How to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy Cookies and Treats

"Ewww! I’m not eating that!" is a typical response when parents decide to start cooking with healthier ingredients. Even baking healthy cookies instead of buying the usual high sugar, processed treats from the store can elicit strong cries of resistance.

As a parent, what do you do? You don’t want to give in, but how do you get your kids on board with healthier eating? Here are a few tips that can help smooth the transition not just for kids, but for everyone in the family.

1. Involve the entire family. It’s much easier to reject something if you have no input, so get together and have everyone (mom, dad, and kids) choose healthier versions of their favorite recipes. Find cookbooks with healthy recipes at the library or purchase some at a bookstore. If you prefer, go online to search; there are many good sites out there including SparkPeople and FaveDiets that can also provide you with excellent recipes for those with allergy or medical concerns. If your children love chocolate chip cookies, find several healthy chocolate chip cookie recipes and let them choose the one(s) they like best. This way, they will feel like they have some control.

2. Involve the kids in the cooking. While it’s not always possible to have the kids help, try to schedule some time to have them help you bake their new healthy cookie recipes or other new healthy treats. Even little ones can help with getting spoons, bowls, and ingredients, and can "supervise" the process. This can also be a good time to teach kitchen safety and create some fun family time.

3. You don’t have to "go healthy" all at once. If your family is not used to the taste of whole grains and healthier sweeteners, you may need to modify recipes at first to accommodate your family’s taste buds. For instance, you may have a chocolate chip healthy cookie recipe that calls for whole wheat flour and maple syrup instead of white flour and white sugar. The difference in taste may be enough to cause your children to reject it if they are used to a lot of processed, sugary foods. Instead, so the cookies are healthier, but not too different in taste, try using half whole wheat flour and half white flour, and use some white sugar in the recipe instead of just the natural sweetener. Once your kids get used to it, you can gradually move towards making the healthy recipe the way it was written.