Christmas recipes for babies

Christmas recipes for babies

Christmas recipes for babies

Natalie Peall of Baby Led Weaning Cookbook gives us her top recipes for little ones who are weaning this Christmas.

Christmas is coming! And to help with the Christmas preparations we’ve caught up with Natalie Peall, author of the popular Baby Led Weaning Cookbook, to find out some of her top BLW recipes for the Christmas table.

Don’t forget your Tidy Tot bib to keep those Christmas outfits clean and to take the stress out of mealtimes this Christmas.

Festive pita bites

Servings: 4, Cook time: 0 mins, Prep time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

  • 2 large wholemeal pitas
  • 80-100g hummus
  • ½ avocado, mashed
  • ½ bell pepper, thinly sliced or chopped (any colour)
  • 1 small carrot, thinly sliced

Method:

  1. Using cookie cutters, cut out your desired shapes from the pitas
  2. Spread hummus or avocado on the top of the shapes
  3. Decorate with vegetable slices. Allow your children to have fun with this part and get creative with the toppings
  4. Try fresh fruit, raisins, chopped nuts and seeds to make different festive shapes.

Cheesy Spinach & Sausage Pinwheels

Servings: 12, Cook time: 20 mins, Prep time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1 ready-rolled puff pastry sheet
  • Olive oil, for drizzling
  • 400g pork mince
  • ½ teaspoon dried rosemary (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
  • 100g) spinach
  • ¼ cup (31g) grated parmesan cheese

Method:

  1. Get the puff pastry out of the fridge around 10 minutes before you start cooking
  2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the pork mince and cook for 5 minutes until browned
  3. Add the rosemary, garlic and the spinach. Cook for another 3-5 minutes until all of the spinach has wilted. Stir through the parmesan
  4. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and pulse to a fine crumb. Leave it to sit for 5 minutes to cool before continuing
  5. Unroll the puff pastry sheet, keeping the paper underneath and spread evenly with the sausage mixture, making sure to spread it to the edges.
  6. Using the paper to help you, roll the pastry back up tightly. Be careful not to roll the paper back into the roll or you will have paper in your pinwheels! Instead use it to guide the rolling
  7. Wrap the roll up tightly in the paper followed by a layer of clingfilm. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease or line two baking trays with baking paper
  8. Unwrap the pastry roll on a chopping board. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut roughly 1 inch slices of your pastry roll and lay them out on the baking sheet
  9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and puffed up
  10. Serve warm or allow to cool and pack in to lunches and snack bags!

Apple Spice Pancakes

Servings: 4, Cook time: 5 mins, Prep time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup (125g) plain flour (white or wheat flour also works)
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 medium egg
  • ½ cup (125ml) full fat milk (any will work – cow’s, soya, oat, coconut, breast or formula)
  • ½ cup (125g) applesauce

Method:

  1. Mix the flour, cinnamon and baking powder together in a large bowl. Whisk in the egg and milk gradually
  2. Mix in the applesauce
  3. Add a splash more milk if your batter seems too thick, however, it should be thick enough to create shapes
  4. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat
  5. To make Christmas shapes, lay large metal cookie cutters in the pan. Pour a few tablespoons of batter into each one. Alternatively, spoon the batter into the pan normally for circular pancakes
  6. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes on one side, until you see bubbles coming to the top of the pancakes. Then carefully invert the cookie cutters and press the pancakes out into the pan to cook the other side for another 2 minutes
  7. Serve once cooled with fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup for a treat!

Cranberry muffins

Servings: 24, Cook time: 25 mins, Prep time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

  • 100g dried cranberries
  • 220g plain flour
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 115g melted butter or coconut oil
  • 100g plain yoghurt
  • 1/2 cup (125g) applesauce
  • 2 medium eggs, whisked
  • 1 orange – juice and zest

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
  2. Line a 12 hole muffin tin or 24 hole mini muffin tin with cases
  3. Boil some water in the kettle and pour it over the cranberries in a small bowl for 5 minutes, then drain. This helps them to plump up and be a bit more juicy in the muffins
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda
  5. In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter or coconut oil, yoghurt, applesauce, eggs and orange juice/zest
  6. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then fold in the cranberries
  7. Fill the cases to 2/3rds full and bake until lightly golden and springy to the touch. Mini muffins will need around 15-20 minutes while standard ones will need 20-25 minutes
  8. Serve once cooled.

More recipes and inspiration from Natalie Peall, including all her apps available for download are available from her website – https://babyledweaningcookbook.com

From Natalie and all of us at Tidy Tot, we wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! x