Braces-Friendly Holiday Recipes

Now that the holidays are here, most of us are getting excited about having some fun and spending quality time with our loved ones. Like always, there will be lots of delicious foods to enjoy now through the new year. But if you’re wearing Aiea or Honolulu braces, you may think that you’ll have to pass on many of the foods being served this holiday season.

While you do have to avoid braces-busting foods and snacks, there’s still plenty of things you can eat that won’t harm your braces. To prove it, the friendly team at Morita Orthodontics has shared some holiday recipes below that are both orthodontist-approved and yummy to eat!

Gingerbread Pancakes

 Instead of running the risk of damaging your Honolulu, HI braces by biting into hard gingerbread cookies, you can safely sink your teeth into these soft and savory gingerbread pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 ¼ cups milk
¼ cups molasses
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, beat the egg and milk, then add the molasses & oil and stir. Then put the dry ingredients from the small bowl into the large bowl and mix until just combined.

Preheat a large frying pan or grill. Once hot, pour ¼ cup of batter for each pancake in the pan or on the grill. Cook on the first side until the pancakes bubble, then flip the pancakes over and cook on the other side until they turn a light golden brown color. When all the pancakes are done, serve immediately with butter and your favorite maple syrup.

Holiday Thumbprint Cookies

These cookies are soft, sweet and fun to make so get the kids involved too!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Your favorite assortment of jams like grape, strawberry, blueberry or raspberry
Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Place baking paper on two baking sheets. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. In another large bowl, mix together the butter, sugar, and vanilla using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add half the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Knead a few times by hand to bring the dough together.

Roll teaspoons of the dough into balls and place on the baking sheets. (about ½ inch apart). Use the back of a small spoon or your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each ball. Fill the indentation with about 1/8 teaspoon of jam. Put the cookies in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges are golden. Remove from oven and transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. Once cooled completely, dust the cookies with the powdered sugar.

Savory Holiday Crockpot Meatballs

These delicious meatballs are perfect to take along to a potluck or to enjoy right at home as a snack!

Ingredients:

One jar of grape jelly (16 oz)
One bottle of chili sauce (12 oz)
One large bag of frozen cocktail-size meatballs (3 lbs)

Directions:

Combine the grape jelly and chili sauce in a saucepan over medium-high heat.Cook on stovetop until the jelly melts and the mixture is warm. (about 5 or 10 minutes). Place the meatballs in a crockpot and pour the jelly mixture over the top. Cover and cook on low for three to four hours.

Visit Us for Braces & Invisalign in Honolulu, HI

We hope many of you will try these recipes over the holidays! The next time you visit us to have your braces adjusted, be sure to tell us which recipe you liked the best! For those of you who are interested in getting a straight new smile in 2018, please contact us today so we can schedule your free first visit with us! We look forward to welcoming you to Morita Orthodontics, where we treat our patients like family!