Who doesn’t love a biscuit recipe? Well this one is perfect for toddlers, especially around Christmas – my baby and toddler friendly spiced biscuit recipe!
Originally this recipe was created by Nutritious.Sara but it’s since been adapted to simplify it a bit by my colleague Emily from Nutritious Family Meals.
I love a delicious biscuit that you can easily make with the kids. Even better, these biscuits contain only apple puree—no added sugars other than those naturally in the apples and cranberries. Despite this, they are very delicious.
You can make these with store-bought apple sauce, a pouch of 100% apple baby puree, or even create your own (see below).
For parents who love biscuits, these aren’t super sweet, so you might notice they taste different from your average biscuit. That’s the whole point! I wanted to create a recipe that is much lower in sugar, making it more “baby-friendly” and a perfect alternative for babies around Christmas time.
If you would like to make them sweeter you can always add a couple of teaspoons of so of sugar to the mix, ice them at the end or dust them off with some icing sugar! Additionally, you can play around with the spices if you wish – but I think these are delicious just as they are.
These biscuits are fine for babies who have had most of the ingredients (such as pistachios) before, and who are a little more advanced with their biting and chewing skills. They make quite a few and so can easily be frozen so you can enjoy some more and some closer to Christmas too.
Ingredients
- 60g pistachios
- 60g dried cranberries
- 65g of peanut butter (preferably unsalted and unsweetened)
- 65g of unsalted butter, chopped
- 120g unsweetened apple sauce (or make your own*)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 egg for egg-washing (optional)
- 1 ½ tbs of lemon juice
- 1 ½ tsp mixed spice
- 1tsp of baking powder
- 300g of plain flour
*To make your own puree, add two chopped apples (peeled or unpeeled) to a pan with a splash of water and heat gently until soft (about 5 minutes). Then blend. If you’re using unpeeled apples, make sure the skin is well blended.
Instructions
- Chop the pistachios and cranberries finely (you can do this with a knife or in a blender).
- Mix all ingredients (except flour) in a bowl or blender.
- Add flour and blend or work the dough with your hands. However, don’t overwork it! – as soon as the ingredients are mixed together the dough is ready.
- Place in the freezer for 20 mins.
- Roll out the dough thinly (~3mm). Use flour generously, so that the dough doesn’t stick to the surface.
- Cut out your little one’s favourite shapes (use rounded for younger babies to avoid sharp edges)
- Place cut out shapes on a parchment paper-lined tray and egg wash (you can skip the egg-washing part – it’s just to add some glaze).
- Bake in a preheated oven – 180C (fan) for 15-20 minutes (bear in mind that if egg-washed the biscuits will brown faster).
- Leave to cool and ENJOY!
Forrest Fruit Dipping sauce
Ingredients:
- 175-250g bag of frozen forest fruit (about ½ a pack), such as the ones you can find in Tesco or Sainsbury’s
- 1 stick of cinnamon (can also used ½ tsp of powdered cinnamon)
- ½ cup of yoghurt, or more depending on your/your baby’s preference
Instructions
- Boil down the fruit from frozen, together with the cinnamon stick until all the fruit soften and the sauce thickens a bit.
- Once cooled down, add the yoghurt and stir.
- You can freeze any leftovers.