Our Favorite A+ After-School Snacks

Food Network Kitchenâ  s Strawberry-Banana Cereal Treats for KIDS/THANKSGIVING/CAMP CUTTHROAT, as seen on Food Network.

FNK_StrawberryBananaCerealTreats_H

Food Network Kitchen’s Strawberry-Banana Cereal Treats for KIDS/THANKSGIVING/CAMP CUTTHROAT, as seen on Food Network.,Food Network Kitchen’s Strawberry-Banana Cereal Treats for KIDS/THANKSGIVING/CAMP CUTTHROAT, as seen on Food Network.

Photo by: Renee Comet ©2015, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Renee Comet, 2015, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

In that little slice of time that falls between school and soccer practice, ballet rehearsal or piano lessons, the odds are high that tummies will be rumbling. Banish hunger without resorting to anything that comes out of a vending machine with our go-to after-school snack picks.

Cereal may be breakfast fare, but transforming it into on-the-go Strawberry Banana Cereal Treats launches it into snack territory. These sweet and tangy cereal bars are loaded with freeze-dried strawberries and bananas, as well as whole-grain cereal and mini marshmallows.

Pumpkin Seed Dried Cherry Trail Mix; Claire Robinson

Pumpkin Seed Dried Cherry Trail Mix; Claire Robinson

Photo by: Tara Donne

Tara Donne

With a touch of sweetness from maple syrup, this top-rated Pumpkin Seed-Dried Cherry Trail Mix is a crunchy, wholesome snack full of seeds and fruit. Pack it up in plastic baggies so the kids can down it on the fly.

Ideal for kids’ lunchboxes or an after-school snack, Ina Garten’s fuss-free Homemade Granola Bars are made with oats and almonds, and they’re sweetened with coconut and dried fruit. Once you’ve made granola bars from scratch, you’ll probably never eat them out of a box again.

They may be called “cookies,” but these healthified Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies with Oats and Flax Seeds are a whole lot more natural than most. You’ll find no refined sugars here (they rely on honey and golden raisins instead), plus they’re loaded with oats, crunchy peanut butter, shredded coconut and flax seeds.

When snack time involves Trisha Yearwood’s easy-to-make Sweet and Saltines, you can bet that the kids will be racing home at the end of school. Give salty, crunchy crackers some love by drizzling a butter-brown sugar blend and chocolate over the top. Once you freeze ‘em up, these five-ingredient bites will become the most-addictive sweet-and-salty snack treats.

Bake bruised, mushy bananas into a homemade treat the kids will devour by the slice. With 500 reviews and a 5-star rating, Flour’s Famous Banana Bread is moist and tender, and will make slogging through math homework that much easier.

Photo by: Heather Ramsdell ©Food Network 2016

Heather Ramsdell, Food Network 2016

And if it’s dangerously close to dinnertime but your child’s also scary-close to a hunger meltdown, our fleet of mini insta-snacks can satisfying rumbling tummies just enough — without ruining their appetites for dinner.

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