I’m in total denial about summer winding down. Gulp. You too? Many of you have been writing me asking about healthy, on-the-go snack recipes for back to school, work, or simply a busier season ahead. Even if I can’t get behind summer drawing to a close, I can definitely get behind whipping up some snack recipes to have on hand. I put together this round-up of 18 favourites from granola bars to energizing grain-free crackers and everything in between. I plan on stocking the freezer as soon our kitchen is back in order.
All of the recipes below are vegan and gluten-free (most are soy-free too), and the majority can be made peanut or completely nut-free to make them school-friendly – be sure to see my allergy info/notes/substitution suggestions for each! I’m a big fan of recipes that can be customized many different ways. I hope this post helps you discover a few goodies to ring in the upcoming season!
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to check out my post on 21 Vegan Freezer-Friendly Meals.
1. Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars
Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, soy-free
Hearty, chewy, and crunchy, these wholesome granola bars will fill up the tank and keep your energy stable.
Make it nut-free: Swap the almonds and walnuts for more sunflower, pepita, and hemp seeds.
2. Soft + Chewy Baked Granola Bars
Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free
Dense, chewy, soft, doughy, seedy, hearty, protein-and-fibre-packed granola bars, sweetened naturally with dates! Try them spread with nut or seed butter for a fun treat or just enjoy them plain. Adapted from my Super Power Chia Bread.
3. Banana Bread Muffin Tops
Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free
My favourite way to use up ripe bananas! Ultra dense and chewy, these banana bread muffin tops make a great running-out-the-door breakfast or snack. Sweetened with banana and dates, there are no added sugars if you swap the chocolate chips for walnuts. Try them warm served with a pat of vegan butter, nut/seed butter, or coconut oil.
4. Pumpkin Gingerbread Snack Bars
Vegan, gluten-free, soy-free
These lightly sweet pumpkin gingerbread snack bars are dense, chewy, and filling! Try them topped with my creamy cashew butter maple cinnamon glaze, or enjoy them plain or spread with pumpkin butter.
Make it nut-free: Omit the cashew butter glaze or swap it for a simple icing sugar glaze.
5. Quick ‘n Easy No-Bake Protein Bars
Vegan, gluten-free, no bake/raw
These no-bake bars are thrown together in minutes and make the perfect snack to store in the freezer for a quick burst of energy. I used an unsweetened/unflavoured protein powder, so if you are using a sweetened protein powder, you will likely have to reduce the liquid sweetener (and make up for the lack of liquid by adding some non-dairy milk). Play around with it if necessary and aim for a cookie dough texture. You can also roll the dough into balls and add in chocolate chips if you don’t wish to make them into bar form.
Make it nut-free: Swap the nut butter for sunflower seed butter.
6. No-Bake Almond Joy Granola Bars
Vegan, gluten-free, no bake/raw, refined sugar-free
Easy no-bake granola bars inspired by the popular Almond Joy Chocolate bar flavour. Roasted almond butter, mini chocolate chips, and coconut unite to create one tasty bar that’s whipped up in 10 minutes (no oven required!).
Make it nut-free: Swap the almond butter for sunflower seed butter and swap the almonds for sunflower seeds.
7. Super Seed Chocolate Protein Bites
Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free, no bake/raw
A totally nut-free and refined sugar-free chocolate protein bite! Ready in minutes.
8. Almost Instant Chocolate Chia Pudding
Vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, no bake/raw, oil-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free
This chocolate chia pudding is decadent-tasting yet healthy at the same time. Packed with protein, fibre, and omega-3 fatty acids this is a pudding you can feel good about! When blended with the almond milk ice cubes it’s a treat you can enjoy immediately without waiting for it to chill. The texture is a cross between a smoothie and a pudding. It will thicken up even more if you put it in the fridge for a few hours. I recommend using a high-speed blender for best results since the dates, chia seeds, and ice cubes are challenging to blend super smooth.
Make it nut-free: Swap the almond milk and almond milk ice cubes for a nut-free non-dairy milk of your choice (coconut milk would be nice).
9. Super Power Chia Bread
Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, nut-free, soy-free
Thick, hearty, and dense – this isn’t your average slice of bread! Packed with 9 grams of protein and over 7 grams of fibre per slice, this bread will keep you going for hours.
10. Endurance Crackers
Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, nut-free, soy-free, sugar-free
These Endurance Crackers are extremely light and crispy while providing long-lasting energy. Feel free to change up the seasonings and spices as you wish. See why they are one of the most popular snack recipes on the blog!
11. Vanilla Cinnamon Buckwheat Crispies
Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, raw, soy-free
Inspired by One Lucky Duck. Enjoy it as a raw cereal with homemade almond milk or just eat it by the handful.
12. On The Glow Basic Oatmeal Squares
Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free
Think of this oatmeal square as basic baked oatmeal that can be dressed up any way you like. Each large square contains a tablespoon of flax and a teaspoon of chia seeds as well as 7 grams of fibre and 6 grams of protein. Feel free to add in nuts, dried fruit, chocolate, and other mix-ins as you desire.
Make it nut-free: Swap the almond milk for a nut-free non-dairy milk (such as coconut milk) and swap the nut butter for sunflower seed butter.
13. Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats
Vegan, gluten-free, no bake
Addictive rice crisp treats – no marshmallows required!
Make it nut-free: Swap the almond butter for sunflower seed butter.
14. Roasted Spiced Chickpeas
Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, sugar-free, soy-free
Chickpeas roasted until crunchy in a garlic, cumin, ginger, chili, and turmeric spice mix. Once you pop, you can’t stop!
15. Salt and Vinegar Roasted Chickpeas
Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, sugar-free, soy-free
Inspired by my all time favourite chip flavour – salt and vinegar! The secret is infusing the chickpeas in vinegar before baking. You won’t believe how authentic the flavour is.
16. All-Dressed Kale Chips (plus my 6 secrets to flawless kale chips!)
Vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free
Crispy and chewy kale chips baked in the oven and seasoned to perfection. Enjoy these as a healthy alternative to potato chips. See why this recipe has a 5-star rating!
17. Out-the-Door Chia Power Doughnuts
(recipe found in The Oh She Glows Cookbook, p. 41)
Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, oil-free, soy-free, refined sugar-free
This recipe is proof that not all doughnuts have to be the unhealthy kind! Packed with antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and fibre, these baked doughnuts will have you feeling ready to conquer your day.
18. Present Glo Bar
(recipe found in The Oh She Glows Cookbook, p. 217)
Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, soy-free, refined sugar-free
While you can’t bring this to school as it is not nut-free, this is the perfect bar to come home to. Filled with cinnamon, dried cranberries, pepita seeds, and toasted pecans, this granola bar gets me excited about the fall season. Ready in 20 minutes, no oven required.
Allergy-Friendly Reminder
Before packing any of these snacks for school, please double-check your school’s allergy and food policies to ensure they’re permitted in the classroom. Every school has different guidelines, and your care helps keep all kids safe and included.
Great round up! There were some that I forgot about that I need to put on my “to make” list!
I’m glad summer is ending only because I teach college classes and LOVE starting a new term! And marathon training in the Florida heat is horrific. Can’t wait to try out some of these after-school snacks for myself!
Great post! I will be referencing it frequently as my daughter’s school requires me to send 2 snacks a day. I think it’s kind of crazy, but that’s another story. I’m at least glad I get to pick the snack she eats! :)
I think it’s great that you can use snacks for an awesome list like this for your daughter instead of school just giving them goldfish crackers, pretzels and teddy grahams without your knowledge. When my kids get these type of “snacks” (um, more like desserts, right), they just don’t eat lunch!!! My take?!? that they only need so many calories in a day so they no longer need lunch. But fill up on essentially, junk food! bleh.
Is it a private school? The public school my kid attends does not allow homemade snacks of any kind in the classroom. Any food they eat in the classroom has to come in a sealed tamper-evident container with an ingredient list. They gave “food allergies” as the reason for this ridiculous rule.
Younger children who have snack time in the classroom as part of their every day routine have snacks provided by the school, to be fair to the lower income kids.
I generally don’t comment back, but feel the need to here. As a mother of a child with severe allergies, that rule is not ridiculous. One person accidentally getting peanut in the snack they send can mean life or death for some children. If it is important to you that your child not eat what they provide, ask that they not give the provided snack to your child. And you would be surprised what all foods are labeled “May contain peanuts”. Pretty much all raw nuts are processed with peanuts. Even though she can technically have almonds, I can’t find any that aren’t processed in the same facility as peanuts, therefor she cannot have them. I know on your side it seems “ridiculous” or annoying, but if it was your child whose life depended on knowing what was not being consumed, you’d be thankful for those rules. You can’t imagine how terrifying it is just to send your child to school not knowing who is going to touch her after eating a peanut butter sandwich and you have to rely on teachers to make the right call and properly use the epipen.
So many great ideas here. Thanks for putting this all together!
What a great reminder of all of the gems you’ve got on here! If only I had enough time to make them all…
As much as I’m sad to see another summer go, I am looking forward to fall. I’m ready to see the leaves turn and curl up in cozy sweaters. Plus, it will be a very exciting time for you! I can’t wait to see that precious baby girl.
Thanks Sarah :)
Fabulous resource! Thank you!
This is perfect! Thanks! Although another great sub for nut butters is coconut butter. I use that all of the time since not only is my son allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, but he has anaphylaxis to sunflower too *sigh*
I wouldn’t have thought coconut butter would be “sticky” enough – good to know you’ve had success with it! I can imagine how challenging it is!
I warm the coconut butter so that it is liquid and much easier to work with as I make a recipe. I find that once it cools, it adds more structure to the finished product and sets better than if I had used a nut butter. It’s been a very good discovery in our house! Good luck with the impending arrival of your little baby!
These look fab! Can’t wait to make them for school!
Oh my, this is so great! I am like allergic to everything you can eat, but these snacks are perfect! Thank you so much, last school year starts in two weeks and I think I will need a lot of vegan energy! XOXO
maedchenvommeer.blogspot.de
Love the recipes, I’m all about healthy snacks atm
Ok, I want ALL of these, Ange! :) Christina and I were just talking when we were in Vancouver about your donuts that I still haven’t tried, but likely make them this weekend because Christina tells me they’re fabulous (and I have no doubt that they are!) I’m definitely not going back to school in any way and am not ready to say goodbye to summer but this time of year always makes me feel in the mood to re-organize a bit. You’ve given me plenty of ideas to fuel my cleaning sprees! :)
And suddenly, I’m craving a homemade granola bar! And I’m not even going back to school! :)
Any of these freeze well? I’m thinking major batch cooking & freezing to take care of snacks for a month!
Hi Jacqui,
I would guess that almost everything will freeze well except for maybe the chia pudding (havent tried it, but maybe it does) and kale chips. You can even freeze the roasted chickpeas (after cooling) and pop them back in the oven to reheat!
So many great recipes here! I’ve already made lots of them, but there are a few gems here I still want to try soon.
As much as I don’t want summer to end, I always look forward to the fall around this time of year. Fall farmers markets, county fairs, fall hikes, and of course comfort food… there are so many things to look forward to!
Perfect timing! My clients are asking for snack recipes and now I can just give them the link to your blog!! I can’t wait to make them myself :) Thanks Angela!
Thank you Angela. I feel some batch cooking is in order. I think I may just go down the list and make everything. Yum!!!!
WHOA! Everything looks super-amazing! I can’t wait to make some of these for my school snack!!! And, best wishes for you and the baby!! :)
Wow there isn’t one of these I wouldn’t make – yummy!
georginamarmoy.blogspot.com
Thank you for this post! My daughter (18) was just asking me if we could make her several healthy snacks to freeze. (From our oh she glows cookbook) She is vegan and wants to be prepared for her senior year! This is perfect!
I’ve been doing a lot of homemade crackers lately, will have to give some of yours a try! Those endurance crackers do sound amazing!