Holiday Baking with Your Kids
Photo by Bev (Sugarbloom Cupcakes)
Have you ever felt that your own family got lost in the holiday shuffle? Why not include your children in the holiday preparations? One of the most rewarding and fun ways to do this is to bake with them. Some parents may balk at the idea, thinking of the sugar and fat that is usually included in holiday baked goods. But don’t despair – you can include your kids and make healthy treats for the holidays. Before you get started, keep some of the following things in mind.
1. The age of your children
Some aspects of baking are not conducive to the very young, such as taking things in and out of the hot oven or cracking eggs. Still, young children can put pre-measured flour into a bowl or decorate cookies.
2. Kitchen safety
Remember to keep all sharp blades and hot surfaces away from little hands, and establish rules for the kitchen.
3. Healthy ingredients
If you have a favorite holiday recipe loaded with unhealthy fats or sugar, consider replacing ingredients like white sugar and butter with applesauce, pureed bananas or prunes, or a healthy oil like safflower oil. Use whole wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour is especially conducive to baked goods) instead of white, and see if the amount of sugar in your recipe can be reduced or replaced with healthier sweeteners, such as stevia, yacon syrup, sucanat, or blackstrap molasses. Use organic ingredients where possible as well.
If you just don’t know what you need to make healthier holiday treats, here is a recipe for holiday cookies that is much healthier than the typical recipe:
Sucanat Cookies
In a bowl, combine:
- 2 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. sea salt
Cream in a mixer until fluffy:
- 1/4 cup unsalted, organic butter
- 1/4 cup non-hydrogenated buttery spread, such as Earth Balance
- 1/2 cup safflower oil
- 1/2 cup sucanat
- 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Add:
- 2 eggs, one at a time. Then gradually add flour mixture. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto parchment paper, covered baking stone or cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. When cookies are still warm, top with colored evaporated cane juice made by shaking 1/2 cup of cane juice with a few drops of natural food color.
Here is recipe for molasses cake reminescent of gingerbread that contains no granulated sugar and very little butter.
Molasses Cake
In a mixer, blend:
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup raw, unfiltered honey
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup organic, blackstrap molasses
Add:
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
Dissolve:
- 1 tsp. baking soda in
- 1 cup hot water
Gradually add the hot water-soda mixture to the batter. Pour into a buttered and floured 9″x9″ glass baking pan and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.
Take some time to bake together as a family this Christmas. If you give your baked goods as gifts, you are saving yourself the hassle of shopping and spending time with your kids. And won’t the recipients, no matter who they are, appreciate the sweet taste and healthful ingredients!
