Banana Snowmen & Strawberry Santas

Who says you can’t play with your food? These treats are a snack, a craft, and they’re healthy to boot! Brighten up snack time this winter using fruits and veggies we all know and love.

The only problem? These snacks might be too darn cute to take a bite of! 

The following is an excerpt from The Grain-Free, Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free Family Cookbook by Leah Webb. It has been adapted for the web.

(Photography by Thomas C. Webb)

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Banana Snowmen

Changing your diet doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on fun food ideas for the holidays; it just means preparing something a little different. Your kids will love assembling these Banana Snowmen for the winter holidays and it’s a treat-like snack you can actually feel good about eating! The ingredients list includes only enough to build the snowmen. I suggest having far more ingredients on hand if you’re doing this project with kids, because they will surely munch on the ingredients during assembly.

Ingredients

• 3 bananas
• 5–10 strawberries
• 10 blueberries
• ¹⁄4 cup (37 g) raisins
• 3 small slices of carrot
• 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

Procedure

1. Cut the bananas into 1-inch-thick (2.5 cm) rounds. You can get about 10 rounds per banana.
2. Place three banana rounds onto each skewer to form the snowman bodies.
3. Remove the tops of the strawberries and slice them in half lengthwise if using large strawberries. Keep them whole if using smaller strawberries.
4. Place the strawberry on top of the bananas followed by one blueberry to form a hat.
5. Carefully cut the carrot slices into triangles to use as noses.
6. Decorate the snowmen using raisins, carrot triangles, and sunflower seeds.
7. Serve immediately.

Batch Cooking and Leftovers: The bananas will start to brown after 2 days, so only prep as many snowmen as you plan to eat within that 2-day period.

Make It a Meal: My kids and I assemble the snowmen over the winter holidays along with Strawberry Santas, Lemon Coconut Date Balls, and Chocolate Walnut Brownies topped with Chocolate Icing. The kids are able to help, which has now become our tradition!

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Strawberry Santas

These adorable little treats are so much fun for the kids to make! Strawberry Santas are a delightful, easy, and nutritious treat for holiday parties. They also make for a fun indoor winter activity on a snowy day. The recipe for Coconut Whipped Cream makes more than you’ll need. You can simply store excess in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Just be sure to whip the cream again before serving it.

Ingredients

• Coconut Whipped Cream
• 1 pound (455 g) strawberries
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon flaxseeds

Procedure

1. Place a small amount of whipped cream into the corner of a small plastic bag.
2. Cut a small hole into the corner of the bag to create an icing pipe.
3. Remove the tops of the strawberries.
4. Slice a round from the bottom of each strawberry and keep both the top and the bottom together as a set.
5. Place the strawberry round on a plate, pipe a circle of coconut cream on top of the round, place the top of the strawberry onto the whipped cream, and finish the hat with a small dab of whipped cream on top.
6. Complete the Santa by placing two flaxseeds where the eyes should be.
7. Enjoy immediately.

Batch Cooking and Leftovers: Strawberries tend to go bad quickly, so I don’t recommend you prepare a double batch unless you’re certain your family will eat the Santas within 3 days. Leftover whipped cream can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Make It a Meal: Serve with a variety of easy, light finger foods around the holidays when you’re experiencing holiday-food burnout. Try pairing them with raw sliced vegetables dipped in Avocado-Mango Salsa and OMGrain-Free Chicken Tenders.

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