This recipe took a bit of trial and error but we finally nailed it! The secret ingredient is…prunes! Yes! Prunes are great for digestion but also lovely in baking because they add a bit of natural sweetness.
Speaking of digestion, don’t forget that as your baby is transitioning from a liquid diet to a solid food diet, there will be changes that take place. Some babies might poop more or less often, others might pass a bit more gas and for some babies, they just flow normally!
Now let’s get into this recipe!
What age can I give this to my baby?
You are welcome to serve this teething biscuit when your baby is 6 months old. It’s on the hard and dry side, mostly because we wanted to create a final product that dissolves as your baby gnaws on it. In their mouth, babies have amylase which is an enzyme found in saliva. This enzyme helps initiate digestion.
Let the drooling begin!
What shape should I slice it into?
We recommend slicing it into rectangles that are slim so that your baby can insert the biscuits in the side of their mouth and gnaw down on it. If the biscuit is cut into a wide circular shape, that might make it challenging for your baby to insert it into their mouth.
How do I serve it to my baby?
After slicing it, place the biscuit on your baby’s tray table. If your baby isn’t picking it up or feels a little lost then place the biscuit in their hand and close their fingers. You can also enjoy a biscuit with your baby to model eating.
Why use iron fortified infant cereal?
It’s because babies have uniquely high iron needs! They need 11mg of iron a day once they turn 7 months. For perspective, a grown male needs 7mg. So this means a baby needs 1.4x more than a male adult! Yowza.
Iron fortified infant cereals have iron added to them. Interestingly enough, this was a Canadian invention that came from a world recognized hospital, The Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto. While this happened in the 1930’s, now the principle of fortifying cereal with iron is a global practice to help prevent iron deficiency. Using infant cereal in fun ways such as for baking helps to elevate iron intake, that’s all!
Can these baby biscuits be frozen?
We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we have. They are a great and healthy alternative to what might be found in grocery stores, plus, a fraction of price. What we appreciate about the recipe as busy moms ourselves is that we can prepare a batch ahead of time and freeze them. Then, when a tooth is poking out you can offer it to your baby and toddler.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE THESE HOMEMADE TEETHER BISCUITS
These teether cookies are great any time of the year but we think they’re especially fun making them around the holidays so that baby can enjoy Christmas cookies too!
Homemade Teething Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup iron fortified infant oat cereal
- 1/3 cup ground flax seeds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ cup dried prunes
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp molasses
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, infant cereal, flax seeds, baking powder, and spices.
- Remove any pits from the prunes.
- Place the prunes, eggs, and molasses in a mini food processor and blend until semi-smooth.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Roll up those sleeves and use your hands to mix everything into a smooth dough.
- Place wax or parchment paper on your counter and sprinkle some flour on it.
- Place the dough on the paper then flip it over to flour both sides.
- Sandwich it with another piece of wax paper on top.
- Roll until ~¼” thick. If you notice the dough sticking to the paper, then flour it a bit more.
- Cut into strips or use your favourite cookie cutter shapes to cut out the cookies. Re-rolling the dough with the scraps leftover from the cutouts.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Flip each cookie over and bake another 10 or so minutes. The cookies are done when they are hard and no longer dough-y.
- Keep the cookies in the fridge or freezer and lightly toast before serving to your baby!
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9 thoughts on “Homemade Teething Biscuits”
Excellent recipe. My baby loves them and I love how long they last while she chews away. HOWEVER, I have found they need way less time in the oven than the recipe says. With some trial and error I’ve found (at least for me) they need about half the bake time indicated in the recipe.
Hi Renee, thank you for the feedback on the recipe! We will adjust the recipe and make a note about baking times. It’s really wild how varied ovens can be!
we don’t have molasses in our pantry, is there a good substitute you would recommend?
Hi Irma, unfortunately there really isn’t a substitute for the molasses. The stickiness is key and other sticky ingredients such as honey or syrup are not suitable at this age!
Hi ,
Just to confirm, cookies should be rolled out to a 1/4 inch thickness , correct?
And cookies should be baked for a total of 25 minutes? Mine turned out a bit burnt so just trying to figure out where I can adjust.
Thanks in advance
Hi! Yes, the cookies should be rolled out to at 1/4 inch thickness. And thanks for letting us know how your cookies turned out. Each oven is going to be different so you could adjust and bake for a shorter time in your oven or maybe even try baking at 350 instead of 375. You don’t want them burnt but you do want them to be fully baked and dissolve in the mouth. You don’t want any gummy texture.
We love these and make them all the time! I agree with all of the baking temp/time reviews but have perfected the recipe now as follows:
Bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Flip and bake another 10 minutes. Continue to flip and back every 5 minutes until the cookies are dry to the touch. They will get even harder as they cool. This usually is 30 min total bake time.
Thank you for sharing your tried and true technique! It seems like every oven is special in its own way 🙂
My baby LOVES these. So much so she insisted on the biscuit serving as her spoon tonight at dinner. 🙂 I cooked at 350 for the suggested time.