26 After-School Snack Recipes Your Kids Will Love (2024)

Taryn Pire

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Kristin Teig/Mostly Veggies

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, make ahead, beginner-friendly

Sun-dried tomatoes, nutritional yeast and a flurry of Italian seasonings and dried herbs make this pizza-inspired snack delectably savory. The recipe calls for cashews, almonds and walnuts, but use whatever nuts the kids will actually eat.

Andrew Bui/Let's Eat

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly

Give last night's noodles new life with the help of a few protein-packed eggs (and a whole lot of Parmesan cheese). Spaghetti, fettuccine and bucatini are recommended, but you can use leftover penne, elbows or ziti instead in a pinch.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, one pan

This one-pan gem can be snacked on solo, served over yogurt or doused in milk. The kids will love the granola's cinnamony, slightly sweet flavor and irresistible crunch.

Katherine Gillen

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, make ahead, special occasion-worthy, <10 ingredients

You're only six ingredients away from an edible party. A slathering of melted white chocolate and rainbow sprinkles elevate this timeless treat without too much extra work on your part. Plus, they can be made ahead with ease.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

• Time Commitment: 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

When in doubt, this cheesy, buttery delight always hits the spot—even as an after-school snack. The macaroni cooks in the microwave in mere minutes, so you won't need to wait forever for a pot of water to boil.

Taryn Pire

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients

Salty, creamy, crispy: This snack checks all your picky eaters' boxes. Start the bacon in a cold skillet to render as much fat out as possible; this will get you supremely crunchy results. Alternatively, you can candy the bacon in a bit of brown sugar and maple syrup.

Peden + Munk/More Is More

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy

This after-school snack recipe may be a bit time-consuming, but we promise it'll be worth the extra work. Your kids are guaranteed to gobble up these tender mashed potato fritters. Skip the olives if they won't eat them (but not the mozzarella).

Christine Han/Big Bites

• Time Commitment: 5 minutes (plus chilling)
• Why We Love It: make ahead, beginner-friendly, vegan

Minimize your stress by prepping their after-school snack the night before. All you have to do here is whisk the ingredients together, put the mixture in a mason jar and refrigerate it overnight. The next day, the kids can top the oats with fresh berries and dig in.

Katherine Gillen

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Are your kids into pickles? If so, they'll love this mouth-puckering, tangy snack mix that's equal parts vinegary, buttery, cheesy and herbaceous. Bonus: It can be stored in an airtight container for about a week.

Alanna Hale/JoyFull

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly

Medjool dates make this after-school snack recipe just sweet enough without piling on the refined sugar. As for toppings, take your pick of almond butter, pumpkin seeds, almonds, rose petals, date syrup and cinnamon.

Yossy Arefi/Snacking Bakes

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

Malted milk powder transforms ordinary sugar cookies into nutty, toasty masterpieces. If your kids are into fruit, add crushed, freeze-dried berries to the dough for a photo-worthy twist.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, <10 ingredients

The store-bought kind is shaking in its boots. Theseflaky little bites take about half an hour to make andcan be keptin the pantry all week. Need we say more?

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

• Time Commitment: 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, <30 minutes

Hummus is always a fantastic afternoon snack, but we predict that kids will devour this sweet potato version that’s works with both sweet and savory dippers. All you need is a food processor or blender to pull it off.

The Clean Plate

• Time Commitment: 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, no cook

Cauliflower makes thisbeautifullyhued smoothie as creamy as a milkshake (and they’ll have no idea they’re actually drinking something nutritious). Best of all, you won't have to turn on the oven or stove to make them an after-school snack.

Photo: Nico Schinco/Styling: Erin McDowell

• Time Commitment: 1 hour and 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, beginner-friendly

OK, this after-school snack recipe calls for a lot of chocolate. (We're talking cocoa powder, cocoa nibs and chopped dark chocolate.) But if the alternative is a bowl of store-bought kids’ cereal, this lower-sugar version is a fabulous option.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: high protein, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly

Breakfast food in the afternoon is always a treat, and these dumplings are extra fun because they come with two savory dipping sauces. Keep a batch stashed in the freezer, then pop themintothe microwave or toaster oven to reheat as needed.

Cookie and Kate

• Time Commitment: 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, <30 minutes, <10 ingredients

The microwave stuff has nothing on stovetop popcorn. Not only is it cool to watch (and hear) it pop, but you can season it with whatever your kids love. (We're partial to butter, garlic powder and freshly ground black pepper.)

The Pig and Quill

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, gluten free, beginner-friendly

Psst: These unhealthy-looking little guys are actually packed with fruit. Not only do bananas lend natural sweetness to every bite, but they also make the muffins incredibly moist. Almond and oat flours keep the after-school snack recipe gluten free.

Sweet Peas and Saffron

• Time Commitment: 2 hours and 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: gluten free, make ahead, beginner-friendly

Believe it or not, absolutely no baking is required to make these sweet granola bars. However, they will need to chill in the fridge for at least two hours before being sliced, so make them on a lazy Sunday to serve the kids throughout the week.

The Butter Half

• Time Commitment: 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, <30 minutes

There’s nothing even remotely unhealthy in this “dessert,” and it comes together in less than five minutes. Freeze the Greek yogurt before scooping it onto the bananas to make it more reminiscent of ice cream.

The Almond Eater

• Time Commitment: 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly

Ditch the squeeze pouches for this fun-to-eat after-school snack recipe.If your kid would prefer a silky-smooth texture, microwave the almond butter for about 30 seconds before adding the rest of the ingredients.

The Creative Bite

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

Leave it to store-bought ranch seasoning to make the most lip-smackingly delicious snack mix of all time. A mix of Chex cereals, nuts, pretzels and cheese crackers gets coated in butter and dusted with ranch seasoning and Parmesan cheese for good measure.

Photo: Liz Andrew/STYLING: Erin McDowell

• Time Commitment: 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser, no cook

Remember Dunkaroos? Your kids won’t—they’ll just think you’re a genius. To make theraw flourin the cake mix safe to eat, microwave the mix on high in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until an instant-read thermometer reaches 165°F throughout.

Lauren Volo/At My Italian Table

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, special occasion-worthy

This hot chocolate is so thick that you need to eat it with a spoon instead of drinking it. However, you can omit the cornstarch if you want to keep it in liquid form. You can also sub semisweet or milk chocolate for bittersweet to make the dessert more kid-friendly.

Darn Good Veggies

• Time Commitment: 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly

Avocado salad gets an even healthier upgrade with theaddition of crushed edamame. Serve it over toast, in lettuce cups or with chips for dipping. (And nix the wasabi paste and grated ginger if your kid isn't a fan of spicy foods.)

Gimme Some Oven

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, kid-friendly, make ahead

When it comes to after-school snack recipes, this is one that everyone can agree on. Keep this easy cookie dough pre-rolled in the freezer, then whip it out whenever you want to feel like the best parent in the universe.

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Freelance PureWow Editor

Food Editor

Taryn Pire is PureWow’s food editor and has been writing about all things delicious since 2016. She’s developed recipes, reviewed restaurants and investigated food trends at...