American

The perfect after-school-mid-morning-could-be-breakfast treat

Vegetarian

Low Carb

Snack

Dessert

Baking

One of the great things about this recipe is that 100% of the sweetness comes from the dates—the dough itself is unsweetened—and you really don’t miss the sugar at all. This recipe makes a fairly big batch, and though it can easily be halved for more modest proportions, we recommend going big and freezing half the batch so you can throw a frozen square into a snack box whenever the need arises. They’re good right out of the freezer, thawed, warm, or three days old. If you want to experiment with the jammy filling—or don’t have quite enough dates on hand—these are great with fresh raspberries folded into the dates, or with a nice tart jam layered over, folded into or used instead of the date purée if you’re in a pinch (raspberry, plum, or apricot jams would all be good contenders). Huge thanks to 

Oat-y Date Bars

Dairy-Free

Vegan

Roasting

Herby Roasted Nuts

Nut-Free

We’ve tasted good kale chips in our day, but what makes these special is what’s on them: a mix of olive oil, a tiny bit of honey, some of the hulled hemp whose virtues we extol on a near-weekly basis, ground pumpkin seeds, and umami-incarnate: nutritional yeast. Kale chips are generally satisfyingly crunchy and salty, but beyond the merits of the kale itself, don’t have a lot going on. Which is why we came up with a way to pack some extra goodness into the mix. They’re nutty (without containing nuts), they’re cheesy (without containing cheese), and they’re very, very addictive.

Crispy Crunchy (Protein!) Kale Chips

Breakfast

We’ve been working on a recipe for savory granola bars for a WHILE. It’s a tough nut to crack. For starters, the texture we associate with granola bars generally requires a lot of sweetener, which is, well, not all that compatible with savory flavors. So, after making several “blah” versions omitting syrups of any kind, we threw in the towel and added some honey. And whaddya know? A little bit of sweetness was the answer when it came to both flavor and texture. But the honey is just one of the—admittedly unexpected—combination of flavors that makes these work. Black olives, lime zest, tahini, miso, nori, AND chickpeas, you ask? YES! Try it! Umami deliciousness!!! And, with the addition of egg whites, beans and nuts, the result is protein-dense and super satisfying.

Savory Chewy Granola Bars

Side

No-cook

“Energy Bars”— an absurd category, really, since all food is energy. But, for the sake of simplicity, that’s what we’re calling these delicious, orange-scented pistachio-date bars. After all, in texture (if not in flavor) they closely resemble the sort of packaged things you might buy on the go when you need quick, convenient sustenance. And, because they’re loaded with good fats, low-glycemic fruit sugars, and lots of protein and fiber, they really will sustain you and your kiddos when you most need sustenance. Oh, and did we mention they’re OUTRAGEOUSLY DELICIOUS???! We don’t even know why, exactly, they just are!

The Best Energy Bar

The other day, Fanny’s husband spread some of this ‘Magic Butter’ mix onto toast without realizing it wasn’t just plain old peanut butter (she’d used the peanut butter jar to mix it up). From the bedroom, Fanny heard an enthusiastic, “Babe! You’ve gotta try this bread! It’s amazing!” And, lo, he did soon discover that the bread in question was indeed unremarkable—the butter deserved all the credit. There’s something about the way these three nut/seed butters play off each other, with an infusion of vanilla and warm cinnamon spice, that makes this mix taste particularly heavenly.

Of course, you don’t need to use all three—any one alone will still do the trick—but if you already have them in your pantry, or feel like giving this spread a whirl, it’s special!

Magic Butter Stuffed Dates

Crackers make great snacks! They’re endlessly adaptable, can lean either savory or sweet, and can pack a punch when it comes to flavor and nutrition. So, we’ve assembled some of our favorite crackers and some ideas for some delicious and wholesome spreadable toppings below.

We made an effort to offer a range of choices price-wise, but we understand that some of the above cracker suggestions are expensive—especially considering the volume of snacks our children consume over the course of a week. If you’re feeling a bit more ambitious or have a little extra time on your hands, homemade crackers are a great and cost-effective project. You could try our addictively crunchy 

 or you could try this very simple recipe.

Whole Wheat Caraway Crackers

Afternoon Snacks

Peruvian

Mexican

Chinese

Thai

Israeli

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Hainanese

Turkish

Cuban

Russian

British

Fusion

Korean

African

Jewish

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Caribbean

French

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Greek

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Baked good

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Wrap

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Food processor

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Instant Pot

Sheet pan

Air fryer

Cast-iron skillet

Microwave

Crock pot

Steaming

Frying

large handfuls

large handful

servings

serving

pieces

piece

chopstick-fuls

chopstick-ful

20-oz cans

20-oz can

cubes

cube

28-oz cans

28-oz can

pints

pint

bars

handfuls

handful

ears

tins

cobs

sheets

sheet

to taste

sprinkles

sprinkle

leaves

leaf

cups

dollops

dollop

bags

pouches

pouch

large bunches

large bunch

blocks

block

lemons

lemon

quarts

quart

packed cups

packed cup

large

whole

bulbs

bulb

medium

small

bowls

bowl

15-oz cans

15-oz can

cloves

clove

ribs

boxes

discs

disc

squeezes

squeeze

packages

package

a few

large sheets

large sheet

12-oz cans

12-oz can

knobs

knob

sprigs

sprig

pinches

pinch

1-inch pieces

1-inch piece

7-oz cans

7-oz can

dashes

dash

cans

inch pieces

inch piece

stalks

stalk