Picky eating is often the norm for toddlers. Toddlers begin to develop food preferences, a fickle process, and something parents need to persevere through. Parents are always looking for healthy and independent eating options for their little ones.
My kid, like most, loved all things sweet and chewy. He would grab a packet of glucose biscuits or rusk whenever he would see his grandparents eating them at tea time. As a nutritionist, I knew better. I was constantly on a lookout for a healthy homemade replacement. It was easy, all I had to do was replace the unhealthy ingredients like refined flour, sugar and Palm Oil with rich nutrient dense ingredients.
These wholesome cookies are exactly what you have been looking for. They are perfect for everyday eating and make a healthy snack. Carry them to your travels, mixed with milk, they make a good meal replacement to packaged porridge. The main ingredient of this recipe is the finger millet flour. As a mother myself, I am at peace if my kids can take a liking for finger millet because – it is a wonderful source of calcium. Thus, the higher the consumption of this food – the stronger the bones of my child.
What makes them so great?
Ragi
Finger Millet/Ragi is a high fiber, nutrient dense whole grain. The pink color of this grain assures us of its high antioxidant and micro nutrient content. It is rich in calcium and Iron, the two main nutrients needed for a child's growth and development.
Jaggery
Jaggery makes an excellent replacement to refined sugar. It is rich in Iron and is also known as a lung cleanser. Much needed nowadays because of the rise in pollution and infections. Jaggery also keeps the child internally warm in the winters.
Clarified Butter/Ghee
World renowned superfood, rich in essential fatty acids and vitamins A,D,E and K, make it perfect to aid growth and development. It also helps digestion and is extremely important, if your toddler experiences constipation every now and then. It also helps build the child's immunity.
Cookies are a great finger food for your baby. Why is that an important element for your kids? The biting motion is going to develop the muscles which help the kid in speech and language. In no time, you are going to listen to some beautiful words coming out of your munchkin’s small face. Also, this is going to increase the hand-eye coordination of your baby, thus, making them less fussy. More importantly, it will put them in a position to make decisions of their own – allowing them more independence from a very younger age.
So now that we have introduced you to the various aspects of finger foods and finger millet – let’s see how is it that you are going to prepare the recipe:
Ragi/Finger Millet Kids Cookies Recipe
1/2 cup Ragi flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat flour
1/2 cup Jaggery or Coconut sugar
1/3 cup Ghee ( to make sure it's solid and not melted, keep it in fridge for half hour before using)
1/2 tsp Baking powder
2 to 3 tbsp Milk to knead
- Mix the dry ingredients, then add ghee and mix with your hands to get a sandy texture.
- Add milk to the mixture as required to knead into a softball.
- Keep aside the kneaded dough for half-hour in the refrigerator.
- Then roll into equal-sized balls and flatten them between your palms to make a cookie shape.
- Place them on a parchment-lined baking tray.
- Bake them at 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes or until the sides of the cookies start browning.
- Let them cool on a wire rack and then store them in an air-tight glass container.
Savour this recipe while you can!
Contributed by:
Arushi Kapur, Certified Nutrition Consultant
Guest Contributor | AYDA
EMAIL: arushikapur@gmail.com
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/arushikapur/
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