5 festive finger food ideas for babies and toddlers – Newborn Baby

Babies and toddlers don’t have to miss out on all of the fun festive food this Christmas! The following 5 ideas are incredibly simple, nutritious, seasonal (for Australia), versatile, and so yummy that the whole family will love them.

They all look pretty impressive too, so they’re perfect to whip up and take with you to Christmas parties with guests of all ages. We hope you enjoy making these with your little ones.

1. Festive fruit shapes

This Christmas-themed finger food idea is by far the simplest. All you need is fruit plus some cookie cutters or a knife. No cooking or baking required. For example:

• Cut Christmas trees out of small slices of watermelon by cutting the rind into thirds and trimming the outer parts to create a tree ‘trunk’.
• Use Christmas cookie cutters to cut shapes out of cantaloupe, apples, pineapple, or kiwi fruit. Alternatively, use a knife to cut out stars or hearts.
• Feel free to get as creative as you like, and decorate the trees or shapes with shredded coconut, or drizzles of yoghurt or coconut cream.

2. Frozen yoghurt bark

Frozen yoghurt bark is fun and easy to make with toddlers. There’s no need to follow an exact recipe, so let your little one get creative (and messy) without you having to worry that it won’t work out.

It’s wonderful for teething bubs or to cool everyone down on a hot day. To make it festive, you can choose red and green toppings.

Ingredients: 

• Natural Greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt (about 500g)
• Berries
• Kiwi fruit
• Shredded coconut
• Pomegranate seeds
• Finely chopped mint leaves

Directions:

1. Cover a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper (ensure the tray will be able to fit in the freezer first!)
2.  Spread the yoghurt in a thin layer over the paper
3. Prepare your toppings. For the fruit, you might want to cut shapes out, finely slice, or chop into small chunks. To reduce the choking risk, ensure any blueberries are cut into at least halves.
4. Sprinkle the toppings on the yoghurt till your heart’s content.
5. Once the yoghurt is decorated, pop the tray in the freezer for about 2-4 hours.
6. Once frozen solid, snap the bark into smaller pieces, and put them into another container and back into the freezer.

Now, you’ve got nutritious, refreshing snacks to pull out of the freezer anytime.

3. Merry mini muffins

Your baby will love these muffins any time of day, and you’ll be pleased to know that they are packed full of goodness without any added sugar.

See our ‘Basic and versatile savoury mini muffin recipe’. Where it states 1 cup of veggies, you could make them Christmassy by using either (or all):

• Finely chopped baby spinach or frozen pureed spinach (thawed)
• Roasted red and green capsicum pieces
• Semi-dried tomatoes, chopped
• Green olives, cut into quarters
• Dried or fresh herbs, such as chives and parsley

4. ‘Xmas leftovers’ mini pies

Got some leftover Christmas Day turkey, chicken, or ham, along with some leftover vegetables? Use them up in yummy mini pies for your little one (the rest of the family will love them too) to reduce waste, save money, and stock the fridge with a few ready meals or snacks for the next day or two. You’ll need a muffin tray to make them.

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of frozen short crust pastry
• 1-1½ cup of leftover shredded meat
• 1 cup of leftover or frozen vegetables, chopped into small pieces
• ½ cup of thick cream
• ¾ cup grated cheese of choice (plus extra for topping)
• Additional flavours such as garlic and onion powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 220℃ (or 200℃ for fan-forced).
2. If using frozen vegetables, gently heat in the microwave or stovetop for 1-2 minutes until thawed.
3. Take the pastry out of the freezer to thaw.
4. Add meat, cream, cheese, and any seasoning to the vegetables in a large bowl.
5. Grease a muffin tray or coat with baking spray.
6. Using a round biscuit cutter or glass with a diameter of about 10 cm, cut out some circles and insert them into the muffin cups (it will fill about half of the cup).
7. Divide the filling into each mini pie. Sprinkle on some extra grated cheese.
8. You might like to top each one with a small cut-out star of the pastry.
9. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden and crunchy on top.
10. Allow the pies to cool for about 10 minutes in the muffin tray before gently removing them.

5. Strawberry Santa hats

If you’ve got a toddler, get them into the kitchen to help with this easy festive fruit snack. If they’re learning to use a kid-safe knife, even better. Make it together at snack time so they can eat it straight away.

All you’ll need is some banana, strawberries, and thick yoghurt (a pouch works best) or whipped cream.

Directions:

1. Slice banana into rounds
2. Cut off strawberry stems
3. Place a strawberry on top of the banana slice
4. Top strawberry with the yoghurt or whipped cream to create the ‘pom pom’