Biscuits, Sticks And Muffins For Babies And Young Children

As soon as children become interested in “real food,” many parents wonder what healthy snacks to offer.

In addition to vegetables, fruits, legumes and cereals, they can be offered some tasty foods such as cookies, sticks and muffins, as long as they are homemade with natural healthy ingredients.

When preparing recipes in the oven for children it is recommended to avoid white sugar and flour and prepare them in a way that the crust is soft, especially in the case of babies.

Baked recipes for kids

1. Sugar-free cookies

You don’t need a lot of ingredients to bake cookies for your baby. A slight natural sweetness is enough to convince the little ones when it comes to taste.

Ingredients (for about 20 cookies):

• 180 g white spelled flour
• 60 g fine rolled oats
• 8-10 soft dates or 4-6 tablespoons of date paste or a very ripe banana
• 40 ml olive oil
• 60 ml of water or date soaking water

Elaboration:

1. If the dates are tough, soak them in water for a few hours (or overnight) before processing.

2. Put the dates together with the olive oil and water in a blender or mincer and grind them until you get a thick pulp. As an alternative to whole dates, mash a ripe banana or use date paste.

3. Shape the finished dough into balls, flatten it into cookies, place them on a baking sheet or roll out the dough and cut the cookies with a mold.
4. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes at 180 ° C (top / bottom heat).

It is advisable not to overdo the baking time, even if it seems that they are soft when they come out of the oven, as they harden when they cool.

Baby cookies can keep for several weeks if stored in a cool, dry place. If you want to bake a larger quantity, you can freeze them and bake them again for a few minutes when needed.

For older children, the cookies can be completed with a little vanilla or chopped nuts.

2. Spelled sticks

Ingredients (for about 20 sticks):

• 500 g spelled flour
• 2 bananas (as ripe as possible)
• 2 carrots
• 150 g of organic margarine without hydrogenated fat
• 2 teaspoons of sesame
• 3-4 teaspoons of oatmeal

Elaboration:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees of circulating air.
2. Mash the bananas.
3. Peel the carrots and grate them finely.
4. Mix and knead the bananas, carrots, margarine and flour until they form a homogeneous dough. The dough should still be a bit sticky.
5. Sprinkle the sesame and rolled oats on a silicone sheet.
6. Shape the spelled sticks by dividing the dough into four parts and forming sticks the thickness of a finger. Roll the dough over the sesame seeds and oatmeal to stick together. In this way, the spelled sticks are especially tasty.
7. The finished spelled sticks are placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and baked for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees. They are done when they are crisp and slightly browned on the outside, but still somewhat mushy on the inside.

3. Muffins

Ingredients (for about 20 sticks):

• 400 g of white spelled flour
• 1 package dry yeast
• 90 ml whole milk (alternatively oat milk, rice or almond milk)
• 90 ml of water
• 50 ml oiva oil
• 100 g carrot
• 100 g apple
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 ripe banana for sweetness (optional)

Elaboration:

1. Put the flour, milk, yeast, oil and salt in a bowl and knead well until a homogeneous dough is formed.
2. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes in a warm place.
3. Meanwhile, peel the carrot and apple and grate them finely with the kitchen grater. Then add it to the dough and work it well again.
4. Shape the dough into balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving enough space between them.
5. Cover the baking sheet and let it rest in a warm place for another 30 minutes.
6. Bake at 180 ° C top and bottom or in a 160 ° C fan oven for about 20 to 25 minutes on the middle rack.
7. Determine if the muffins are baked properly with the dipstick test. Don’t bake too long to prevent the crust from hardening.
8. Take the finished muffins out of the oven and let them cool.

These muffins can be frozen without problems and, if necessary, thawed at room temperature. They are perfect to carry and consume between meals.