5 delicious and easy-to-prepare DIY snacks
These recipes are dedicated to children's snacks. You know, they are fond of all the snacks that crowd the shelves of supermarkets, but which too often contain dyes, sugars and excess fats. For us parents it is important to know that these snacks, which our children ask us too often, are reproducible at home and with simple ingredients. From an early age they are engaged in a thousand activities every day, from school, to homework, to sporting commitments for which the snack becomes an indispensable meal, like other meals.
Children continually need to be stimulated through new activities and ideas, but sometimes it is not easy to invent original situations. So why not involve them in the preparation of sweets that they can devour as a snack? Sometimes, preparing food with our children allows us to entertain and intrigue them, also giving them the opportunity to have a healthy snack.
The idea is simple: involve them in the preparation of their snacks, even buy them a little chef's apron that they will wear with pride. We make them knead, play with flour and ask them to hand us the tools or to form cookies. We explain that. we are preparing the snacks that they can then eat, and they will actively and very willingly participate. In this way we will be able to make them happy, making them spend a fun afternoon, plus the possibility of having a healthy snack, prepared with care, using ingredients that do not are harmful to health.
We can dedicate half an afternoon a week to preparing the chosen snack with our children and then storing them in tightly closed tin boxes, so that they can last several days and discover that cooking with children is a very fun thing to do. We will also be sure of what we offer our little ones.
Here is a selection of delicious but easy to prepare snacks.
1. Carrot cake
Carrot cakes are among the most nutritious and delicious snacks, because they are capable of giving us a boost of healthy energy. These snacks become a way for even the most refractory children to eat a good portion of fruit and vegetables, given the presence of oranges and carrots among the ingredients.
Ingrediants (for 12 cakes):
- 4 carrots
- 180 g of rice flour
- 90 g of almond and hazelnut flour
- 165 g of fine cane sugar
- 1 pinch of sea salt
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 sachet of baking powder
- 70 g of extra virgin olive oil
- 120 g of orange juice
- 1 vanilla bean
Preparation:
Beat the eggs and sugar at high speed until they are very frothy and clear. Meanwhile, in a blender combine the carrots in pieces, the oil, the orange juice and blend the mixture very finely. Add the sifted flours, baking powder and vanilla pod seeds. Combine the two compounds by mixing with a spatula and pour into half-sphere silicone molds or muffin molds, taking care to fill only 3 of each mold. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 ° C for 30 minutes, allow to cool and unmold.
Here is a fun recipe for tasty lollipops with chocolate chips to make together with the little ones!
2. Yo-yo snacks
Two layers of softness to be filled with melted chocolate, but also with fruit or jam. Here they are in the most famous version with hazelnut cream.
Ingrediants (for 10 sweets):
- 90 g of flour
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 90 g of sugar
- 1/2 sachet of baking powder
- 50 g of dark chocolate
- 1 knob of butter
- 6 tablespoons of hazelnut spread
Preparation:
In a planetary mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar for about 6 minutes until they are well swollen and foamy. Add the sifted flour and baking powder and incorporate with a spatula making very wide circles. Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie with a knob of butter. Cover a dripping pan with a sheet of parchment paper and place a spoonful of dough, trying to give it a round shape and spacing the dough, as it will rise in the oven. Bake at 170 ° C for about 8 minutes. Once cooled, stuff them like a sandwich with the spreadable cream. In a syringe with a fine tip, insert the fluid chocolate and decorate the yo-yos with the famous transversal lines that distinguish them.
3. Chocolate chip sandwiches
These chocolate chip filled sandwiches can become an adult favorite too. If you want you can prepare a version without drops ... so you will have semi-sweet sandwiches to be filled with salty ingredients.
Ingrediants (for 12 brioches):
- 50 g of butter
- 1 teaspoon of malt
- 350 g of flour 00
- 5 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 100 ml of milk at room temperature
- 90 ml of water at room temperature
- 5 g of sea salt
- 5 g of dry yeast
- 50 g of chocolate chips or pieces of dark chocolate - orange peel
Preparation:
First, prepare a leaven, or a sort of pre-dough, by combining the yeast dissolved in water with a third of the flour and the malt in a planetary mixer, mixing well. Cover the bowl and let it rest until doubled in volume. Add the milk, sugar, egg and flour and with the whisk of the planetary mixer, knead until the dough is elastic and well strung. Add the butter into small pieces and the salt and continue to mix for a couple of minutes.Finally add the orange peel to flavor and the drops or pieces of chocolate presently placed in the freezer, mix well, form a ball and cover until doubled ( about 3 hours). Shape into balls of about 80 g. each, place them on the oven tray, brush them with a little egg yolk and milk. Leave the sandwiches to rest for another 30 minutes, brush once more and bake at 170 ° for about 15 minutes.
4. Snack heaven
A mini version of the classic Torta Paradiso, which makes us think of the snacks we find in the supermarket fridge counter. They are very simple: a soft sponge cake with a filling of cream, covered with powdered sugar. Your children will love it.
Ingrediants (for 5 cakes):
- 4 eggs
- 150 g of granulated sugar
- 70 g of flour 00
- 70 g of potato starch
- untreated grated orange peel
For the filling:
- 4 cc of powdered sugar
- 200 g of cream for desserts
- 200 g of mascarpone
Preparation:
Whip the eggs with the sugar and the grated orange zest for about 10 minutes.At the end we will have a light, puffy and fluffy mixture. Combine the sifted flours and mix gently with large movements, so as not to deflate the eggs. Bake at 160 ° C for about 30 minutes. Allow the sponge cake to cool and in the meantime prepare the filling.Mount the cream with the sugar and mascarpone, it will take 5 minutes. Divide the sponge cake in half with a knife, fill the base with a layer of cream, lay the other part of the sponge cake and finally sprinkle with icing sugar. Cut into single portion rectangles and serve.
5. Filled chocolate cookies
Chocolate-filled cocoa shortbread cakes, ideal for all those who have made chocolate a passion. We have chosen to prepare them with wholemeal flour and brown sugar which give the rough appearance of the pastry, but if you prefer a smoother pastry, then opt for the version with white flour and powdered sugar.
Ingrediants (for 12 biscuits):
- 200 g of wholemeal flour
- 40 g of low-fat cocoa
- 150 g of cold butter
- 1 whole egg
- 1 yolk
- 90 g of whole cane sugar
- 1/2 sachet of baking powder
- 100 g of dark chocolate
- 1 knob of butter
Preparation:
In a mixer combine the sifted flour and cocoa, with the sugar and the butter cut into cubes, work until a sandy mixture is obtained. At this point, add the egg yolk plus the whole egg and work until it is compact; it will take a couple of minutes. Compact the pastry with your hands, wrap it in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie with a knob of butter. Let it cool down. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of half a centimeter and with a 6 cm pastry cutter make discs and place a spoonful of melted chocolate in the center of each. Cover each disc with another of the same size, as if it were a round ravioli, and join the edges so that the filling does not come out. Cover a dripping pan with a sheet of baking paper and place the Grisbì on it. Bake at 180 ° C for about 15 minutes and let them cool.
All the recipes taken from La Cucina di Barbara
