This year, why not take your snack plates up a notch by focusing on seasonal, eco-friendly ingredients and creative presentation? With a little thought and planning, you can make a holiday snack board that’s not just tasty and beautiful, but also sustainable and low-waste.

Seasonal Inspiration: What to Include on a Holiday Snack Board

A well-balanced platter has a little something for everyone — think sweet, savoury, crunchy, and fresh. By choosing seasonal produce and pantry staples, you’ll not only support local growers but also reduce your carbon footprint.

Here are some festive favourites to build your board:

Cheeses and Dairy Delights

• A selection of British cheeses such as cheddar, Stilton, and brie.
• A creamy goat’s cheese or baked camembert for dipping.
• Small bowls of spiced nuts or herbed butter for spreading.

Tip: Cut cheeses into stars or tree shapes with cookie cutters for an extra festive touch.

Roasted Vegetables and Dippers

• Roasted carrots, parsnips, and beetroot slices — sweet, earthy, and delicious served warm or cold.
• Blanched green beans, broccoli florets, or even sprout halves with a drizzle of olive oil.
• Crusty breadsticks, homemade crackers, or seeded flatbreads.

Tip: Arrange veggies in a wreath shape on a large platter and garnish with rosemary sprigs or pomegranate seeds for a Christmas feel.

Fresh and Dried Fruit

• Clementine wedges, apple slices, red and green grapes, or pear fans.
• Festive dried fruits like figs, apricots, and cranberries add sweetness and texture.
• A little dark chocolate or chocolate-dipped fruit for a treat.

Tip: Use seasonal fruit to add pops of colour — red pomegranate seeds and green kiwi slices look stunning together.

Chutneys, Pickles, and Extras

• Homemade chutneys or local jams for pairing with cheese and meat.
• A tangy cranberry sauce or spiced apple chutney adds a festive twist.
• Olives, cornichons, and pickled onions for a savoury edge.

Tip: Serve condiments in small vintage jars or little bowls with mini spoons to make the board feel special.

Creative Serving Ideas for a Festive Feel

Presentation is everything when it comes to holiday snack boards. Here are a few fun and festive ways to make yours stand out:

• Wreath Board: Arrange circular layers of crackers, cheese, fruit, and herbs to mimic a Christmas wreath.
• Star or Tree Shape: Build your board in a tree shape, starting wide at the bottom and narrowing towards the top, or use a star-shaped tray.
• Mini Individual Boards: Serve smaller plates or wooden boards for each guest — perfect for movie nights or informal gatherings.
• Edible Garnishes: Fresh herbs, edible flowers, or citrus zest add a pop of colour and fragrance.

How to Minimise Food Waste This Christmas

It’s easy to over-cater during the holidays, but with a few mindful choices, you can create a generous spread and cut down on waste:

• Plan Portions: Aim for 100–150g of snacks per person if serving before a meal, or 300g+ if it’s the main event.
• Use Leftovers: Roasted veg can be blended into soups, fruit can be stewed into compotes, and leftover cheese is perfect for toasties.
• Compost Scraps: Any fruit peels or veg trimmings can go straight into the compost bin.
• Choose Reusable Serveware: Wooden boards, glass bowls, and cloth napkins are not only eco-friendly but also look beautiful.

Celebrate the Season, Sustainably

A thoughtfully prepared holiday snack plate is more than just food — it’s a celebration of seasonal flavours, shared moments, and festive creativity. By using local produce, presenting it beautifully, and planning portions wisely, you can enjoy eco-friendly party food that’s just as kind to the planet as it is delicious.

So this Christmas, gather your family, pour some mulled wine, and graze away on a waste-free holiday snack board you can feel good about.

Give stale bread a second life with crostini

Crostini means “little crusts” in Italian and traditionally uses small slices of toasted bread. The beauty of this party snack is that it works just as well with slightly stale bread as it does with a fresh baguette. Food writer Tatiana Kamakura points out that she actually prefers using stale bread because it “gives new life to a baguette that’s a little too dry to enjoy as‑is” .  To make crostini:

1. Slice a baguette or ciabatta into ¼‑inch slices.  Keep the thickness uniform so they toast evenly.
2. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet and brush them with olive oil.  Bake at 200 °C/400 °F until golden and crisp (about 12‑16 minutes).
3. Let them cool and store in an airtight container.  Homemade crostini will stay crisp for about five days.

Serve these “little crusts” with any toppings you fancy.  A personal favourite for Bonfire Night is to pair crostini with colourful, low‑waste dips made from vegetable scraps or leftover roasted veg (see below).  You can also top them with roasted peppers, pumpkin purée or a smear of hummus.  Making crostini ahead of time means there’s one less thing to worry about when friends arrive in November.

Colourful dips from vegetable scraps

British chef and food‑waste campaigner Tom Hunt recently shared a method for turning vegetable scraps into vibrant dips.  He writes that the dips “are a vibrant, low‑waste way to add colour, fibre and flavour to your plate by using up whatever’s already in the fridge or even destined for the compost bin”.  Discards like pepper tops, radish greens and beetroot peelings are not only edible but “can be absolutely delicious” when blended with the right flavours.  Hunt’s base recipe is easy to adapt:

• Gather scraps. Stick to one colour per dip for a dramatic presentation – try red pepper trimmings and apple peel for a red dip, squash and sweet‑potato skins for yellow, courgette tops and coriander stalks for green, or beetroot peel for purple.
• Add cooked beans. About 130 g of cooked white beans (butter beans or cannellini) provide creaminess and protein.
• Blend with flavourings. Steam or blanch the vegetable scraps for five minutes, then blend with olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.  Optional extras include garlic, citrus zest, tahini or nuts for richness and spices such as smoked paprika or cumin for warmth.
• Finish with toppings. Garnish with chopped herbs, toasted seeds or chilli flakes.

These dips are versatile: use them as spreads on crostini, as crudité dips or stirred through pasta.  Because they keep in the fridge for up to five days, you can make a selection ahead of time and assemble a rainbow platter on the night.

Sweet treats from dessert scraps

Cakes and brownies sometimes linger after a party.  Instead of throwing them away, upcycle them into trifles or crumb toppings. Food waste writer Tom Hunt admits that occasionally he finds himself with more cake than he fancies eating; rather than letting it go to waste, he collects “go‑to recipes that will upcycle old cake into a dessert that’s even more special than its former glory” .  His favourite is a classic trifle: stale cake is drizzled with sherry (or fruit juice), layered with seasonal fruit, custard and cream and left to set .  Other ideas include:

• Refrigerator cake – crumble leftover cake into chunks and add it to a no‑bake chocolate refrigerator cake.
• Rum truffles – mash cake crumbs with rum (or fruit juice) and roll them in cocoa powder.
• Crumble topping – pulse cake scraps in a food processor and sprinkle over baked fruit, yoghurt or ice cream.

Transforming desserts this way keeps sweet treats out of the bin and gives you a show‑stopping pudding for Bonfire Night.  Choose autumnal fruit like apples, blackberries or pears to keep things seasonal.

Warm up with surplus‑fruit mulled apple juice

If you’re lucky enough to have apple trees, late summer and autumn can leave you with an abundance of fruit.  Frankie, the blogger behind Thoroughly Modern Grandma, notes that her trees produce a generous crop and that surplus apples – especially windfalls “which might not be quite good enough for cooking or eating” – are turned into fresh apple juice so none of them go to waste.  If you don’t own a press, many community projects will press fruit for you or you can simply use a carton of unsweetened apple juice.

To make a warming mulled apple juice, follow the Good Food method: simmer a litre of apple juice with strips of orange peel, a cinnamon stick and a few cloves for 5–10 minutes until the flavours infuse.  Taste and add a little honey or sugar if needed.  Serve in heatproof mugs with a twist of orange peel or a cinnamon stick .  For a zero‑waste twist, add slices of any bruised fruit you need to use up (pears, plums or even leftover citrus peel) and a glug of leftover cider or apple cider vinegar for tang.  Adults might like a splash of brandy, but it’s delicious alcohol‑free too.

More zero‑waste Bonfire Night ideas

Don’t stop at crostini and dips; there are many other ways to reduce food waste on 5 November.  Here are a few ideas inspired by Love Food Hate Waste:

• Catherine wheel canapés – Pinwheel pastries made with cream cheese and smoked salmon are an impressive appetiser and a great way to use up a tub of cream cheese approaching its use‑by date.
• Edible Sparklers – Kids love making and eating these edible sparklers, which are breadsticks or pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate and decorated with cake sprinkles. We all have sprinkles left over from when we make cakes.
• Jacket potatoes in the embers – Wrap baking potatoes in foil and cook them in the glowing coals of your bonfire; it’s perfect for using up a big bag of spuds and you can serve them with whatever toppings you have on hand.
• Spicy chilli – A pot of chilli warms everyone up and is ideal for using leftover vegetables.  Throw in anything lingering in the fridge, from peppers to beans, and freeze any extra portions.
• Parkin – This traditional spiced cake keeps for days and gets stickier the longer it sits, so it’s a brilliant make‑ahead cake.  Enjoy any leftovers with tea later in the week.
• Toffee apples and pumpkins – Coating apples in toffee is a fun way to use the autumn glut.  If you still have pumpkins after Halloween, roast them or turn them into soup so they don’t go to waste.

Finish your spread with reusable plates, napkins and cutlery to keep the zero‑waste theme going.  Compost any scraps, and if you’re serving hot drinks outdoors, provide heatproof mugs or insulated cups instead of disposable paper ones.

Conclusion

Planning your Bonfire Night menu in September gives you time to freeze breads, collect vegetable scraps and store cake offcuts so nothing edible gets binned.  By the time the fireworks light up the sky, you’ll have a table full of eco‑friendly party food that proves sustainability can be delicious.  Whether you’re reviving stale baguettes, blending vegetable trimmings into dips or simmering mulled apple juice from windfalls, each dish shows that small actions add up.  Share these ideas with friends, create a colourful Bonfire Night food board and tag your creations.

Why go plant-based?

Beans, pumpkin and leafy greens make great fillings because they’re packed with fibre, antioxidants and minerals. For example, pumpkin puree isn’t just for pies – it’s rich in antioxidants, fibre and potassium, making it a nutrient-dense base for a creamy spread (This Mama Cooks – Pumpkin Dip). Black beans offer protein and iron, while spinach provides vitamins A and K.

Spooky sandwich fillings

Shape it up: bats, ghosts and pumpkins

Kids love novelty shapes, and cookie cutters make it easy.

• Ghosts: Use a ghost-shaped cutter to turn ordinary sandwiches into ghostly treats (Teuko – Ghost Lunchbox Ideas). Add a face with edible food markers or tiny pieces of olive for the eyes. Ghost shapes also work with sliced cucumber, carrot and bell pepper – pair them with hummus for a veggie side. I love these Gostwiches by Vegan Dollhouse
• Pumpkins: A pumpkin-shaped cutter turns your pumpkin-cream cheese sandwiches into cute jack-o-lanterns. Perfect for picky eaters who normally ask for crusts removed. Don’t waste the off-cuts – save them for breadcrumbs or stuffing. Use half grapes as eyes.
• Bats: For extra fun, use a bat cutter on dark rye or pumpernickel bread. The black colour sets off fillings like pumpkin spread or green spinach pesto.
• Coffins: I love the idea of using cheese on top of the coffins, and you do not need a speical cookie cutter for these.
• BOO: If you have letter cutters then you don’t need to cut your sandwiches into Halloween shapes. Use red vegan cheese to pop!

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Decorate with eyes and seeds

Eyes instantly make food more fun. The Eats Amazing blog notes that adding eyes to snacks can give them a creepy yet playful vibe at Halloween.

• Black sesame seeds: Dot a ghost-shaped sandwich with two black sesame seeds to create instant eyes.
• Candy eyes or icing eyes: Candy eyes are easy to find in baking aisles, and you can make your own icing eyes for pennies.
• Olives, raisins or cucumber peel: Small pieces of olives or cucumber skin make great pupils, and raisins add sweetness.

Assembling your spooky platter

1. Prepare your fillings ahead of time. Black bean hummus can be blended in minutes; pumpkin dip keeps in the fridge; spinach pesto can be made or bought.
2. Cut the bread using the cutters of your choice. Save trimmings for other recipes.
3. Spread generously with your chosen filling. For the spinach pesto sandwiches, follow vegan grilled-cheese instructions by sautéing spinach, spreading pesto, layering vegan cheese and toasting until melty.
4. Decorate: Add eyes, sprinkle with black sesame seeds, or pipe spider webs with vegan yogurt or tahini (great for black bean hummus).
5. Serve with veggie dippers like ghost-shaped cucumbers and carrots for extra crunch.

Top Tip: By cutting the bread first and then adding the fillings you get a much neater edge

Party extras and Pinterest inspiration

• Printable sandwich topper flags: Personalised flags add a polished finish. Create your own by printing mini flags with phrases like “Boo!”, “Eat Your Greens” or “Monster Mash.” Attach them to cocktail sticks and pop them into each sandwich.
• Pairings: Offer bowls of pumpkin seeds, roasted chickpeas or fruit ghosts on the side.
• Pinterest pin ideas: Pin your creations under themes such as Healthy Halloween Party Food, Spooky Sandwiches for Kids and Plant-Based Halloween Snacks to inspire others.

More plant-based Halloween inspiration

Looking for even more spooky snacks? Check out these plant-forward recipe collections:

• Food Network – Vegan Halloween Recipes
• BBC Good Food – Vegan Halloween Recipes
• Vegan Runner Eats – 53 Vegan Halloween Treats and Snacks

From classic rhubarb crisps to frozen pops and spicy chutneys, there’s something here for every craving.

Rhubarb Desserts

1. Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp – Once Upon a Chef

The perfect combination of sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb baked under a golden oat topping.

2. Old-Fashioned Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp – Food & Wine

A classic summer dessert that balances sweet and tart with a crisp, buttery topping.

3. Rhubarb Custard Cake – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Tart rhubarb baked into a soft vanilla custard base. Pure comfort.

4. Rhubarb Custard Cake – Alexandra Cooks

A more decadent spin with rum and lemon zest, this cake is luscious and elegant.

5. Rhubarb & Custard Traybake – The Guardian

Simple and nostalgic, this traybake layers sweet sponge with sharp rhubarb and creamy custard.

6. Rhubarb Muffins with Crumb Topping – AllRecipes

These muffins are tart, fluffy, and topped with a buttery crumble.

7. Strawberry Rhubarb Bars – Jeannie’s Tried and True Recipes

An easy bake with layers of vanilla cake, sweet strawberries, and tangy rhubarb.

8. Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake – Jeannie’s Tried and True Recipes

A beautiful and sticky caramelised topping over soft sponge.

9. Rhubarb & Ginger Cake – Style Sweet

Warming ginger and rhubarb come together in a sophisticated loaf cake.

10. Rhubarb Sauce –Jukia Eats Treats

Sweet, tart, and perfect for pancakes, ice cream, or stirring into yogurt.

Savoury Rhubarb Recipes

11. Savory Rhubarb Chutney – Full Circle

This chutney has a perfect balance of vinegar, onion, and spice. Serve it with meats or cheese.

12. Rhubarb Chutney – Caroline’s Cooking

Quick and easy to make, this chutney is a wonderful way to preserve rhubarb.

13. Easy Rhubarb Chutney – Savory Spin

A 20-minute savoury treat with warming ginger and a spicy twist.

14. Spicy Rhubarb Chutney – An Oregon Cottage

This robust chutney freezes well and pairs beautifully with curries.

15. Rhubarb & Red Onion Relish – The Australian

A zesty relish made with apples and onions, ideal for BBQs and sandwiches.

Frozen Rhubarb Treats

16. Rhubarb & Greek Yogurt Popsicles – The View from Great Island

Swirls of rhubarb jam and yogurt come together in a creamy, cooling treat.

17. Strawberry Rhubarb Creamsicles – Family Spice

No popsicle mould? No problem! These are frozen in cups and taste like summer.

18. Strawberry Rhubarb Mascarpone Pops – Feed the Swimmers

Rich and creamy mascarpone meets sweet-tart rhubarb jam in these elegant pops.

19. Cheesecake Popsicles – Kate Cooks

Rhubarb and strawberry jam layered with cheesecake filling – dreamy!

20. Keto Ginger Rhubarb Creamsicles – KetoDiet Blog

A low-carb version using clotted cream and orange for a decadent frozen dessert.

More Rhubarb Recipe Collections

21. EatingWell’s Most Popular Rhubarb Recipes

Includes pies, sauces, roast pork with rhubarb, and even rhubarb cocktails.

22. 15 Rosy Rhubarb Recipes – Simply Recipes

A stunning variety of rhubarb creations including spritzers and cobblers.

23. 50+ Rhubarb Recipes – Practical Self Reliance

Crisps, jams, sauces, chutneys, and breakfast recipes galore.

24. 25 Best Rhubarb Recipes – The Unlikely Baker

This ultimate roundup includes galettes, cakes, pies, drinks, and more.

25. 25+ Fabulous Rhubarb Recipes – Only Crumbs Remain

A lovely collection including traditional bakes, custards, and savoury sides.

Final Tips for Working with Rhubarb

• Only use the stalks – rhubarb leaves are toxic.
• Slice stalks into 1-inch pieces for even cooking.
• Rhubarb pairs beautifully with strawberries, ginger, lemon, and vanilla.
• It freezes well! Chop and store it in an airtight bag for year-round baking.

Have a favourite rhubarb recipe we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

A recent survey commissioned by Flora has revealed that only 17% of kids lunchboxes contain any vegetables or salad, which as a mum I find shocking.   Worse than that it also showed that only 1.6% of children’s packed lunches met national standards for school food in England.  Now I know that children can be really fussy and picky eaters and understand that it is your decision as to what goes in your child’s packed lunch and that we are all busy and do not want to spend too much time on a packed lunch.  Why not check out Flora’s Lunch Box Guide, it is filled with ideas and inspiration.

I have focussed on savoury school lunch ideas here and I have to say that one of the things I often do is chop up vegetables, like bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, sugar snap peas, and celery into batons and a pita bread and supply a dip such as hummus as it seems kids adore anything you can dip! When it comes to sweet snacks, I focus on fruits such as banana, apple slices with some nut butter (if allowed), any berries (blueberries, strawberry and raspberry) with Greek yogurt.

These are cold lunch ideas, but we also have a list of warm lunch ideas! and a week of bento box lunches.

Lunch Box Ideas

Jewelled Tuna Pasta Salad

Print

Jewelled Tuna Pasta

Course Main

Cuisine British

Keyword lunch

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 350 g penne pasta
• 55 g Flora Original
• 1 red pepper seeds removed and finely chopped
• 115 g button mushrooms thickly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 198 g can sweetcorn
• 200 g canned tuna in water drained and flaked
• 1 pinch of black pepper
• 4 Spring onions chopped finely

Instructions

• Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
• Meanwhile, melt the Flora in a large pan, add the red pepper, crushed garlic, spring onions and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally until soft.
  
• Stir in the sweetcorn and tuna, cover and cook very gently until piping hot.
• Drain the pasta and gently toss with the tuna mixture.
  
• Serve immediately, or allow to cool and pack in tomorrow’s lunchbox.

Notes

What Mini loved about this recipe was just how simple it was and also how colourful. It can be so easily adapted and if you are in a hurry you can use a tin of mixed sweetcorn and peppers. Mini also commented that it would have looked and tasted great with peas in too.

Tuna Wraps

We are big fans of wraps here.  Both my boys love them and they are super simple to make and rather than filling up on bread, you get loads of filling.  This is a twist on a classic tuna mayo sandwich and also a brilliant topping for jacket potatoes.

Print

Tuna Wraps

Course Lunch

Cuisine British

Keyword packed lunch

Ingredients

• 15 g Flora
• 100 g of tinned tuna steak in spring water
• 1/4 red onions sliced thinly
• 1/2 green pepper finely chopped
• 15 g peanuts crushed
• lettuce
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 4 small wholemeal tortilla wraps

Instructions

• Spread Flora over your wraps
  
• Mix together your tuna, mayonnaise, onions, peppers and peanuts
  
• Cover with a lettuce leaf (this stops the wrap going soggy in your lunchbox) and spoon your tuna mayo mixture onto your lettuce and wrap.
  

Mini Pizza Bites

These Mini Pizza bites are a super gun lunch box addition and always a massive hit.

Build Your Own Pizza

Whilst we are talking about pizzas, how about building your own pizza lunchable? This is a pizza version, but you could use this for loads of different toppings on the crackers.

Air Fryer Sauage and Cheese Pinwheels

Made with just three ingredients these Sausage & Cheese Pinwheels cooked in the air fryer make a quick and tasty lunch that the kids will love.

Cheesy Egg & Noodle Muffins

These cheesy egg & noodle muffins are packed full of veg – broccoli and carrots, but peas, edamame beans, courgette and peppers also work.

Salmon Frittata

This salmon frittata is delicious served warm or cold and full of goodness and protein.

Ham and Sweet Potato Slices

Never mind the kids, I want this Ham and sweet potato slice for lunch!

Leftover Roast Beef Fritters

These simple roast beef fritters are a brilliant way to use up leftovers and are delicious warm or cold.

Nut Free Pesto Pasta

An easy pesto recipe that’s nut-free. Perfect for packed lunches to send to school or nursery for kids!

Chickpea Fritters

These veggie fritters are packed with nutrients from the peppers and chickpeas, plus warming spices – serve with a speedy homemade tzatziki for dunking

Veggie Quiche

This quiche is perfect warm of cold and makes a great lunchbox or picnic food.

Are you looking for a delicious and nutritious snack option? Try this simple Ryvita Fruit Crunch recipe that combines the goodness of whole grains, nuts, and dried fruit for a satisfying and healthy treat. Growing up my dad used to eat Ryvita Fruit Crunch crumbled up with milk like a breakfast cereal, which is what inspired this simple breakfast snack. it is a wholegrain rye cracker with currants, seeds and oats and is full of fibre with a great fruity taste.

Yoghurt and Berry Crunch

So back to our simple and delicious yoghurt and berry crunch, which we hope you will love as much as we do.  If you want to get all fancy then you could use a glass jar so you can see all the layers, but we have used simple ice cream containers which are child-friendly and perfect for lunch outside in the sun.

How to make Yoghurt and Berry Crunch

Ingredients

• Greek yoghurt
• Fruit of your choice, we used raspberries and blackberries
• Local honey
• Crispbreads – we used Ryvita Fruit Crunch, Apple and Cinnamon

Method

This is a really simple dish and you can swap out the greek yoghurt for ice cream making it perfect for the warm days of summer!

Firstly add some Greek yoghurt and then crumble on a Ryvita Fruit Crunch before adding fruit and a drizzle of local honey.

Then you add more yoghurt, berries, a sprinkle of Ryvita Fruit Crunch and more honey.

It is amazing how just a few great ingredients taste delicious.

We are big Angel Delight lovers here – well I am a child of the 70’s and this simple-to-make packet desert are fun, easy to make and delicious and my kids love them too.

Make your own Kids Dessert Buffet

Angel Delight is a super simple pudding to make.  Mini has been making it on his own for a couple of years.  You mix it with 1/2 pint of milk and then let it set for 5 minutes.

Mini poured them into some cups that we use for desserts and then allowed them to set before designing his desserts.

I set out lots of toppings for Mini to use, including fruit and sweets and then left him to it!

This would be a great activity to do at a child’s birthday party or family get together.  Mini had so much fun designing designing dessert monsters!

Kids Party Food Ideas

I love a good kids’ party and my SIL is an amazing party hostess. So I am going to share some simple and easy kids’ birthday party foods that look much harder than they are and will be real people pleasers. It goes without saying that you need sandwiches and we tend to keep them simple, such as chicken, ham, tuna, cheese and even jam. As it is for kids, cut off the crusts! or use tortillas and make pinwheels.

Tip: Keep it cold – Don’t worry about serving warm food. Keep it cold and then they can come back for more and you can be present rather than glued to the air fryer or oven!

I like to keep my party menu simple. I don’t bake lots of cakes, but I might make some cupcakes, as we have the birthday cake. So I focus on finger foods and try to avoid any peanut butter or other nuts in case of allergies.

• Sausage Rolls – I like Mini ones
• Cocktail Sausages (you could go old school and do them on a stick with a cherry tomato, pineapple and cheese)
• Mii Meatballs on sticks
• Cheese and crackers
• Chips with guacamole and salsa
• Fruit on skewers (I prefer this to fruit platters) – strawberries, watermelon, grapes and bananas work well. If using apple, you need to cover it in lemon juice to stop it going brown.
• Veggie batons – carrot, cucumber & peppers
• Dips (supply mini dip pots to prevent double dipping that the dips can be decanted into) – tomato ketchup, mayo, sour cream, garlic cream cheese, hummus, and melted chocolate for the fruits.
• Crisps.
• Cake pops.
• Pots of Popcorn.

Mini Pizza Bites

Kids love it if it is miniature, these mini pizza bites are super simple to make and taste delicious.

Bacon Cheeseburger Pastries

These Bacon Cheeseburgers are a fab way to serve up a classic but in little hand-sized parcels.

I have tried to bake these fries in the oven and also attempted to cook them in the air fryer, but trust me you need to fry these in vegetable oil to get the right texture and crisp coating.  The secret is to cook a few at a time in really hot oil, that way the outside crisps and prevents the inside from absorbing oil. Don’t worry if you don’t have a deep fryer, we did ours in a frying pan.

How to make cinnamon apple fries

The cinnamon apple fries are sweet and tart at the same time and are perfect served with whipped cream as a delicious treat. The type of apple matters – you need a tart apple like a Granny Smith, Gala or Braeburn for this and you need fresh apples. Although my boys’ favourite eating apples are pink lady, they are too sweet for this. I guess that is why they are called granny’s apple fries!

What to serve with your Apple Fries

These are served with vanilla whipped cream in LEGOLAND, which is simple to replicate.  We used whipping cream, vanilla extract and icing sugar. The sweetness of the cream pairs so well with the cinnamon apple fries. They are also delicious with vanilla icecream or caramel sauce.

I don’t like Cinnamon

Don’t panic you don’t have to use apple pie spice, you can use all spice (which has nutmeg in), pumpkin pie spice or our favourite speculoous spices. Mix as you do the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Print

Cinnamon Apple Fries

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword apple

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 4 Granny Smith Apples
• ½ cup cornflour cornstarch
• ½ cup Sugar or Granulated Sweetner
• ⅛ cup cinnamon
• vegtable oil

Instructions

• Heat about 1 inch of oil in a frying pan over a high heat.
• Core and peel apples.
• Slice apples into pieces about the shape and size of chips.
• Toss the apple pieces in the cornflour until well coated.
  
• In a separate bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar, then set aside.
• In small batches, fry the apples for 2-3 minutes until very lightly golden.
  
• Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain apple fries on paper towels.
• Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar granules mixture.
  
• Keep frying in small batches until all the apples are cooked.
• Serve immediately with a vanilla cream dip.
  

Notes

I prefer granny smith apples for this as they are firm and just the right sourness to go with the sugar coating.  You can replace with other apples but ensure they are firm.

Skin on or off?  My kids prefer the apple fries with the skin off – I have tried both ways with them.

I don’t like Cinnamon – well you could try all spice or speculoous seasoning. 

These are best eaten warm upon making, but will store in an airtight container, however, the crispness disappears within 25 hours, 

What can I say, we love Christmas here and the build-up to it. These cute christmas rice krispie treats are a brilliant festive recipe that male great gifts or just fun desserts.

Christmas Tree Rice Krispie Treats

I don’t know about you, but I always have rice kripsies cereal or puffed rice cereal in the house and these festive trees are a super fun take on krispy cakes and such great Christmas desserts. They are perfect to make with the kids, but you do need to supervise little ones and plan in some cooling time. We used to make them one day and then have so much fun decorating them the next. We never stopped at simple M&M’s like these, well the kids didn’t. For them more is more and they loved using sprinkles, edible glitter, and any other festive sweets we had!

Start by melting the butter and marshmallows over a low to mediaum heat in a large non-stick pan (trust me go with a large saucepan as you need to fit all the rice kristpies in too). You can also do this in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave but keep an eye on it as microwave powers vary.

Then take off the heat and stir in the rice crispies making sure they are covered in the marshmallow and butter mixture.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (you can also used waxed paper or tin foil with a spray of oil) and pour out rice krispies mixture onto the parchment paper. Press down with a spatula and allow to set for 30 minutes.

Cut out rice krispies with a tree cookie cutter.

Melt the green candy melts as per the instructions and add to a piping bag. If you cant get these you can use melted white chocolate and green food coloring (gel works best), but you will have to work fast with the chocolate.

Whilst the candy melt piping is still wet add the decorations.

If you want to make your trees green then you need to add a green gel food coloring to the marshmallow, butter crispy mix, but we really like the green piping and keeping things simple is often easier with younger children. You could also turn them into 3D Christmas trees like here which would be green for older children, by shaping the rice krispies cereal mix into cone shapes and using rolos as trunks. I have also seen pretzel sticks used as tree trunks.

Print

Christmas Tree Rice Krispy Treats

Course Dessert, Snack, treat

Cuisine British

Keyword christmas, festive, holidays

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes minutes

Cooling Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 47 minutes minutes

Servings 10 trees

Equipment

• Pan
• Spatula
• Tray
• Tree Cookie cutter
• Non stick Parcement
• Microwave Optionl

Ingredients

• 6 cups Rice krispy cereal
• 5 1/2 cups Mini marshmallows
• 3 tablespoons butter unsalted
• 1 bag green candy melts
• 1 packet mini M&M's

Instructions

• Melt butter on low then add in five and a half cups miniature marshmallows. Stir often until fully melted.
• Stir in rice krispies until well incorporated. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour out rice krispies mixture onto the parchment paper. Press down with a spatula. Let dry 30 minutes.
• Cut out rice krispies with a tree cookie cutter. Place back on parchment paper.
• Melt green candy melts as directed on the package and add to a piping bag. Pipe around the edges and across point to point of the Christmas tree.
• Use mini M&M’s to place as ornaments. Let dry before serving.

Notes

If you can’t get Green Candy Melts, you can substitute them with white chocolate buttons and green gel food colouring. 

Rather than using a pan and heating on the stove, you could do this in a microwave in a microwave-safe bowl.

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Rice Krispie Treats are best when eaten within two days of making them and can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for upto a week. If they are not as soft after a couple of days, you can soften them by placing them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.

Make sure you check out our other great Christmas recipes to cook with kids.