toddler snacks

Getting toddlers and preschoolers to eat healthily every day can prove to be quite a challenge for parents. With taste buds changing, previously loved foods are dropped off the list quickly leaving parents with limited options. Many parents give in and start offering high sugar and fat-containing packaged foods, just so their kids eat. It’s no wonder children love the taste of these foods; they are engineered to get the brain hooked onto them. That is the reason why your child cries out for fries or asks for Nutella. The combination of high salt, sugar, and fat makes such foods irresistible.

When you are up against so many external highly addictive foods how can you make simple homemade snacks for toddlers that are palatable and loved?

Tackling snack time especially is difficult for parents. Certain preset habits involving snacks are hard to break away from once set. Parents find themselves sucked into the packaged junk snack trap over and over again. Many parents ask me, “How do I change my child’s snack habits to prefer more healthy foods?”

This question led to the creation of my ebook- The Easy Toddler Snack Book. I wanted parents everywhere to have a resource of easy to build healthy toddler snacks. The book contains toddler snack recipes that use simple ingredients and replace the junk food from your child’s snack time without them noticing. Get this recipe ebook and start your family’s transition to healthier snack time. It covers everything from smoothies and energy balls to patties and pancakes. There is a wide variety for you to choose from and tweak to suit your family’s preference.

Today, I have three new toddler snack recipes for you.

These toddler snacks use simple ingredients, don’t require much skill and are a hit with the family, especially children.

Let us dig in,

3 Healthy Toddler Snack Recipes That Kids Will Love

Whole Wheat Cumin Crackers

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp cumin

Makes:

• 1 cup of crackers.

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl add the flour, salt, turmeric powder, and cumin seeds.
2. Add the water little by little and mix until the dough starts to form clumps.
3. Keep mixing until the dough comes together. Knead into a ball shape.
4.  Spread some flour on a base and place the large dough ball in the center.
5. Gently roll the dough out to a pizza base like thickness.
6. Once the dough is rolled out to the desired thickness, cut into square shapes.
7. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown on all sides.

Millet cutlets

Ingredients:

• 2 boiled potatoes
• ½ cup cooked Kodo millet
• Salt to taste
• ¼ tsp pepper powder
• ¼ tsp oregano

For coating:

• 1 egg
• ½ cup breadcrumbs or roasted semolina

Makes:

• 8 cutlets

Instructions:

1. Cook ½ cup millets in about 1 cup of water. The millets are ready when they fluff up and absorb all the water in the pan. Keep them aside.
2. Mash the boiled potatoes and mix in the millets, spices, salt, and pepper.
3. Make into long cutlet shapes.
4. For coating, the cutlet, whisk an egg in a bowl and in another plate take breadcrumbs.
5. Dip each cutlet in the egg mix followed by rolling in the breadcrumbs and shallow fry until golden brown on all sides.
6. Serve with ketchup.

Peanut Chikki

Ingredients:

• 200 gms peanuts
• 150 gm organic jaggery

Instructions:

1. Roast the peanuts.
2. While on a low flame, add jaggery to the roasted peanuts and mix well until the jaggery melts and combines with the peanuts to make chunks of chikki.
3. Once all the jaggery has melted, spread out this mixture on a plate and pat it down.
4. Let this cool for about 30 minutes and cut into square shapes.

Note: This snack can store well in a dark cupboard for up to 2 weeks, which makes it a good batch prepared snack when meal planning for the week.

I hope you try these recipes and your kids enjoy them as much as ours does.

Until next time,

Ciao!