Tis’ the season for festive treats. Christmas can be filled with delicious and healthy treats, so the family isn’t entirely fuelled by candy canes and chocolate this December!

We’ve made a list – and checked it twice – to separate the naughty from the nice treats this Christmas. With everything from a strawberry and banana Santa to a Grinch smoothie, there’s something for everyone in our collection of festive treats.

Healthy Christmas Treats

With everything from festive fruits to Christmas quesadillas in this holiday season recipe collection, you will have hours of baking and recipe ideas to choose from this Christmas.

Ho Ho Ho Healthy Santas

These adorable mini banana and strawberry Santas are easy to make and are a great way to get the kids into the kitchen.

To make a Santa, all you need is a strawberry, a banana and a small amount of cream cheese and dark chocolate. If the cream cheese is a bit of a push, just swap it out for a little more chocolate or honey.

Once you have your ingredients, simply sandwiching the small piece of banana between two pieces of strawberry (glued together with either a small amount of cream cheese or melted dark chocolate) works a treat! Dot two little bits of melted dark chocolate for eyes and you’re up, up and away!

Christmas fruit tree

If you’re having a Christmas party, or simply want to make a fun festive lunch, a Christmas tree made of fruit is a cute, healthy idea.

It can be a mass of grapes – with layers of strawberries, blackberries or blueberries acting as tinsel – or a smaller, child-size portion. It’s easy to do and can be as small or large a selection of fruit as you need.

Banana penguins

A banana dipped in chocolate is the perfect pairing – give this classic a Christmas makeover by transforming them into adorable penguins.

This naughty but nice snack idea by Reading Confetti only needs a banana, melted chocolate, M&Ms and edible eyes to make. Decorating these frozen treats is fun for kids to do at home with the family, or they can share in the mess with friends!

They’re so simple. You only need to dip the banana in chocolate and gently add the eyes and M&Ms (for the feet and beak!). Pop in the freezer for 20 minutes and you have a ready made healthy Christmas snack to serve and enjoy.

Gingerbread cookies

Nothing screams Christmas more than gingerbread biscuits! The expert bakers in the family can no doubt bake a whole gingerbread house, but these cookies are a little easier for the little ones to help make and decorate.

You might be limited to the shapes of the cookie cutters you own, but stars, bells, Christmas trees, Santas and, of course, the classic gingerbread men are all common shapes to make. Your child and their friends can easily make other Christmas cookies, like snowmen and penguins, when it comes to icing.

There are several recipes to pick from – feel free to opt for your own – but this simple recipe from yummy toddler food is a winner! Simply follow the recipe provided and then pop the biscuits into the oven to bake for 8-10 minutes. Paired with a glass of milk or hot chocolate, these delicious gingerbread cookies make the perfect festive treat!

If you’re looking to send a home-baked gift, these biscuits are perfect; a great gift for friends and family, if you can bear to part with any!

Do you want to build a snowman (snack)?

You can build a snowman in many forms when it comes to baking and treats. From a snowman cake to snowman cookies; there are of course dozens of recipes to choose from.

One of the healthier options the kids are sure to love is an easy breakfast to prepare: a snowman yoghurt. Decorate the yoghurt with grapes or raisins for the eyes and mouth, then use an orange or watermelon slice for the nose, or cut the shape from a piece of dried apricot; whatever is in your cupboard, you can improvise!

For a savoury alternative, you can build a healthy snowman pizza. Pizza with olives or tomatoes for the eyes and mouth, and a carrot for the nose. Follow a healthy recipe to make the base, then add low-fat mozzarella before decorating!

Christmas pudding rice crispy treats

While a real Christmas pudding is unlikely to go down a treat with kids, they will surely love this rice crispy version!

One of our more naughty than nice treats, these crispy cakes should be eaten in moderation. You can use the same recipe you might use for rice crispy squares, or follow the one provided by BBC good food.

Though not exactly healthy, these sweet little Christmas puds are made without adding any sugar, and even the white chocolate used for the ‘icing’ and milk chocolate in the crispies can be swapped for reduced sugar versions. They make a cute dessert platter at a Christmas party or can be made just as treats for the home.

Rudolph roll-ups

While it’s tempting to go all out on sugary treats like cake and chocolate at Christmas, there’s plenty of room for some savoury Christmas snacks.

These Rudolph roll-ups, an idea cooked up by Eats Amazing, are simple tortilla wraps with a turkey and cranberry filling. A tomato for Rudolph’s shiny red nose and pretzels for antlers complete the Christmas look! The filling can of course be swapped out if the kids are not a fan of cranberry and turkey.

Christmas tree-sadillas

Another savoury option, these Christmas tree-sadillas are so simple to make! Use whatever your preferred quesadilla filling is and place in the oven. Once ready, take them out and cut them into triangles. Use some guacamole to transform them into trees, then use salsa or tomatoes to make baubles, finishing it all off with a cheese star!

Grinch smoothie

The last of our healthy Christmas treats is also the grumbliest: the notoriously anti-Christmas figure of the Grinch couldn’t be left out of our list of festive treats!

There are many vivid green smoothies out there, but very few are likely to appeal to children. If you can convince them to drink a concoction of kale and spinach, then great! If not, this Grinch green kiwi smoothie is likely to go down a bit easier.

One for the naughty list…

Dulce de leche Christmas brownies

A few squares of this indulgent treat are enough to leave anyone in a sugar coma. But if there’s one season where you can make the odd exception, it’s Christmas!

These dulce de leche brownies by tarateaspoon make a rich, caramel dessert popular with all ages. You can add chocolate swirls to the brownie squares to fill them with festive cheer, or the children can enjoy placing ready-made cake toppers, like a Santa or a gingerbread man, to make their perfect Christmas dessert.

Send us your own Christmas recipes!

Now you’re ready for a Christmas feast! If you have your own healthy recipes of festive deliciousness, share them with us on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok by tagging us in your posts and pictures.

We have more Christmas treats to be found here, or if you want to look ahead to the following year, take a peek at our Easter and Halloween recipes.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from Premier Education!