The starting solids milestone can be an intimidating one for parents, but once you get the hang of it, purees are fairly simple business. In fact, when babies first start eating, they’re still getting the bulk of their nutrition from breast milk or formula. Things only get trickier when your baby is ready for more — more nutrition from solid foods, more meals, more snacks, and more variety.

We can help!

Our list of superfoods for babies is a great starting point and a fantastic reference to bookmark. But as you kick things up a notch for your hungry tot, these clever ideas for how to serve those superfoods — both homemade and store-bought — will be wildly helpful.

Because toddlers can’t live on purees forever.

Top: Spinach Cake Muffins | Weelicious

—  Be sure not to miss a special offer from Happy Family below! — 

Given all this, I’m thrilled to be working with Happy Family, a longtime favorite that has been making foods we can feel good about feeding our babies ever since, well, I had babies. Their foods are always organic and serve up the right nutrition at any age. They’ve even grown with my kids, now offering an extensive line of foods for babies right through big kids like my boys.

So, grab those superfood purees, pouches, and ingredients and get creative with these creative tips, tricks, and recipes to get more superfoods into your baby or toddler’s diet.

1. Bake your superfoods!

Most people think about baked goods as being sugar, spice, and everything decadent. The truth is, you can whip up delicious, kid-approved baked goods using superfoods like spinach, black beans, quinoa, beets, sweet potato, and even avocado.

Just search for whichever superfoods you happen to have on hand and the keywords muffins, cake, or bread and you’ll be sure to find fantastic, healthy recipes.

Here are a few of my own favorite baked snacks that incorporate superfoods for a nutritional punch.

The Green Monster Veggie Muffins recipe at Easy Toddler Meals is packed with serious nutrition thanks to a combination of spinach, bananas, carrots, and almond meal. The recipe also calls for healthier coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. Bonus: The entire batch calls for only 3 tablespoons of sugar, instead using applesauce to keep things just sweet enough.

If you want a spinach-packed muffin made without nuts, you can also try the Spinach Cake Muffins at Weelicious (pictured at very top). This dead easy recipe calls for more of the green stuff, which we always have on hand, and pantry staples. It’s almost too easy not to make every week, especially given how tasty the results are.

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite superfoods, and while oats didn’t make our list of top 10 foods to feed baby, they are also widely considered a superfood. Put them together, and you’ve got this wonderful Banana Sweet Potato Bread at Robust Recipes, which uses a 1/2 cup of sweet potato puree, plus oat flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Another major benefit is that it’s sweetened with only a few tablespoons of honey — although it’s super important to note that if you plan on sharing this bread with a finger-food-eating baby under one year, you should substitute that honey for maple syrup or agave syrup.

Blueberries and avocado both make our list of best superfoods for babies, so these Blueberry Avocado Muffins at Gimme Some Oven couldn’t be more perfect. The fantastic recipe also calls for probiotic- and protein-rich Greek yogurt, which is also a staple in my home. Skip the streusel topping if you want lower the amount of sugar and still have a satisfying treat.

Of course, there isn’t always time to make home-baked snacks. That’s when you can grab Happy Tot Superfoods Puffed Ancient Grain Dino Snacks which are baked for you! These tasty bites serve up superfoods like kale and spinach, and whole grains, too, with a hearty helping of convenience for the busy grownups among us.

2. Drink your superfoods!

Homemade smoothies are one of my favorite ways to serve up an uber nutritious breakfast, snack, or even dinner, when it’s been a rough night and I need something really easy.

Start with whatever superfood produce you have on hand, like avocado, beets, sweet potato, spinach, or blueberries. Add some probiotic-packed Greek-style yogurt (also a superfood!), and a touch of sweetness using one of our 5 tricks to make a sweet smoothie without heaps of added sugar. Blend with your liquid of choice — which, by the way, can even be breastmilk, if you’re making smoothies for a little one! — and serve.

Of course, if you don’t have fresh superfood produce around, or you just don’t have time to prep veggies, you can always combine yogurt, your liquid of choice, and healthy smoothie add-ins with your favorite Happy Tots Superfoods pouches. It makes for a genius superfood smoothie shortcut, and allows you to get creative with ingredients.

The Beet and Blueberry Smoothie at Will Cook For Friends is low in sugar and packed with goodness. Plus, it’s gorgeous! What kid can resist bright purple foods? If you have mint on hand, I suggest adding it too. The recipe says that it’s optional, but it’ll make a big difference.

If you hop on over to Modern Honey, you’ll find not just one, but six wonderful homemade superfood smoothie recipes. Each one is more delicious than the next, with many flavor combinations and plenty of opportunity to mix and match ingredients. You can even add your own Happy Tot pouches for extra ease and variety.

I found this Five-Ingredient Detox Smoothie at Minimalist Baker while looking for detoxifying smoothie recipes, but as it turns out, it’s also made with superfoods and packed with fiber, antioxidants, and immune boosting ingredients. You can even add tofu for an extra protein boost if you want. Talk about a power recipe!

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About our sponsor

Happy Family makes some of the most trusted organic foods for babies, tots, and kids thanks to their clean ingredients and transparency with parents.

Their pouches, puffs and teethers, soft-baked bars and cookies, and fruit and oat bars — which span their three Happy Baby, Happy Tot, and Happy Kids lines — provide the right nutrition at every age, from 6 months and up.

They’ve even recently added a Happy Mama line of snacks for breastfeeding moms.

Happy Family also adds extra nutrition into many of their tasty pouches and snacks, based on the specific needs of growing children. That means prebiotics, probiotics, DHA, and Omega-3s, all in one convenient place.

Be sure to grab your coupons to get .75 cents off any Happy Baby or Happy Tot snack and $1 off whenever you buy any 3 Happy Baby Clearly Crafted and Happy Tot pouches. Yay!

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3. Freeze your superfoods!

Don’t tell the kids, but popsicles are basically frozen purees, right? Sure you can add more sugar, but you really don’t have to. Especially when sharing them with younger eaters who won’t necessarily know the difference. You can even add super veggies to your recipes too.

Make and pour your favorite puree directly into your popsicle mold, freeze, and serve up a frozen treat that they’ll never guess is good for them. These recipes can help get you started.

And psst…for a shortcut without having to get out the blender or food processor, squeeze a Happy Baby pouch right into a mold, like their superfood-packed Purple Carrots, Banana, Avocados, and Quinoa puree.

The picture for these Beet and Apple Popsicles at 100 Layer Cakelet, which I found while rounding up healthy popsicles for kids a couple years back, pretty much says it all. Sweetened with apple and boosted with one of my kids’ personal favorite superfoods, beets, these are delectable. (Clearly.)

There are also a few other powerhouse ingredients in the recipe, including honey, which again, you should only use if you’re making pops for a child over one.

Another fantastic option in our roundup of healthy popsicles recipes are these Chocolate Avocado Fudgesicles at Super Healthy Kids. They’ve got all of the sweetness and flavor of the the fudgesicles you probably loved as a kid yourself, but are boosted with avocado for delicious results. Plus, nothing icky or artificial added.

Popsicles are the obvious choice when it comes to frozen treats, but why not mix your favorite superfood puree or baby food pouch with yogurt to make these super fun DIY Frozen Yogurt Dots at Small Fry Blog. These are especially perfect if you have a toddler who’s just beginning to practice finger food skills. And they come out so pretty, don’t they?

4. Serve your superfoods for breakfast!

Though foods from fruit to nuts to grains qualify as superfoods, most people think of superfoods as veggies. And veggies are usually served at lunch and dinner. But I say, mix it up!

Get creative and look at these ways to get superfoods into breakfast recipes, to help start your little one’s day out right.

If you’re going with a more traditional superfood breakfast, this Superfood Overnight Oats recipe at Bakerita is a wonderful option, thanks to the smart combination of ingredients like oats, flax, blueberries, and turmeric. Don’t worry if you don’t have every single thing on the ingredients list; this recipe is adaptable enough to use whatever you have on hand. Yay for that!

When my kids were little, I used to mash roasted sweet potato with cinnamon and spread it on toast. You can do the same, or get a little fancier with this recipe for Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple, and Cinnamon puree at Happy Family.

Another option: Make sweet potato toast! It’s as easy as thinly slicing a sweet potato and throwing the slices into a toaster. Family Food on the Table has a bunch of ideas for how to top your sweet potato toasts (pictured), many of which are great inspiration for breakfast. And, hey, avocado toast can use a little break, right?

Breakfast can be the most hectic part of the day and when you can’t whip up a homemade superfood recipe and you haven’t prepped anything ahead, do not stress out or guilt yourself for one second. You can always make a bowl of Happy Baby Organic Probiotic Baby Cereal which is made with oats, amaranth, and quinoa, a superfood trinity!

And, by the way, you don’t have to move on from this great cereal after your baby moves into toddlerhood: Combine it with oatmeal or a quinoa breakfast porridge, then mix in nut butter, fresh fruit, and/or Greek-style yogurt for a big kid breakfast that gets all the good stuff in.

5. Serve superfoods for dessert too!

It’s a big #parentwin when I can find a way to make healthy, tasty, nutritious desserts for the kids. Thankfully, superfoods including avocado, beets, nuts, and chia seeds are versatile enough to work in just-sweet-enough dessert recipes like the ones here, which definitely still feel like treats.

I’ve seen a lot of chia pudding recipes around the web, but nothing beats this totally gorgeous and superfood-boosted Beet Strawberry Chia Pudding at Emilie Eats. Not only are beets the featured ingredient, but chia seeds are a superfood in their own right. Sweetened with just a touch of maple syrup and fresh berries, this genius recipe will feel like a treat at snack time, or a satisfying dessert after a well-balanced dinner.

These Superfood Berry Cashew Cream No-Bake Bars at Food Faith Fitness may take a little bit more time than the other recipes featured here, but whoa are they gorgeous! No kid will be able to resist these colorful treats, and no parent will be able to resist that the colors come naturally from berries and spinach. Also, they’re sweetened only with dates and a touch of agave syrup. Perfection.

I’ve seen a lot of black bean brownie recipes, because it’s one of the most popular superfood desserts, but I’m intrigued by these Vegan Brownies with Berries and Tahini also spotted at Food Faith Fitness. Don’t they sound — and look — delicious? If you don’t have tahini around, it’s a great all-purpose ingredient that’s worth trying, and you can start with this recipe.

Also, I love that these brownies are ingeniously sweetened with a combination of coconut sugar and mixed berry and banana baby food. I suggest using this Happy Baby Bananas, Beets, and Blueberries puree and you’ll get beets in the mix too!

Thank you to our sponsor Happy Family for continuing to make convenient, organic foods not just for our babies, but for our big kids and pregnant and breastfeeding mamas too. Visit the Happy Family site to learn more about their extensive line of brands and products for eaters six months and up. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And don’t forget to grab your coupons to get .75 cents off any Happy Baby or Happy Tot snack and $1 off whenever you buy any 3 Happy Baby Clearly Crafted and Happy Tot pouches. 

Tags: baby food, baking, breakfast, cakes, dessert, easy recipes, feeding babies, fruit, healthy eating, recipes, smoothies, snack recipes, snacks, toddlers, vegan, vegetables