While we are homeschooling and working from home our minds may wonder to snacktime more often than they used to. It is also highly likely that you have some little ones in the house chorusing ‘Can I have a snack?’, a few times throughout the day.
We all have a few favourite things to nibble on and cannot be blamed for enjoying a treat or two. You may be craving some variety to those treats and be keen to keep them healthy. Not to worry! We have collected some simple and tasty, sweet and savoury treats that both you and your children will enjoy munching.
Don’t forget to get the children involved, children love to create and making food is fun.
Find out more about involving children in the kitchen from our ‘Benefits of Cooking with Children’ post.
Savoury Snacks
Veggie Frittata Bites
These are such easy and delicious snacks.
Frittata is also so versatile, you don’t need much to create these tasty treats and you can use fresh or frozen vegetables in the filling.
Ingredients
(all of the vegetables can be swapped for what you have in the fridge or the freezer)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Rub the oil over the inside of a muffin tin with a bit of kitchen roll (or a pastry brush if you have one).
Break the eggs into a big bowl.
Add the milk to the eggs.
Whisk the eggs with a fork or metal whisk until it is light and fluffy.
Add half of the grated cheese and a little ground black pepper. You can also add herbs if you like.
Put the vegetables you want to use into the muffin tray. Pour the egg and cheese mixture onto the vegetables and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
Place the tin or dish in the oven for 20 minutes so that the frittata is golden-brown and set. Check that it is cooked in the middle by poking in a sharp knife. If it is still loose return the dish to the oven until set.
Leave to cool a little before removing from the tin.
You can eat these yummy Frittata Bites warm or cold.
Mini Veggie Wraps
Another versatile savoury snack, these can be filled with what you have in
the fridge or cupboard and a big wrap can be sliced when rolled, to fill lots of mouths. These wraps are also super tasty when dipped into hummus or guacamole.
Ingredients
Tortilla wraps
Carrot
Cucumber
Cream cheese
(All of the fillings and vegetables can be swapped for what you have in the fridge, for example ham, cheddar or tomatoes)
Method
Spread the cream cheese onto one side of the wrap about ½ centimetre from the edge.
Slice the cucumber into thin slices and place onto the wrap.
Grate the carrot and sprinkle on to the wrap and cucumber.
Roll the wrap into a tube.
Slice the wrap into mini wraps to fill lots of mouths.
Don’t forget storecupboard ingredients make delicious wrap fillings. Such as, tinned tuna, sundried tomatoes and tinned sweetcorn.
You can also make these a sweet treat using chocolate spread, jam or peanut butter and bananas.
Roasted chickpeas
A healthy alternative to ready made potato chips and nuts from the supermarket.
You can get creative with different flavours, you may like to add some spice, different herbs or just lightly salt - a fun way to tempt your little ones to try different flavours.
Ingredients
1 tin of chickpeas
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp ground corriander
½ tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside.
Rinse the tin of chickpeas in a sieve or colander and thoroughly dry the chickpeas.
In a small bowl, mix together the spices, herbs and salt and pepper and leave.
Bake the dried chickpeas in the preheated oven on the prepared baking sheet for 15 minutes.
Remove the chickpeas from the oven and drizzle ½ tbsp of the olive oil over the chickpeas, stirring until evenly coated.
Add spices to chickpeas and stir until evenly coated.
Bake for 10 more minutes, then stir.
Return stirred chickpeas to the oven and bake them for an additional 5-10 minutes, until desired crispiness is achieved.
Turn off the oven and open the door slightly with the chickpeas left inside to cool. (This makes them extra crispy)
These crunchy roasted chickpeas last for up to 4 days stored in a jar at room temperature.
Don’t forget to experiment with different flavours!
Cheesy Broccoli Bread
This cheesy treat doesn’t involve pizza dough, toast or bread - so you can enjoy a melted cheesy treat that isn’t too calorific. (It’s also gluten free!)
Ingredients
1 head of broccoli
2 eggs
130g Mozzarella cheese grated (You can swap for cheddar)
65g Parmesan Cheese grated (You can swap for emmental)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
30g Mozzarella cheese for topping (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
Line a baking tin with parchment paper.
Place the broccoli in a food processor and blitz until it looks like small breadcrumbs.
Microwave the broccoli for 1 minute to steam.
Carefully ring out to squeeze the extra moisture from the broccoli using a paper towel or cheese cloth.
Put the broccoli in a bowl with the other ingredients and stir well.
Spread out on the baking tin and cook for 20 minutes. If you are adding cheese for the topping put it on top for the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Remove from the oven and cut into sticks.
Baked Veggie Samosas
These Veggie Samosas are great dipped into dips, or you can make your own dips using natural or greek yoghurt that's already in the fridge.
Simply add some herbs or spices. Children will love making their own recipes and doing taste tests.
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 packet of ready made filo pastry
4 potatoes, cooked and diced
100g sweet corn
100g peas
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tbsp garam masala or some delicate spices you have in the cupboard
Flour for dusting
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Heat 1tbsp of the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat.
Add the onions and cook until soft. Stir in the garam masala and the rest of the vegetables.
Cook for 2-3 minutes then remove from the heat.
Cut the pastry into long strips and lay out on a board, with some dusting flour to keep from sticking.
Place a small amount of the vegetables in the top right-hand corner.
Fold down the top left portion of the pastry over the vegetables.
Fold the bottom section up, flip over the parcel and fold the remaining pastry onto itself to seal it up.
Repeat until you have used up all of your pasty and mixture.
Brush with a small amount of olive oil and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and crispy.
Sweet Treats
Watermelon Pops
The watermelons' natural colours look so appealing and eating them from the
freezer on lolly sticks is a much healthier alternative
to sugary shop bought ice lollies.
Ingredients
2 round slices of watermelon about an inch in thickness and roughly 9 inches in diameter
125g 1/2 cup natural greek yoghurt
1 tbsp dried cranberries or raisins to garnish (optional)
honey to drizzle (optional)
Method
Cut the sliced watermelon into 6 triangles per slice.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and place yoghurt into a piping bag or zip lock bag (cut the corner of the zip lock bag to pipe.)
Pipe the yoghurt onto the watermelon wedges into zigzags and shapes (the children will love doing this)
Top dried cranberries or raisins and drizzle with honey (optional).
Place in the freezer until yoghurt is firm or overnight.
Once you’ve made these you can enjoy them on hot sunny afternoons or as an after dinner treat!
Experiment with different toppings like chopped tinned pineapple or berries.
Peanut Butter and Jam Apple Sandwiches
These are quick and easy to make and can be made to look very pretty using cookie cutters!
Ingredients
2 apples
peanut butter
jam
Method
Cut the top and bottom off the apples.
Slice the apples into 4 slices per apple (making 8).
Use a small cookie cutter to cut the core from the center of each slice.
Spread peanut butter on half of the slices and then the jam.
Cover with the jam and peanut butter slices with the remaining halves.
Superhero Energy Balls
These energy balls are healthy, easy to make and there's no cooking involved so can be easily whipped up whenever needed.
Ingredients
130g rolled oats
65g cup peanut butter
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
80g cup chocolate chips
Method
1. Place all the ingredients except the chocolate chips into a large bowl and mix until well combined.
2. Fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Roll the mixture into bite sized balls.
4. Put the balls into the fridge for 1 hour to allow them to firm up.
The energy bites will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Vibrant Rainbow Fruit Skewers
Whilst you could say this is just fruit, the method of combining these fruits, preparing the fruit together and assembling them on the skewers provides so many chances to discuss taste and smells, colours and textures as well a wealth of vocabulary. It is also a valuable opportunity to discuss vitamins and nutrition together and why it is important to enjoy a varied diet.
Ingredients
(1piece of fruit per skewer)
raspberries
strawberries (hulled)
tangerine segments
mango (peeled and cubed)
pineapple (peeled and cubed)
kiwi (peeled and cubed)
green grapes
red grapes
blueberries (2 per skewer)
Method
1. Use wooden skewers and thread the fruit onto the skewer in this order to make a rainbow pattern:
Raspberry
Strawberry
tangerine segment
cube of peeled mango
chunk of peeled pineapple
chunk of peeled kiwi
1 green and 1 red grape
2 blueberries
Fro-Yo Berry Granola Bites
These cute and delicious bites are so simple to create and again give you the
opportunity to change the recipe simply by using what fruit you have in the kitchen.
Ingredients
Yoghurt
Granola
Handful of raspberries
Handful of fresh blueberries
Method
Sprinkle granola into approximately 10-12 cupcake cases on a small baking tray. (If you don’t have cupcake cases then you can use ice cube trays.)
Dollop the yoghurt on top go the granola to almost fill.
Place a few pieces of fruit into each cup, pressing them down into the yoghurt with the tip of your finger.
Put the baking tray into the freezer and leave to freeze for a couple of hours.
Once frozen through, remove from the cases and serve.
You can bag up the bites and put them straight back into the freezer, ready for another time.
Any cereal or yoghurt will do, you can have fun with different types of cereal and yoghurt to create many different Fro-Yo Bites!
Food Art
A fun and simple way to bring a smile to snack times is by creating your own food art.
Adults and children alike cannot help but smile at these cute and funny creations that look and taste great!
Enjoy creating and munching at home everyone!
For some educational ideas in the kitchen visit our ‘Benefits of Cooking with Children’ post.