piece of candy corn for inspiration πŸ™‚

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 240
  • Sugar: 45.8 g
  • Sodium: 23.1 mg
  • Fat: 1.3 g
  • Carbohydrates: 55.8 g
  • Fiber: 6.9 g
  • Protein: 7.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 2.1 mg
candy corn cups, round board

Bonus tipπŸ‘‡

 Don't make these too far in advance! After a few hours the layers become watery. Plan on making them at the last minute, which isn't hard to do  since the whole recipe only takes about 5 minutes. 

candy corn cups on tray

How to Serve Candy Corn Fruit Cups

Display them on a tray for your Halloween party or Thanksgiving feast. If you will be transporting them to a gathering, most clear disposable plastic cups fit nicely into muffin tins for easy transport, and having tight fitting lids is a real bonus!

candy corn cups, muffin tin

More Healthy Fruit Recipes

Roundup! 🀠🐎

Did you know this recipe is part of my Delicious Recipes with No Sugar roundup? Come see what other sugar free recipes I have there!

Kristie Winget, author

Recipe creator: Kristie Winget, whose love of making food fun all started with making fall and Halloween bento boxes. Here's a little more about me.