Healthy cookie recipe with veggies and fruits: Endocrinologist shares how to make viral green cookie for kids

If your kid is throwing a fit over veggies and fruit, do you know you can sneak them in their favourite cookies? Find out how you can make green cookie at home.

Kids have an inherent fondness for sweets. But their sweet tooth makes them more vulnerable to calorie-loaded, high-sugar treats. This is why parents often need to find a middle ground between allowing occasional indulgences and encouraging their children to eat nutritious foods.

A green cookie made with healthy veggies is a good alternative to the sugary ones. (Picture credit: Freepik)

Solving a dilemma many parents frequently face, endocrinologist Dr Alessia Roehnelt shared a viral ‘green cookie’ recipe in a March 9 post, offering creative ways to sneak in fruits and veggies to homemade cookies.

“I have been making my kids these cookies for probably about 10 years now and the reason they came about was because I wanted them to be able to have some kind of treat at school or at daycare and not feel like they were being deprived but I also did not just want to give them a packaged product every single day and then I realised if I am going to be baking cookies anyway, I might as well tweak things a little bit to make them a little bit healthier,” she shared the details, explaining how sweet goodies can be made healthy by blending fruits and veggies. The cravings and health are both taken care of.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

The ingredients are:

Wet ingredients

• 2 sticks butter (melted)
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 4 eggs

Vegetable and fruit blend (the green mix)

• 1 carrot
• 1 banana
• Several handfuls of baby spinach
• A little water (for blending)

Dry ingredients

• 4 ½ cups flour (oat flour or regular flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Topping

• 1 bag chocolate chips

Method

Here's the recipe

• Melt the butter and mix it with vanilla, maple syrup and eggs in a bowl.
• Blend carrot, banana, baby spinach, and a little water until smooth.
• Add this green mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well.
• In another bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.
• Mix them well.
• Add choco chips.
• Scoop the dough into tiny balls onto a baking tray and bake at about 180 C for 15-20 minutes until the cookies turn lightly golden.

Children generally frown when parents ask them to eat fruits and vegetables, even though these foods are rich in nutrients like fibre, vitamins, and minerals. Regular cookies, on the other hand, usually contain empty calories and can cause blood sugar spikes because they are nutritionally poor.

These green cookies offer a slightly healthier alternative. They contain less added sugar and can be made with whole-grain flour, which provides more complex carbohydrates compared to refined flour. In addition, packaged cookies contain additives and ultra-processed ingredients, which is not the case with homemade cookies that are freshly baked.

At the same time, parents are still fulfilling their child’s wish for a sweet treat. Instead of depriving them, they are simply sneaking in a little more nutrition in every bite.

Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them. This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.