Real Holiday Treats

Before I start, I reference "real food" quite often. For those of you who don't know what that is, click HERE.

I have a couple of Christmas treat recipes that follow these guidelines, and the best part is that the bold flavors in the recipes totally mask what children would consider "icky" (i.e. almond milk or whole grain flour). I took these gingerbread to a party last week and all of the kids gobbled them down. Literally. I had to stick one in my purse to save for my husband. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients, including spices
2. In another bowl, beat honey, butter, and egg at medium speed
3. Add molasses and vanilla and continue to mix on medium
4. Slowly add in dry ingredients until well blended
5. Divide dough in 2 sections and wrap in plastic (one lump of dough will be too hard to roll out, you have to separate it!)
6. Let dough sit for at least an hour at room temp
7. Roll out carefully on floured surface, this dough is rather crumbly and requires some muscle to keep in tact. 
8. Cut with cookie cutter and bake at 375 for about ten minutes!

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond milk (this would work with whole milk as well, just bump up the cocoa powder)
• 1 cinnamon stick, split in half
• 1/8 cup cocoa powder
• Just under 1/4 cup maple syrup (or sugar)
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. bring almond milk to a boil with cinnamon stick, and lower to simmer for ten minutes
2. remove cinnamon and whisk in cocoa, salt, and maple syrup (or sugar) vigorously
3. when mixture starts to "foam" pour into cup and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon - YUM!

And for anyone interested, this is our current baking jam-out song! Such a fun one to dance around to with little ones!