Naturally Sweetened Recipes for Kids + Our Favorite Candies
Valentine's Day is coming up which means it’s almost time to round up candy and valentines for your littles. While we believe in balance (like having green juice with a side of fries) we also know that when it comes to kids, offering up sugar loaded treats can lead to a whole slew of meltdowns and rough evenings. To help soften the blow, we’ve gathered a few naturally sweetened recipes for kids and our go-to ‘healthy’ candies to have on hand for these kinds of occasions.
Before we get into the recipes and goodies, we want to kick this off with a few tips for when you are choosing healthier baked goods:
Avoid artificial food dyes and preservatives
Instead of processed sugar, turn to naturally sweetened ingredients like dates, honey, and the real deal maple syrup
When a recipe calls for flour, try coconut or almond flour instead of relying on processed flours
Those simple swaps lay a great foundation for healthier baking with littles. Let’s get into the recipes!
Naturally Sweetened Recipes for Kids
Healthy Puppy Chow
You remember Muddy Buddies, right?
This recipe takes that classic recipe and puts a healthy spin on it. Made with almonds, peanut butter, coconut sugar and chocolate chips, this is a really fun hands on recipe to make together with your kiddos.
BErries and cream
Find yourselves some cute little serving dishes and assemble this healthy and easy dessert for your littles. All you’ll need are berries and whipped cream - non-dairy, if you’re dairy-free. Berries are chock full of antioxidants and when they’re paired with a bit of protein like the whipped cream, you’ll have an easy, healthy and delicious dessert ready to go.
Healthier Homemade Turtles
Ready for another classic dessert treat with a healthy twist?
These easy to make homemade turtles are vegan, sugar-free and paleo approved.
Chocolate Dipped Bananas
Frozen bananas are really the unsung heroes of healthy desserts.
They taste like ice cream and satisfy all the sweet tooth cravings. Plus, when you add some chocolate and a few toppings - you’re really leveling up the dessert game! This sugar free treat scores extra points because you can have the littles help make and customize them to their liking.
Plus, Our Favorite Go-To Candies
We love these low sugar, gluten-free gummies for our littles. Only 3g of sugar/bag is a total win in our eyes!
If your kids are big on lollipops, we’re huge fans of YumEarth Lollipops, With natural flavors like pomegranate, peach, cherry, and watermelon, these candies are free of artificial dyes and perfect for exchanging Valentines.
Enjoy Life Chocolate Valentine's Candy
You might have seen this brand as you’ve perused the baking aisle to shop for chocolate chips. Luckily for us all, they make small bags of gift-able chocolates for littles too! Dairy, wheat, and soy-free, these chocolates are full of flavor without any of the allergies.
Enjoy Valentines Day with your kiddos and if you try any of these recipes, keep us posted!