If your kids are anything like ours, they’ll be stuffed with sugary treats before Christmas even gets here! We went looking for some great snack (and gift!) ideas that will satisfy a sweet tooth without all the extra calories and fat.

Flavored Popcorn

This is a great low-calorie recipe for an afternoon snack. Or wrap it up in gift bags for gifts for friends, teachers and neighbors.

Ingredients:

8 cups popcorn (make sure it’s fat-free and salt-free)

Cooking spray

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

1 ½ Tbsp butter, melted

Combine the sugar, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Lightly coat the popcorn with cooking spray and toss to coat inside a plastic bag. Then drizzle the popcorn with butter and toss well. Add the sugar mixture and then toss well to coat. You could also add nuts and dried fruit to the popcorn mixture to add additional nutritional value!

White Chocolate Trail Mix Bark

(Recipe adapted from here.)

Ingredients:

1 cup sliced almonds or other nut

¼ cup unsweetened coconut

1 cup rice cereal or other dry cereal

1 cup dried cranberries and/or other dried fruit

1 ½ lbs white chocolate, chopped

2 tsp vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread nuts and coconuts in an even layer on sheet. Toast in the oven for 5-8 minutes and let cool. Combine almonds, coconut, rice cereal and cranberries in a bowl, reserving about ¼ of mixture. Place white chocolate and vegetable oil in a heatproof bowl and set over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a spatula until melted.

Remove chocolate from heat and fold in almond mixture. Spread evenly on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle on the reserved topping and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set. Break into small pieces and enjoy!

Let us know if you have any favorite healthy recipes that kids will love making, eating and giving this holiday season!

Happy Backyards™ sells and installs only the safest and highest quality residential playground equipment, basketball goals, and trampolines for your own home. We are a local company and have been doing it for 15 years with a focus on quality products, quality service, and competitive low pricing.