Following the success of her first bestselling book ‘How to Feed Your Baby’, Charlotte Stirling Reed is about to launch her new book ‘How to Feed Your Toddler’. Here she shares three family-friendly recipes to try with your little ones…

Courgette Cornbread Squares (above)

Prep: 10–15minutes
Cook: 25–30 minutes
Makes: 20–25 squares

This is one of my favourite recipes from the book – it’s so tasty and makes a great snack, lunch or side, as well as being fab topped with a dollop of cream cheese and some dill or a spoonful of hummus with some ground pistachios. I love this one on its own though, and it’s now a regular in our freezer. This recipe makes a good amount and packs lots of flavours and textures. I hope your little ones will love it.

50g unsalted butter or dairy-free spread
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
2 courgettes (about 350g), trimmed and coarsely grated
1 large free-range egg, beaten
125ml milk of choice
125g Greek yoghurt
198g tin sweetcorn, drained
100g plain flour
150g cornmeal or polenta
30g mature Cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions

1.Preheat the oven to 200˚C/180˚C fan. Line a 20 x 30-cm tin with greaseproof  paper.
2.Melt the butter or spread in a large frying pan, add the spring onions and courgettes and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft and cooked down. Leave to one side to cool completely.
3.Mix the egg, milk, yoghurt and sweetcorn together in a bowl.
4.Add the flour, cornmeal, Cheddar, and cooled veg, and give it a good mix to combine.
5.Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.
6.Cool in the tin then transfer to a cooling rack and cut into 20–25 squares. 

These will keep in an airtight container for 2 days or can be added to your freezer stash

Mini Black Forest Cherry Cakes 

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Makes: 18 mini cakes

This is one of my favourite recipes from this book and always goes down a treat with my family; the chocolate and cherry combo is a firm winner. These cakes don’t have a lot of sugar in them – just the jam, which is combined with the cherries, making them a really great option for a party or even as a snack

Ingredients

200g frozen cherries, defrosted, plus a handful for decorating, finely chopped (reserve the cherry juice from the defrosted fruit for later)
2 tbsp cherry jam (or another fruit jam)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp boiling water
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature, or dairy-free spread
1 large free-range egg, beaten, or 1 flaxseed egg
50g ground almonds
100g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder 

To decorate

100g crème fraîche or dairy-free alternative
a few chunks of dark chocolate, grated

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C/180˚C fan. Line a mini cupcake or muffin tin with 18 cases.
2.Add most of the cherries and jam to a food processor and blitz until blended to a purée.
3.In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder with the boiling water and stir until it forms a paste.
4.Add the butter or spread, egg and cocoa powder paste to the food processor and blitz until combined with the cherry purée. Then add the almonds, flour and baking powder and give it a pulse to mix together.
5.Divide the mixture between the cases and bake for 10–15 minutes, or until cooked through and fluffy looking. Use a skewer to check the middle – it should come out clean.
6.Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
7. Top with a teaspoon of crème fraîche, the reserved finely chopped cherries, a drizzle of the reserved juice and a sprinkle of dark chocolate to finish. You can store these in the fridge and enjoy for up to 2 days

Spinach Monster Pancakes

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 8 minutes
Serves: 2 toddlers

Raffy named this ’Monster Pancake’ as it’s seriously bright green with red dots all over. This is a fab recipe for getting some veggies in in the morning. This looks amazing with the green spinachy batter – it should hopefully get a bit of a ‘wow’ from your kids! This is another one that’s great as a snack, lunch or even as a party piece. Feel free to use whatever fillings you fancy if you don’t have everything I’ve suggested here: tomatoes and peppers can easily be switched for mushrooms and courgettes, for example.

For the batter

1 large free-range egg or 1 flaxseed egg
100g self-raising flour
80ml milk of choice
handful of spinach (about 80g), washed
olive oil, for cooking

For the topping

6 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
50g red or yellow pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
30g Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated or dairy-free alternative (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the grill to the highest temperature.
2.Add all the batter ingredients to a blender/high-speed mixer and blend to make a thick green batter. Leave to one side.
3.Heat a little olive oil in a 20cm ovenproof non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.
4.Once the pan is hot, pour in all the batter then sprinkle over the topping ingredients. Cook for about 2 minutes, then pop the pan under the grill for 5–6 minutes until the pancake is puffed up and cooked through.
5.Leave to cool a little, then slice into wedges, fingers or squares – whatever you fancy.

How to Feed Your Toddler: Everything You Need to Know To Raise Happy, Independent Little Eaters by Charlotte Stirling Reed is out on 29th September 2022, published by Ebury; buy it here.

Read more from health and wellbeing here.