My Favorite Healthy and Immune Boosting Treat Recipes for Kids
Trick or treating is over so now let's trick our kids into eating some (healthy) treats! I'm a new mom to a 6 month old and the mom jokes are already flowing (crying laughing at yourself emoji). But really, with Halloween over and the next rounds of holidays approaching, I decided to compile some healthy treat recipes that can really be made year round but that might especially come in handy around the holidays when your kids are surrounded by all the treats. Also, these recipes might appear appealing especially to kids but there is certainly no age limit on them. Until Parker gets a little older, I will be making them for Bry and I :)
First, my feelings on Halloween: when it rolls around while you're knee deep in getting your Masters in Nutrition, it's hard not to have mixed feelings. A few years ago I bought organic gummies to give to the trick or treaters. Last year I decided to go all out with my favorite candies (Reeses, Snickers, etc.) and after getting barely any trick or treaters, found my (pregnant) self sitting in my front window eating all of them. Now that I have a baby, I've started to think more about how I'm going to approach this sugar filled holiday with her.
When I was young we used to go out and fill pillowcases with candy that would last me for weeks. I remember eating 12 Reeses at a time and having candy for breakfast. I'm all about balance and certainly do not want to ruin the fun or deprive her from these treats. That said, eating massive amounts of processed sugar especially right at the kick off of sick season is a no-no for the immune system. Your body then has to work extra hard to detox the sugar out rather than detoxing out everyday toxins whether from food or environmental.
My plan for now for Parker: once she's old enough is to let her indulge but to think of a creative way to get the candy out of the house sooner than later. One idea I've heard is to have your kids trade in their candy for something else such as a little toy or money. I have some time to figure this out but in the meantime, I'm sharing my favorite healthy snack recipes for kids that I will certainly be making post-Halloween. These recipes use natural sugar options such as from fruit, pure honey, pure maple syrup, dates, etc. and also provide nutritious value.
The first two recipes are from my go-to blogger for healthy treats. @nutritionbysam basically takes all the fun Halloween candies and recreates them with healthy ingredients. You might even be able to trick your kids into thinking they are the real thing! My favorites are below, Twix and Gummies, but you can head to her blog for more kid-friendly recipes (Raw Snickers, Raw Chocolate Turtles...).
1. Raw Mini Twix - raw, vegan, gluten-free, and loaded with heart healthy ingredients like the magnesium from the cacao. These are a MUST.
2. Immune Boosting Gummies - these are made with collagen to help strengthen the immune system while it detoxes out the sugar and gets ready for flu season.
3. Maple Pecan "Butter" Cookies - I had to make these cookies for a cooking lab in my masters program at MUIH and they are SODELISH. Kids love them because they are gritty from the maple sugar but also taste buttery although cooked without any butter. I found the maple sugar at Whole Foods but have also seen it on amazon.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups crispy pecans
6 tablespoon softened butter or 6 tablespoons coconut oil
½ cup succanat or maple sugar
1 cup arrowroot power
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 egg white
Instructions: Preheat oven to 300˚F. Grind pecans in a food processor. Add all remaining ingredients and process until batter is formed. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the egg white. Use a small cookie dough scooper or spoon to make around 18 cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 300˚F for around 20 minutes.
4. Ooey Gooey Apple Sauce - if you add "ooey gooey" to the name, your kids will like it more + this apple sauce is nothing like what you find in the stores. It is such a treat, trust me. My good friend @ali.nicole.gray and I made this after apple picking with our babes. It's the perfect time of the year to make it fun for the kids and involve them in the whole process whether you apple pick or get them at the store and then cook it together.
Recipe: 9 peeled + chopped apples + 1 tsp cinnamon + 1 cup water + juice from half a lemon added to the Instant Pot and cooked on high pressure for 8 minutes. Allow steam to release naturally for a minimum of 5 minutes. I used my spiralizer attachment for the Kitchenaid stand mixer which made peeling them way easier but if you don't have that you can use a hand peeler.
5. OK so maybe your kids aren't being fooled by what we would consider "real" but what they would consider "fake" chocolate aka cacao. In comes mama to her adorable son Luca (check him out here with some Halloween costume inspo for your baby boy next year) + healthy recipe blogger who I've been following foreverrrr @spinach4breakfast with some clutch Cereal Bar Recipes. She also posts a lot about how she is feeding her one year old.
Enjoy!
Lex
