Holiday Desserts For All!
Spending time in the kitchen around the holidays is one of my favorite pastimes. I love baking, cooking, creating and sharing it all with my family and friends. But a year ago, we decided to limit the amount of sugary foods in our household due to the effect they had/have on our daughter. To add to the pain, we also limit artificial coloring and dairy. Talk about difficult! Especially for an avid baker such as myself. I love my sweets But even more, I love making them. So the holidays were hard for me last year. However! I was determined to find desserts that we could make without refined sugar. Not only did I find recipes that met those requirements, but I also found recipes that tasted AMAZING! Below are my favorite holiday recipes. Some have sugary ingredients, but I also included a few with no refined sugar that I have found to be crowd pleasers. With great recipes like these, we are still able to indulge and enjoy it without the negative effects!
FOR THE SUGAR LOVERS OUT THERE
If you don’t need to worry about sugar, then these recipes are for you. They have been tested in my kitchen, and I approve!
Frozen Cranberry Salad
One 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1/4 C lemon juice
One 16 oz can whole berry cranberry sauce
One 20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 C chopped walnuts or pecans (we used pecans)
One 9 oz container frozen whipped topping, thawed
In a large bowl, combine condensed milk and lemon juice. Stir in cranberry sauce, pineapple and nuts. Fold in whipped topping. Spread in a 9×13 inch pan and freeze until firm. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before cutting. Return leftover to freezer.
Pull-Apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread
I received rave reviews about this bread when I brought it to the green room for our worship team at church. It takes some time, so if you don’t love baking and tinkering in the kitchen, this recipe is NOT for you. But if you do love baking, give it a try. The results are well worth it! Find it here.
Melted Snowman Cookies
If you’re looking for a cute cookie, here it is. These snowman cookies are adorable and are pretty easy to make.
Peanut Butter & Rice Krispies Snack
These days, I avoid corn syrup in my recipes, but this one is from my childhood, and oh it’s so good. If I tried hard enough, I could probably come up with a way to make it with maple syrup instead. But for now, here it is in all its corn syrup glory. These are so amazing!
1 C sugar
1 C Karo light corn syrup
1 1/2 C extra crunchy peanut butter
5 C Rice Krispies
Combine the sugar and corn syrup in a large sauce pan. Cook until clear and boiling. As soon as it starts boiling, remove from heat immediately! After removing from heat, add the peanut butter. Mix well, and then add the Rice Krispies. Shape into patties. Store in tight container. You can also freeze them.
NO REFINED SUGAR
These recipes are for families who are looking to limit their sugar intake. I have made all of these recipes, and they have been taste tested by our 7 year old and her schoolmates!
Banana-Oat-Chocolate-Chip Cookies (Weelicious)
These are very yummy! They started my love for all things Weelicious. What a wonderful place to start when looking for kid-friendly recipes! You can make these without refined sugar simply by substituting the chocolate chips with Lily’s stevia vegan chocolate chips. If you would rather have the sugar, use regular chocolate chips. These cookies are so good and are naturally sweet! Grab the recipe here.
Cinnamon-Glazed Popcorn (100 days of Real Food)
Another crowd favorite is this popcorn. Naturally sweetened with honey and spices. Find the recipe here.
Whole-Grain Pumpkin Muffins (100 days of Real Food)
These muffins are sweetened with honey and completely surprised me! We love freezing them to toss into school lunches throughout the holiday season. The recipe is here.
Do you have a favorite holiday dessert? We would love to hear about it. Share the link below. We wish you a holiday season filled with family, baking and love!
