Creative & Nutritious Almond Wreaths & Spinach Christmas Tree Cookies

Looking for a fresh batch of healthful holiday cookie recipes that will wow your friends but won't get little ones hopped up on refined sugar?

We reached out to Astghik of @athomewithastghik, a mama to a toddler and three “spontaneous” triplets who miraculously finds the time to create imaginative recipes for littles  —  ideas that are as nutritious as they are delicious. She gave us the how-to on a few of her show-stopping holiday favorites you can make with your little sous chefs!

Almond Cookie Holiday Wreaths

Astghik’s yummy almond cookie wreaths incorporate omega-rich flaxseeds, known for encouraging cell growth, digestive health, and brain function — naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup, a great alternative to refined sugars, packed with prebiotics and antioxidants. 

How cute are these!?

Ingredients:
💚1 1/2 cups almond flour
💚2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
💚2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
💚3 tablespoons maple syrup
💚2 tablespoons of oil, I used avocado oil
💚3 tablespoons of milk, any milk will do (I used unsweetened almond milk)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• To a bowl, add both the flours and flaxseed meal. Mix with a fork to combine.
• To a separate bowl, add the oil and maple syrup. Whisk with a fork.
• Add the milk and mix to combine.
• Add the oil mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix it until it comes together. The dough might be a bit sticky and wet.
• Transfer to plastic wrap (bring the dough together with your hands to combine)
• Wrap it with the plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to set for about an hour.

• Place parchment paper on your work surface, then the dough, and finally another sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough (this will help prevent the rolling pin from sticking to the dough and will allow for easy rolling)

• Roll the dough out to your desired thickness.

Pro Tip: Keep in mind, there aren’t any leavening agents in this dough, so it won’t rise. The thinner you cut them, the crispier they will be. Cut a little thick for a bit softer cookies.

• Use a round cookie cutter to create a circle and a smaller round or flower-shaped cutter to remove the center to represent a wreath. Gather the scraps, form a ball, and repeat the same process mentioned above to make more cookies.

• Place on a baking sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper and bake for 12-15 minutes (depending on the thickness of the cookies) or until the edges and bottoms are golden brown. 

• Allow it to cool for 15 minutes and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

• To a small bowl, add 1 teaspoon of honey and 1/2 teaspoon lukewarm water. 
• Mix to combine.
• Brush the honey mixture over the cookies and add desired fruit while the honey mixture is still wet.

Pro Tip: I used unsweetened shredded coconut, small diced kiwi, and raspberries.

Holiday Themed Snack Platter

Check out this festive holiday-themed snack platter she put together using our new 5-section Grip Dish! Eyeing that awesome Christmas Tree? Read on for the recipe!

Holiday Snack Platter includes:

🎄Christmas Tree Spinach Cookies with shredded unsweetened coconut “snow”
🥝Holiday Wreath, formed by using a heart-shaped cutter to cut out the sliced avocado and small diced raspberries as ornaments
❄️Snowflake Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwich
💚Snowflake cookie
🍌Banana Peanut Butter with Unsweetened Shredded Coconut “snow”

Christmas Tree Spinach Cookies

These cookies are nutritious, festive, and fun to make. I used different-sized star-shaped cookie cutters to achieve this fun Christmas tree look, however, any cookie cutter can be used as well.

Recipe by: @athomewithastghik

Optional: May add honey “glaze”, powdered sugar, melted chocolate, or your favorite frosting if you would like for it to taste sweeter.

⚠️No honey for children under the age of 1

Honey “Glaze”:

• To a small bowl, add 1 teaspoon of honey and 1/2 teaspoon lukewarm water. Mix to combine.
• Brush the honey mixture over the cookies 

Ingredients

🎄1 1/2 cups almond flour
🎄1 cup packed spinach (make sure spinach isn’t wet and is fully dried if it was washed before using)
🎄2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
🎄2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
🎄3 tablespoons maple syrup
🎄1 tablespoon of oil, I used avocado oil
🎄2 tablespoons of milk, any milk will do

Instructions

• Add the almond flour and spinach to a food processor and blend till the spinach is broken down.
• Transfer them to a bowl. Add the flour, flaxseed meal and mix with a fork to combine the ingredients.
• To a separate bowl, add the oil and maple syrup. Whisk with a fork to combine. Add the milk and mix.
• Add the oil mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix to combine. The dough might be a bit sticky and wet.
• Transfer to a plastic wrap (bringing the dough together with your hands to combine)
• Wrap it with the plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for at least an hour or more until it’s a bit firm.

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Place parchment paper on your work surface, then the dough, and finally another sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough (this will help prevent the rolling pin from sticking to the dough and allow for easy rolling).
• Roll the dough out to your desired thickness (keep in mind, there aren’t any leveling agents in this dough so it won’t rise).
• Cut out different-sized star shapes or any shapes using a cookie cutter. Gather the scraps, form a ball, and redo the steps mentioned above to make more cookies.

• Place on a baking sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are golden brown.
• Allow them to cool for 15 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Stack the stars from largest to smallest.

Stay tuned for more artful and nutritious ideas from @athomewithastghik! 

Need new ideas for holiday decor? Learn how to make an awesome DIY Christmas Village with your littles!