Last weekend we held a small party to celebrate our daughter’s third birthday. We were lucky with a warm and sunny weather, the kids were playing water games, while the adults could lay back and enjoy the small talk, while sipping rosé and nibbling on some snacks.

Healthy snacks on a kid’s birthday party?

I asked on my Instagram stories (if you’re not following me there yet, here’s your chance to do so ;)) if you’d be interested in me sharing the snacks I’ll prepare for the birthday party. All of you responded positively, which made me really happy, and so I rolled up my sleeves! 🙂 We managed to film a short video (4 min) while we prepared the food. You can watch it below.

Chocolate cake

When I asked my daughter what cake she’d like me to prepare for her birthday she shouted excitedly “Chocolate cake with chocolate jam!” We both laughed. And then I obliged. I wanted to prepare a cake for her that would taste delicious and she and the other kids would enjoy. But I also didn’t want them to become hyper from the sugar rush. 😉 So the challenge was to find a recipe that is rich and succulent, and at the same time healthy for little kids.

I tried a nice vegan cake recipe, which was successful, but in the end was not sure about the amount of flour and maple syrup in it… I needed something that is a bit more nutritious. And then I discovered this recipe. It uses almond flour instead of regular flour and let me tell you, the texture and taste are simply perfect! Just go an give this recipe a try! I reduced the maple syrup and used only 150ml per layer, and it tasted nice and sweet still. Everyone loved the cake!

Chocolate “jam”

To make the chocolate “jam” my daughter requested, I used an old and favorite recipe of mine. I blended two ripe avocados with about 50 grams of cacao powder and 6-7 tablespoons maple syrup. You can adjust the ratio as you blend and taste. It is the perfect recipe for a chocolate cake icing, needless to say so much healthier than the traditional one.

Fruit and vegetable trays for the win

One quick an easy idea to offer healthy snacks at a party is to serve fruit and vegetable trays. It is easy to prepare and you can choose whatever fruits or veggies are in season. All you need to do is present them nicely so they are attractive for people to try. I added some raw nuts to the fruit tray for the adults and omitted this step for the kids to avoid any choking hazard.

Snacks for the kids

The kids had their own low table with snacks. I served them the savory snacks first, which included raw vegetable sticks, dipped in almond butter, wholegrain sandwiches with cashew dip and cucumber, black bean hummus and wholegrain crackers. I strategically delayed the sweet snacks, so they can fill up of veggies first ;)) The sweet snacks included a fruit tray with chopped fruit for the kids, watermelon “popsicles” and of course – the cake!

More healthy snack ideas

I used the dips and hummus in different ways. I placed some cashew dip on a chickpea crackers and topped them with wild smoked salmon and dill. We also had enough of the cashew dip to dip raw veggies in it. And I served the black bean hummus (the recipe is in the video above) with wholegrain crackers.

All in all I find that when you offer plenty of fruits and vegetables, combined with filling dips, as the ones I mentioned, and wholegrain crackers, people tend to fill up quickly. I also like to offer cold salads or pasta dishes at parties and actually planned to prepare a California style quinoa salad, but ran out of time. Next time, I’ll probably prepare it the night before. 🙂

Share with me. What are some of the healthy snacks you like to offer when you host a party?