There is nothing like the sweet taste of dessert after meals, and this is especially true for kids. So, unless your child is diabetic, obese or has been advised to refrain from eating sweets by a physician, healthy and homemade sweets are an excellent addition to their diet once in a while.
While some kids enjoy warm and chocolaty desserts, others prefer light and semi-sweet treats. Some like traditional mithais while others prefer ice-creams, cakes, pastries, and cookies. Some kids enjoy all of these. If you are a mother who is not opposed to serving desserts at mealtimes as long as they are healthy, you will love this article. We have put together some excellent recipes of healthy kid’s desserts that are easy to prepare and tasty as well.
Oats and mixed nuts ladoo
Kids with a sweet tooth will relish this sweet. It is a healthy and nutrient-rich ladoo made up of oats, jaggery and nuts. This robust and nutritious ladoo scores 10/10 for nutrition and are a healthy school dessert since they are dry.
Benefits of Oats and Mixed Nuts ladoo:
- Oats are a powerhouse of well-balanced nutrients
- Oats are rich in fibre, which helps reduce cholesterol levels, improves blood glucose levels, provides satiety, and helps in losing weight. Oneladoocontributes approximately 1.5 gm fibre.
- Jaggery and sesame seeds are rich in iron.
- Thisladoois a good source of protein, which helps build your cells.
- Nuts like almonds and walnuts are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids and are anti-inflammatory.
- Nuts also provide the right quantities of calcium required for healthy bones and teeth. Oneladoocontains approximately 44.4 mg of calcium.
Ingredients:
You will need rolled oats, walnuts and almonds (chopped finely), sesame seeds, ghee, jaggery (chopped), cardamom powder and low-fat milk.
Preparation
- Roast oats on a medium flame for 3 minutes in a large non-stick pan. Once done, keep it aside and let it cool.
- To the same non-stick pan, add sesame seeds and roast for 2 minutes. Allow them to cool completely.
- Mix both jaggery and ghee in a non-stick pan and let it cook for 1 minute. Stir continuously.
- Transfer the entire mixture of jaggery to a flat thali, and cool completely.
- Add the dry roasted oats, sesame seeds, walnuts, almonds, and cardamom powder to the jaggery mix and stir properly.
- Pour milk into the mixture and stir well.
- Divide the mixture into equal portions and make round shapes like ladoos.
Healthy Peda
You may be surprised to know that peda can be made without milk products like milk or mawa. But this peda contains a great combination of flour, which provides a rich texture and taste. The sweetness of the peda is a result of the honey and mild cardamom powder used in the recipe.
Ingredients:
Chana dal (roasted and powdered), ragi/ nachni flour, ghee, honey and cardamom powder (elaichi)
Preparation:
- In a small non-stick pan, add ghee and sauté nachni/ragi flour on a medium flame for 2 minutes. Once done, take it off the heat.
- Then, add some more ghee to the pan and sauté thechanadal powder for another 2 minutes on a medium flame.
- Mix the nachniandchanadal, and add honey and cardamom powder for natural sweetness.
- Divide the mixture into equal portions and make them into flat, round shapes. Either serve fresh or store in an airtight container to eat later.
Eggless chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate cookies are the perfect recipe for Christmas and are a delicious snack to have at home. Even a simple lunch for your kids can be made exciting with these.
Ingredients:
- 6 tbsp. chocolate chips
- 1 cup multigrain flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 6 tbsp. powdered sugar
- 5 tbsp. soft butter
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
- 1 tbsp. milk
Preparation:
- In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
- In another bowl, combine sugar and butter and mix well. Make sure there are no lumps.
- Mix the vanilla essence, milk, and chocolate chips.
- Add the plain flour to the mixture.
- Divide the entire mix into nine flat, round cookies.
- Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 15 minutes.
- Cool them and store them in an airtight container.
Gluten-free recipe (Jowar, date and cashew nut cookie)
Ingredients:
- ½ cup jowar flour
- ½ cup dates (seeds removed and chopped)
- 3 tbsp. cashew nuts (chopped)
- ½ cup soya flour
- ½ cup butter
- 4 tbsp. powdered sugar
- 11/2 tbsp. cocoa powder
- ½ tsp. butter for greasing
Preparation:
- Boil dates in 3/4th cup water
- Continue boiling the dates till they are completely mashed. Let them cool.
- Combine the flour, butter, and sugar in a bowl till they achieve the consistency of bread crumbs.
- Add cashew nuts and cocoa powder to the mashed dates, mix properly and make a semi-stiff dough.
- Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Divide the entire dough into ten equal portions and shape them into cookies.
- Bake these in a preheated oven at 180-degree Celsius for 40-45 minutes after greasing the tray. Let the cookies cool and store in an airtight container.
Deciding on a healthy, satisfying, and tasty dessert for kids can be challenging at times. You need to remember that kids require a balanced mixture of complex carbohydrates, proteins and other essential nutrients to stay energetic and alert throughout the day. With these recipes, you won’t have to depend on junk foods or candies with empty calories anymore. These desserts are a fantastic way to end a kid-friendly lunch and should be a part of a nutritious lunch box.