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Put those fresh apples to good use with my best healthy apple recipes for kids—and the rest of the family too! You’ll find pancakes, muffins, cookies, baked apples, oatmeal, applesauce and more. Each is nutritious, easy to make, and so yummy.
Healthy Apple Recipes
This time of the year is perfect for cooking and baking with apples—though I almost always have an apple or two in my fridge, so I tend to use apples all year long. I love to pull together these lists to help you come up with new ideas for produce, especially when you might have an abundance from a trip to an orchard or farmer’s market. (Or just the grocery store!)
Whether you’re in the mood for breakfast, snacks, dessert, or you just want to make a few treats to stash into the freezer, this list has your apple recipe needs covered!
The apple recipes I’ve included here are “healthy” in terms of:
- They’re made with low added sugars.
- Most contain whole grains and fiber.
- They have healthy fats too.
TIP: Each of these is suitable for babies eating finger foods on up. (If a recipe calls for honey, omit it or swap in maple syrup for kids under age 1.)
Apple Oatmeal Recipes
Whether you’re looking for oatmeal, overnight oats, or granola, these recipes all feature apples and oats so you can take your pick!
You can double this recipe to make a larger batch to warm up and serve throughout the week.
You can make this overnight the and enjoy it for breakfast the following day, or make a whole batch ahead and eat it throughout the week.
*To do this overnight, choose the LOW heat option and cook time.
You can easily double (or triple!) the recipe to make more servings. It uses a 1 to 1 ratio of yogurt to applesauce so you can easily scale it up. This amount made two servings for my toddler when she was under 20 months and one there after. Mix these up the night before you plan to serve them.
This healthy granola recipe uses applesauce for sweetness and bakes at a lower temperature to lower the risk of burning around the edges!
Apple Desserts
From cookies to donuts, these are delicious ways to turn apples into dessert to enjoy any time of the day.
These hearty apple cookies are plenty sweet, yet low in added sugars. You can also serve them as breakfast cookies (you may just want to leave the icing off!)
Made with minimal added sweeteners and fresh apple flavor, these baked donuts are a nutritious breakfast or snack to share.
Made with just two simple ingredients, these fruit slushies are super delicious and refreshing. They’re a great drink for warm days! Plan to freeze the apple slices, grapes, and watermelon cubes the day before (or at least in the morning) you plan to make these.
Bars, Muffins, and Pancakes
Put those apples to good use in these breakfast and snack recipes.
This bread is free from gluten and nuts, and has an alternative if your little doesn’t do dairy. This bread is delicate when warm, so let it cool fully before you slice it with a serrated knife.
We like to have these granola bars as a snack or toddler breakfast with milk or a smoothie—and they’re an excellent lunch box component too. You can make them plain or choose a flavor to add!
We like these on their own, topped with nut or seed butter, or even with a smear of cream cheese. See what your littles like! (I updated the leavening in July 2019 to ensure a more consistent rounded shape to the top of the muffins.)
Made with a base of applesauce and whole grain flour, these easy mini muffins are sweet enough to taste like a treat!
We like these pancakes topped with a little maple syrup, peanut butter, or additional applesauce. Leftovers make really yummy sandwiches with nut butter or cream cheese in between!
These apple pancakes are hearty and filled with freshly shredded apples and oats, so expect them to have a lot of texture!
Easy Applesauce Recipes
Here are a few of my go-to applesauce recipes that are great to preserve excess apples or to just make a quick fruit sauce.
With just a few basic ingredients and fresh apples, your crock pot can do the rest of the work of making applesauce!
You can peel or not peel the apples, depending on your preference.
There’s no one right serving size for every child, so start with a smaller amount and offer more as indicated by baby. When they turn their head or close their mouth, end the meal—it’s usually pretty obvious when they want to be done!
BLW Apples (and Beyond)
Baked apple slices are so good for babies doing BLW-style of feeding. And my sauteed apples are a favorite finger food for 9+ months.
We like these apples warm or cold out of the fridge, so see what your kids like best!
You can use any type of apple you have or like, though generally tart cooking apples (like Granny Smith or Pink Lady) soften nicely without falling apart too quickly.
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I’d love to hear below in the comments if I missed your family’s favorite apple recipe! I’m always looking for new ways to cook with apples.
This post was first published August 2018.
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