I was sitting at dancing with a fellow dance-mum the other week, and we were idly scrolling through facebook and chatting (as you do) and we both kept seeing posts for snack balls in our feed. We both wondered out loud if they tasted as good as they looked, if they were easy to make, and most importantly – would our kids eat them?
We each have different dietary requirements – her family is gluten free (among other things) and we are peanut free (and a few other nuts) – but there seemed like lots of health-ish snack ball options out there, so I promised I’d put together a list and share it here so we could give them a go.
I’ve trawled through my favourite recipe blogs, and scrolled through facebook, and searched on pinterest and I’ve come up with 15 kid-friendly healthy-ish snack ball recipes to try.
15 Kid-friendly Snack Balls
Granola Bar Bites from Mother’s Niche – gluten free if using gluten free oats
Apricot and Oat Balls from Be a Fun Mum – nut free, gluten free if using gluten free oats.
Healthy Bites Toddlers can Make from Laughing Kids Learn – nut free, gluten free if using gluten free oats.
Homemade Energy Balls from Real Life at Home – gluten free if using gluten free oats
Lemon Coconut Bliss Balls from Kidgredients – nut free, gluten free.
Coconut Orange Date Balls from Sensual Appeal – gluten free
Chocolate Almond Date Balls from Something Swanky – gluten free, peanut free.
No-bake Carrot Snack Balls from Kids Activity Blog – gluten free, potentially nut free
Spiced Fig Energy Balls from Super Healthy Kids – peanut free
Date and Coconut Balls from Childhood101 – gluten free, nut free.
Trail Mix Energy Bites from Give Me Some Oven
Apricot Coconut and Muesli Balls from The Organised Housewife.
Caramel Apple Balls from The NY Melrose Family – nut free, gluten free if you use gluten free oats
Banana Oat Balls from Planning With Kids – nut free, gluten free if you use gluten free oats.
Pumpkin Spice Energy Bites from Eats Amazing – gluten free, peanut free.
Have you tried a snack ball recipe?
What did you think? Do you have a favourite?
Now that you’ve got snack sorted…
What’s for dinner? And what about dessert?
Check out our 25 Budget Friendly Family Dinner ideas here.
And get the kids to help you make this easy apple crumble for dessert.
Thanks so much for including our homemade energy balls! I’ll be sure to pin your post! :)
http://naturalnewagemum.com/amaze-balls-ten-amazing-bliss-ball-recipes/
https://wholefoodsimply.com/nut-free-bliss-ballls/
Mmm, yum! I tried Be a Fun Mum’s lemon cake balls and they are good! Can’t wait to give all of these a try too. Pinned! :)
Thanks for sharing our fig balls! We love them.
Thanks so much for sharing our Caramel Apple Energy Balls.
thanks so much for your great recipe and a fabulous blog! :)
What a fab round up and thanks for including my banana and oat balls!
My children 3,5 and 8 love snack balls and have been including them in lunchboxes for a few years. I have tried out a few recipes but our go to ones are these bliss balls http://littlewildmoose.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/chocolate-coconut-bliss-balls-recipe.html – gluten free, dairy free, nut free and vegan! and we also like these http://onehandedcooks.com.au/recipe/reindeer-poop-gift-tag-printable/#DkgMwV15syl68gex.97 – originally called ‘reindeer poo’ but we call them fruit balls.
Thanks Kate for expanding our horizons!
Also these fab cocoa orange ones – sugar-free among other things:
http://soakinguplife.blogspot.co.nz/2013/08/orange-cocoa-balls.html
These are so great for snacks! Pinning this.
i love that these recipes are grouped like this, in the same category, several choices !
Was only having coffee with a friend yesterday and we were talking about healthy snack balls.
Here’s another for your next compilation :) http://www.naturopathicbynature.com/spirulina-energy-balls-gluten-free-dairy-free-vegan/
Hi, the recipes sound good but we must be care with the gluten free fad. Unless you have been diagnosed with coeliac disease then gluten free products are the way to go. This isn’t suitable for kids as it contains more sugar cos gluten isn’t added to the dish… Children need fibre unless they have been diagnosed by a specialist with the illness then yeah go ahead… Watch food unwrapped on c4OD on this misconception on gluten free products
If you read the introduction to my post you would know that the reason I compiled this list, and noted which options were gluten free, was for a friend who’s family is gluten free, not just because of a ‘fad’. And you might also like to check the actual recipes before you talk about sugar and fibre as most of these recipes have no refined sugar at all and more fibre from various healthy sources such as fruit, oats, seeds and nuts.
It’s understood by now that your advice is normally the suggestion you get from webMD or a doc. I have at least a gluten sensitivity and I know by not eating gluten, or avoiding it as much as I can, I feel better. I wasn’t tested and will not wait to go the doc to be told to eat gluten for several weeks and come back and get tested. That would mean I would have to get myself back to feeling horrible. This runs in my family, As my mother feels so much better removing gluten, she has been tested for Celiac disease, which was negative. The accuracy of the test is questionable. It’s great you make your suggestion wanting what’s best for kids, but this not being suitable for kids? That just doesn’t make sense. Id much rather my child eat these for a snack than sugary milk and chocolate milk that does nothing for the bones (as it falsely advertised), high fructose corn syrup snacks, sodas, fried foods as well as fake cheese and unhealthy processed meats. If my child eats grass fed beef and a veggie for dinner, that’s naturally gluten free too. I don’t know. I’m sure you meant well, but compared to the standard American unhealthy processed diet, these are a very attractive and sensible snack in my book!
I have tried the Energy Balls. They are delicious. Plan on trying some of the others now. Even my 7 year old daughter loves them.
Thank you! I have a daughter who is allergic to tree nuts, coconut & gluten sensitive. She is not coeliac but gets migraines/vomiting when she eats gluten. It is so frustrating when people assume we are restricting her diet unnecessarily without the coeliac diagnosis. It is also hard to find appropriate snacks that are not high in sugar. Can you recommend a good brand of GF oats??
Wow that must be really tough to deal with that combination of food issues!
I’m sorry I don’t know much about gluten free oats, except that some claim to be gluten free and others don’t. I think that actually just means they are ‘wheat free’ because they are not processed on machinery that also process wheat products, but as far as I understand oats have their own kind of gluten in them, it just depends whether you react to that or not…. but I am far from an expert!
Thank you so much! Love all these recipes! My 6-year-old daughter and I tried two recipes yesterday and today. We are going to do more. They are easy, yummy and healthy!
Wow. Some of those combinations look amazing!
This is the recipe I have been using for snack balls (totally delicious).
http://www.myfamilymeals.com.au/healthy-snack-balls/
They are super rich so you need to make the calls quite small.
I have frozen half of the last batch – not sure if they will work out OK but I’ll let you know.
Emma
This page is very informative about GF oats
http://www.glutenfreeda.com/glutenfreeda-standards/truth-about-oats/
Oh thanks for the link that is super helpful!
These look great! I think my whole family would enjoy them. :)