Nut Free Snacks For Kids have become an absolute necessity. Peanut allergy and tree nut allergy are two of the 8 most common childhood food allergens. If you have a child with one of these allergies you will of course avoid using either peanuts, tree nuts or both.
Because of the relative common incidence of peanut allergies and tree nut allergies many facilities such schools and day cares have nut-free food policies to keep children safe. This means no more peanut butter sandwiches and that most parents will need a collection of Nut Free Snacks for lunchboxes.
Nutritional Alternatives to Nuts
Nuts are healthy energy dense snacks that provide healthy fats, protein and fibre. Which is why they are so popular as snacks.
This is where ingredients such as seeds can step in to fill this nutritional gap. These ingredients have similar nutritional profiles to nuts.
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds, pumpkin kernels, pepitas
Chia seeds
Flaxseeds, Linseeds
Hemp hearts
Chickpeas, beans, pulses, and legumes
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Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower seeds are rich in unsaturated fats and protein, they are also a good source of Vitamin E.
They are mild in flavour and make an excellent and affordable alternative to nuts.
Sunbutter - Sunflower seed butter
Homemade sunflower seed butter is a great alternative to peanut butter. You can use it in a sandwich, on crackers or in any recipes that call for peanut butter. For example you can make nut free peanut butter oatmeal bars or nut free peanut butter rice krispie bars.
These honey roasted sunflower seeds are delicious and can easily be added to a lunchbox. They are also lovely sprinkled on bircher muesli or blueberry yoghurt in the morning.
If you have weetbix in the cupboard this slice made with simple ingredients including sunflower seeds is great for lunchboxes or al snack before after-school sports.
Punpkin seeds or pepitas are another great alternative to nuts. They contain unstaurated fats and are a source of protein. They are also rich in Magnesium and Phosphorus.
I often use them when I make pesto, but they are great for lunchbox snacks as well.
Roasted Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds)
Super simple these roasted pepitas are great in a lunch box, in homemade trail mix or sprinkled on salads.
Chia seeds are very small, but add protein, fibre, unsaturated fats and micronutrients such as calcium, magnesium and selenium to recipes they are used in.
Some recipes use not just one type of seed but ALL of the seeds. These recipes combine flax seeds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, chia, and sesame into seed loaded snacks.
Pumpkin Cranberry Flaxseed Crisps
With flaxseeds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds these crisps are lovely by themselves or with your favourite cheese.
These energy bars are loaded with the goodness of seeds and puffed rice, in the image you will spy almonds, but the recipe explains how to make these energy bars nut free with one quick substitution,
Really fab ideas here. Definitely going to give the seed butter a try. It looks yummy! x
Oh cool! My kids have been enjoying wraps with the seed butter and mashed banana this morning!
These look tasty! I have a little one off to kindergarten and it's a nut free school, so I'll be trying some of these for sure!
Brilliant! Good luck with the kindy transition!