Kitchen Kiddos: Easy Keto Recipes Even Kids Can Master
/By: Laura Dority MS RD LD
As the “kitchen manager” in my household, my kids know that most weekends they will find mom busy meal prepping in the kitchen. We are a busy family of 4 with lots of weekly activities- baseball, work, playdates, gymnastics and the list goes on and on. To keep the family functioning smoothly Monday-Friday, I have become a well-oiled meal prepping machine on the weekend.
Oftentimes my kiddos want to jump in and help me out in the kitchen…or maybe they are just on the hunt for a fresh cookie…either way they have become my big helpers! This weekend I decided to change it up a bit and focus on 4 keto friendly recipes that my 6-year-old could master almost entirely by himself. I managed anything that involved heat but he did the rest including weighing food on a gram scale, measuring foods using household measures, mixing, blending and of course taste testing.
Check out these simple keto recipes that we made together and try getting your little keto hero in the kitchen to help! I have linked to a few of the more unique and harder to find ingredients to make your shopping easier!
Recipe #1: Keto Pancakes
Recipe Credit: Charlie Foundation
Ingredients:
•30 grams macadamia nuts- roasted
•6 grams pecan or macadamia nut oil
•28 grams egg, raw (mixed well)
Optional: 3 drops vanilla extract
Directions: Grind macadamia nuts in a blender until finely chopped. Mix egg and oil into chopped macadamia nuts and add vanilla extract (if desired). Spray a nonstick skillet with oil-spray and drop batter into desired size circles. Cook until light brown around edges.
Kiddo Tasks: For this recipe, my son weighed all the ingredients, ground the nuts, whisked the egg and handled all the blending. With my supervision, he also successful flipped the pancake (something he was very proud of)! This recipe made about 1 decent size pancake – we went ahead and made a second batch so his little brother could have one too!
Nutrition Information (for entire recipe): 4:1 ketogenic ratio, 300 calories, 30 grams fat, 6 grams protein, 1.5 grams net carbs
Recipe #2: Spice Muffins
Recipe Credit: Functional Formularies® The Keto Recipe Cookbook
Ingredients:
1 package (226 grams) Functional Formularies® Keto Formula
•2 large (100 grams) fresh eggs
•½ cup (114 grams) butter, melted
•1 cup (112 grams) almond flour
•¼ cup (30 grams) coconut flour
•2 teaspoons (8 grams) konjac root flour
•2 tablespoons (12 grams) pumpkin spice blend
•1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking soda
•Pinch of salt
•Stevia to taste
Directions: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with parchment paper liners. Combine the formula, eggs, and melted butter in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Sift together the almond flour, coconut flour, konjac root flour, pumpkin spice blend, baking soda and stevia. Add dry ingredients to the wet and stir well to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl once. Fill each parchment liner halfway and bake for 25-30 minutes until done.
Kiddo Tasks: For this one, my little dude was responsible for preheating the oven, melting the butter in the microwave in 20-30 second increments and measuring out the ingredients using household measures which turned into a great way for him to understand the difference between teaspoons, tablespoons and different cup sizes. He also helped mix all the ingredients together and spoon the mixture into the muffin tins.
Nutrition Information (for 1 muffin- recipe makes ~12): 2.4:1 ketogenic ratio, 192 calories, 18 grams fat, 5 grams protein and 2 grams net carbs
Recipe #3: Hummus
Recipe Credit: Functional Formularies® The Keto Recipe Cookbook
Ingredients:
•1 clove (3 grams) garlic
•1 cup (132 grams) macadamia nuts, dry roasted
•1 package (226 grams) Functional Formularies® Keto Formula
•1 tablespoon (15 grams) olive oil
•1 tablespoon (15 grams) lemon juice
•2 teaspoons (3 grams) oregano, dried herb
•Salt/pepper
Directions: Using a food processor, add the garlic clove then pulse several times until it is finely chopped. Scrape the sides if needed. Add the remaining ingredients to the garlic. Pulse until the macadamia nuts are pureed. Scrape the hummus into a glass bowl with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Kiddo Tasks: He did this recipe 100% himself. I supervised, checked the weighing, and helped him with some of the scraping but otherwise he is a hummus creating extraordinaire! This recipe makes a pretty good amount of hummus- enough for likely a few days and we paired with cucumbers!
Nutrition Information (1 serving – recipe makes ~8 servings): 4:1 ketogenic ratio, 214 calories, 21 grams fat, 4 grams protein and 2 grams net carbs
Recipe #4: Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe Credit: Charlie Foundation
Ingredients:
•1 large (50 grams) egg
•1 tablespoon (7 grams) flaxseed meal
•1 cup (100 grams) almond flour
•½ teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
•½ teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
•¼ cup (30 grams) coconut flour
•1 stick (114 grams) butter, room temperature
•½ cup (56 grams) avocado oil
•2 tablespoons (30 grams) Lily’s semi-sweet chocolate chips
•Sweetener of choice
Directions: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and flaxseed meal. Set aside. In a food processor, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda and sweetener. Pulse several times to combine the dry ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients, including the chocolate chip. Pulse until well combined. Refrigerate the dough until you can roll into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten the balls and bake at 350 degrees F for about 9 minutes. Avoid overbaking.
Kiddo Tasks: At this point in our kitchen adventure, whisking, measuring, and mixing were all mastered skills. He also helped roll the dough into balls and really loved flattening them (rather aggressively) with a spoon! This recipe made about 13 cookies and we used a few drops of Stevia as our sweetener.
Nutrition Information (for entire batch): 3:1 ketogenic ratio, 2193 calories, 214 grams fat, 38 grams protein and 29 grams net carbs
As you can see, little brother joined us for the taste testing part of our kitchen time! I hope you have as much fun as we did making these recipes together! Remember involving your keto kid in the creation of new meals and recipes can help them play a more active role in their keto journey and improve compliance!
Tell us about your favorite easy keto recipe in the comment section so we can continue to expand our options! Oh right, I almost forgot….in terms of the kids helping me clean up…haha…that didn’t happen….that was a mom only step!