My son Nacho was just 18-months old when Gastón and I first took our dulce de leche to market. One morning I snapped this picture of him eating his dulce de leche and banana puree.

I wanted people to know that I fed my own babies our dulce de leche, and that once you have safely introduced cow’s milk to your baby’s diet, that it is safe for pureeing baby’s first fruits—afterall, dulce de leche is one of the main food groups that any Argentine baby must get down. Nacho is now seven years old. I still feed him bananas with dulce de leche, but instead of pureeing them, he spreads the dulce on the banana.

Elise is my friend, Dana’s youngest daughter. Dana sent me this picture of baby Elise eating dulce de leche straight from the spoon during her afternoon snack. With biscuit in hand, Elise had me at her blue bow and gained a spot on the side of our dark chocolate dulce de leche jar.

Dulce de leche is so versatile, especially when preparing your own homemade baby food as it adds just enough sweetness as well a velvety finish that is easy for babies to swallow.

I blend it with almost any ripe, mashed fruit and some instant baby cereal and it has gotten me through many meal battles with my children. It’s handy to have a small food processor or high-speed blender (I use my Ninja single-serve cup), but depending on the age and ripeness of the fruit, you can simply mash with a fork. I especially feel good about it because I know they’re eating wholesome ingredients, since I make each serving fresh.

This doesn’t only work for breakfast. The dulce de leche combination works well blended with baked sweet potatoes as well as butternut squash. For heartier baby food, prepare old-fashioned oatmeal and mix in the fruit and dulce de leche blend hot off the stove; then mix in a blender or food processor. I’ve included some of my old-faithful combinations below.

serves 1; Prep time: 5 min.

Banana:

• 1 ripe banana
• 1 large teaspoon dulce de leche
• 1 tablespoon whole grain baby cereal of choice
• COMBINE ALL INGREDIENTS and blend until smooth. If child is a toddler, you can also easily mash with a fork for a heartier consistency.
• serves 2; Prep time: 5 min.

Strawberry-Apple:

• 1 apple, peeled and cubed
• 3 strawberries
• 1 large tablespoon dulce de leche
• 2 tablespoons whole grain baby cereal of choice
• COMBINE ALL INGREDIENTS and blend until smooth. Divide mixture into two 4-oz. mason jars. Keeps in the refrigerator for two days.
• serves 2; Prep time: 5 min.

Apricot-pear baby food:

• 12 dried apricots
• 1 ripe Bartlett pear, peeled and cubed
• 1 tablespoon dulce de leche
• 1 tablespoon whole grain baby cereal of choice
• PLACE APRICOTS IN a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil then lower heat to a simmer. Cook until soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool 5 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the juice from the pan.
• Combine all ingredients along with reserved juice and blend until smooth.