Healthy Alternative Christmas Treats for Little Ones #NoJunkJourney

Here's some ideas for healthy treats you can give to your little ones over the festive period. There's a great recipe for star cookies you can hang on a tree, chocolate orange dates and also a little video of the boys opening Organix Goodies Christmas Selection boxes, which make a great alternative to traditional chocolate selection boxes. They absolutely loved them.

Baked Honey Stars

A good alternative to... Candy canes

These little star biscuits are perfect for hanging on the tree. They contain honey, oats and dried fruit instead of refined sugar. They are also gluten and dairy free so perfect for special diets. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 150g butter (or vegetable oil if you prefer)

• 8 tbsp runny honey

• 2 eggs

• 100g ground almonds (can be replaced with ground seeds or rice flour - if using rice flour add an extra 20g

• of butter/oil for moisture)

• 85g rice fl our

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 300g gluten free oats (or regular oats if you prefer)

• 75g raisins

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / gas mark 6.

2. Gently melt the butter with the honey in a pan over a low heat.

3. Mix the eggs in a bowl with all the other ingredients, then pour in the melted butter mixture and stir to combine.

4. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place a star shaped cutter onto the lined tray and press some of the mixture into the cutter. Press with fingers to form into the shape, each star should be around 5mm deep.

5. Carefully remove the cutter and repeat until you have used up all of the mixture. You can create a hole in the top of each star with a straw before baking if you like, so you can thread them with ribbon to hang on the tree later.

6. Bake for around 10-15 mins until golden, then allow to cool before serving.

 

Chocolate Orange Dates

A good alternative to... Chocolate orange

These are a clever little twist on a Christmas classic - soft dates with a yummy chocolate orange centre. They look really pretty as well. They make a good alternative to truffles as well for grown-ups. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 10 tsps nut or seed butter

• 3 tsps cocoa powder

• Zest of 2 oranges (reserve a little for topping)

• 1 tbsp orange juice

• 10 soft dates

Method:

1. Mix together the nut or seed butter, cocoa powder, orange zest and juice to form a paste.

2. Slice the dates open (not completely in half), then add a little of the cocoa & orange mixture to the middle.

3. Close the opened date slightly then sprinkle with a little extra zest. Serve immediately.

 

Organix Goodies Christmas Selection Boxes

A good alternative to... Traditional chocolate selection boxes

What's inside: 

• Organix mini gingerbread men biscuits

• Organix apple and strawberry gummies

• Organix apple & raspberry soft oaty

• Organix apple & orange soft oaty bar

• Organix mini cheese crackers

• £1 money off coupon

My boys and my little nephew loved opening these selection boxes and you can see in this video of them opening them up. All the goodies inside are healthy and organic and they box had some fun activities on it. 

You can pick these Organix Christmas Selection Boxes from Ocado and Boots.

Disclosure: This is number six in a series of sponsored posts for Organix. All words, opinions, images and video content are my own apart from recipe images which are used with permission from Organix.