Festive Feasts for Little Foodies: Tis the Season for Healthy Holiday Treats
During the holiday season, it can feel like everywhere we go is filled with flavors of the season, sweet treats, and baked goods. Hot chocolate at the tree lighting ceremony, cookies from your neighbor, or candy canes from the Santa meet and greet. Why? Because festive food is fun and exciting, and helps build memories for kids (and adults, too!). Holiday food can mean family traditions, surprises, or helping out in the kitchen.
But sometimes we want to celebrate the season and eat a nutritious meal or snack at the same time! So, I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite festive snacks and meals. The foods on this list will leave little ones, and adults, feeling full and energized all December long.
1. Sprinkle No-Bake Energy Balls
I love this recipe because its quick, easy, healthy, and customizable for any time of the year. Nut allergy? Use sunflower butter! No food processor? Use store bought oat flour! Want to make them for Easter? Use pastel sprinkles! There are so many different ways to make this recipe.
Here is a video I made that explains how to make the recipe:
Recipe:
Ingredients:
🎄2 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats, blended into a fine powder
🎄1/2 cup peanut butter (or any nut butter of your choice)
🎄1/2 cup honey
🎄Sprinkles, for coating
Instructions:
1. Blend the oats in a blender or food processor until they become a fine powder.
2. In a bowl or food processor, combine the oat flour, peanut butter, and honey. Mix until a dough forms.
3. Scoop out small portions of the dough and roll into bite-sized balls.
4. Roll each ball in sprinkles to coat, then roll again between your hands to press the sprinkles into the surface and seal them in.
5. Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container for later!
My favorite sprinkles to use are dye free, but you can use any sprinkles you want! Here are some links:
Supernatural Sprinkles (dye-free)
2. Cinnamon Diced Apples
This idea is as simple as it gets. Dice the apples, add the cinnamon. Done and done! We like to use fuji apples because the tart and sweet flavor pairs so well with the warm cinnamon. You can serve them raw, or, bake at 350 F for warm, baked apples. Add the raw or baked apples to oatmeal, yogurt, pancakes or waffles, or on their own as a side dish or snack!
The easiest way to dice this apples quickly is using a veggie chopper like this one.
I also like to make this into a fall or winter fruit salad by adding in pears and pomegranate seeds! Here’s a video of diced apple, pear, and pomegranate fruit salad with cinnamon:
3. Christmas Tree Pancakes (with hidden veggies and protein!)
Creating a pancake Christmas tree is fun, and nutritious too. These pancakes have everything you need for a great start to the day:
- whole grain from oats
- protein from eggs and nut butter
- nutrients from spinach and banana
And the best part… they’re delicious and easy to make!
Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup rolled or old fashioned oats
- 2 eggs
- 2 large ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup peanut butter or other nut butter
- 1 cup of spinach (tightly packed into the measuring cup)
- Optional: Banana slice cut into a star shape for the top of the tree
- Optional: Pomegranate seeds for the ornaments/lights
- Optional: Maple syrup
Instructions:
- Add all oats, eggs, banana, spinach, and peanut butter to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. You should end up with a nice bright green color.
- Heat a pan with oil (I used avocado oil) over medium low. Add pancake batter to the pan. You want to create a BIG pancake for the base of the “tree,” and make each pancake smaller and smaller until you have one tiny pancake for the top of the tree. Flip pancakes to cook each side until the batter is no longer runny.
- Assemble your pancakes from biggest to smallest. Add pomegranate seeds and a star at the top of the tree if you’d like. Drizzle with maple syrup, and enjoy!
Notes: These don’t have a spinach flavor! My kids loved them 🙂
Want the link to the small cutters that I used to make the star at the top of the tree? Click here!
4. Fruit Skewers and Reindeer Toast
These are some of my favorite ideas because they require no cooking, mixing, baking, or much effort at all. You an switch up any of the ingredients for other food items, and have fun customizing.
- Santa Hat Skewers: There are so many versions of these all over the internet! My favorite way to make them is to thread 1 mini marshmallow, one strawberry, one banana slice, and one grape on to a bamboo skewer and cut to size. **Grapes should be cut into quarters or halves depending on age, so make sure you are serving grapes according to safety guidelines for your child’s age.
- Reindeer Skewers: Like the Santa hats, these are totally customizable! The picture above shoes 1 mini marshmallow, one strawberry, 1/2 of a banana, bento eyes, 1 chocolate chip, and pretzels.
- Reindeer Toast: I like to use whole grain toast and add a layer of peanut butter (okay, this picture shows Nutella… but we all like to have fun sometimes, right!?), banana slices for the eyes and nose, chocolate chips in the middle of the eyes, strawberries for the ears, and pretzels for the antlers.
5. Penguin Crackers
Another simple idea that requires no cooking or baking! Start with circular crackers as a base (these are pita crackers found at Target). Spread with a layer of cream cheese. Next, cut 1 black olive in half and place one half on opposite sides of the cracker to create the wings. Then, using a slice of cheddar cheese, cut two small squares for the feet and one small triangle for the beak. Last, use dark brown or black sprinkles to make the eyes. Done!
6. Shape Cutter Puzzles
Sometimes we use our mini cutters to create puzzles out of fruits or veggies! For the holiday season, select mini cutters in the shape of a tree, star, gingerbread cookie, other festive shapes. Cut pieces out of different fruits or veggies and mix and match the pieces. Have fun with blending different flavors and colors to create sometime delicious and beautiful! Kids can have fun cutting the pieces themselves and arranging them.
I hope you found these ideas helpful! Please be sure to leave a me a comment, and follow me on Instagram! @happyhungrylittles