While babies tend to eat almost any fruit and vegetable, toddlers often develop more finicky, or discriminating, tastes. Finding ways to "healthify" their favorite snacks, and ensure they get the fruits and vegetables they need, is challenging for many parents. If your toddler seems content to subsist entirely on chocolate-chip cookies, look for varieties that incorporate fruits, veggies, or whole grains, to ensure their treats are as nutrition-packed as possible.
Oatmeal Cookies
This old-fashioned treat packs some nutritional punch, due to its high fiber content. Find a variety made with raisins for an even more nutritious option. If baking at home, create a flour-free, fruit-packed version by mashing three bananas, then adding two cups of rolled oats. Stir in 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, and a cup of chopped dates or raisins. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. You can also add a cup of grated carrots to your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe, giving a sweet, crunchy taste that appeals to many toddlers while sneaking in veggies.
When shopping for cookies, seek out varieties made with flaxseed oil, which adds even more heart-healthy fiber. Avoid brands made with high-fructose corn syrup and preservatives.
Fig Bar Cookies
Add a healthy twist to these classic fruit-filled cookies by finding versions made with whole-wheat flour and natural sweeteners. Many commercial manufacturers bake a whole-grain version of the snack. If baking at home, use figs, apricots, or chopped dates as filling, and add a bit of cream cheese for extra calcium. Kelly Keough, author of "Sugar-Free Gluten-Free Baking and Desserts," recommends sweetening baked goods with small amounts of honey, stevia, maple syrup, agave nectar, or xylitol --- a sweetener made from birch bark.
Whole-Grain Varieties
Banish old perceptions about bland, tasteless whole-grain cookies by introducing your toddler to modern varieties made with high-protein whole grains like quinoa and millet. Many commercial bakers sell 100-calorie snack packs --- a portable, portion-controlled option. Some also aim to entice the toddler crowd by stamping the cookies with animal shapes, or adding chocolate chips or dried fruit. If baking at home, try subbing these whole grains for the highly processed white flour many recipes call for.
Fruit-Packed Cookies
Adding fruit --- whether canned, fresh, or dried --- sweetens and moistens virtually any cookie recipe without the high calories of regular sugar. Substitute unsweetened applesauce for the oil in your favorite recipes to add anti-cancer, anti-oxidant properties, and beneficial fiber, to the cookies. Applesauce also lowers the calories of the baked goods, making them healthier for all your family members.
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