It’s 3 p.m. and the kids are starving, but they’re turning up their noses at Pirate’s Booty and string cheese. Whip up some of these quick and easy-to-store snacks on the weekend and they’ll be bragging to their friends about your amazing after-school treats (snickerdoodle bars! sausage-and-egg dumplings!) all week long.
food
15 After-School Snack Recipes Your Kids Will Love
1. homemade Cheese Crackers
Cheez-Its who? These buttery little bites take about half an hour to make and can be kept in the pantry all week.
2. sweet Potato Hummus
Hummus is always a fantastic afternoon snack, but we predict that kids will gobble up this sweet potato version that’s great with both sweet and savory dippers.
3. gwyneth Paltrow’s Blueberry Cauliflower Smoothie
Cauliflower makes this beautifully hued smoothie as creamy as a milkshake (and they’ll have no idea they’re actually drinking something nutritious).
4. cocoa Peanut Butter Granola
OK, this is a lot of chocolate. But if the alternative is a bowl of prepackaged kids’ cereal, this lower-sugar version is a fabulous option.
5. sausage-and-egg Breakfast Dumplings
Breakfast food in the afternoon is always a treat, and these dumplings are fun little bites of happiness they can dip in a special ketchup-based sauce. Keep a batch stashed in the freezer, then pop them into the microwave or toaster oven to reheat.
6. perfect Stove-top Popcorn
The microwaved stuff has nothing on stove-top popcorn. Not only is it cool to watch (and hear) it pop, but you can season it with whatever your kids love.
7. gluten-free Chocolate Banana Muffins
Psst: These unhealthy-looking little guys are actually packed with fruit.
8. snickerdoodle Almond Butter Granola Bars
Believe it or not, absolutely no baking is required to make these sweet granola bars.
9. healthy Banana Split Recipe
There’s nothing even remotely unhealthy in this “dessert,” and it comes together in less than five minutes. Hallelujah.
10. dreamy Almond Butter Chia Pudding
Ditch the squeeze pouches for this fun-to-eat treat. Just tell your rug rats they’re eating pudding with eyes.
11. zesty Three-cheese Snack Mix
Why give them a prepackaged snack mix, typically full of sodium and other preservatives, when you can just make your own?
12. cake Batter Dip
Remember Dunkaroos? Your kids won’t—they’ll just think you’re a genius.
14. Smashed Edamame Avocado Salad
Avocado salad gets an even healthier upgrade with the addition of crushed edamame.
15. chocolate Chip Cookies
Keep this cookie dough on hand in the freezer, then whip it out whenever you want to feel like the best parent in the universe.
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