I hear you. With so many food allergies out there, it’s difficult finding delicious and healthy snacks to pack in your child’s lunch box. While there are more allergen safe products on the market in recent years, most store-bought granola bars and allergen free snacks focus on being free of peanut and tree nuts. And those products are often loaded with unnecessary ingredients.
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Due to our family’s host of allergies and sensitivities, we developed a homemade snack bar that is free from peanuts and tree nuts as well as being egg free, dairy free and gluten free. That way everyone can enjoy the sweetness.
Unlike a traditional homemade granola bar, these snack bars use rice cereal instead of quick oats or other whole grains. This gives them the consistency of a crispy and chewy rice crispy square but with more wholesome ingredients like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and currants.
New Shape, Same Great Taste
For years when I made this recipe, I pressed them into a glass baking dish and then cut them into rectangular bars. While they are fine this way and more like a traditional granola bar, they relaxed a bit too much when brought to room temperature. And a little too sticky for my liking. Forming them into bite-sized balls and rolling in sesame seeds solved this problem. And so they have been rebranded to “Vegan Snack Bites”.
No Bake Recipe
Oh, and you don’t have to bake them. You just combine the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, form into tablespoon sized balls and refrigerate. Super easy. My six year old son came home from school while I was in the middle of a photoshoot and said “Oh wow Mom. You made meatballs!!” Can you tell that I don’t bake much? I am getting better though and trying new recipes all the time. These snack bites are so easy to make that the non-baker in you will rejoice.
Perfect Camping Snack
It’s so easy that I often make it when camping. No need for an oven. And you don’t need any special equipment. Just mix up the ingredients in a bowl and pop the mixture into a cooler. After about an hour, take it out and form into bite sized balls. Roll in sesame seeds and pop into a freezer bag and let it hang out in the cooler until you’re ready to snack. No fuss, no muss. And super delicious.
Allergy Friendly Pantry Staples
Being an allergy mom, there are some staple ingredients that I use all the time and make sure to always stock in our pantry. SunButter is a sunflower seed butter that can be used as a substitute for any nut butter. It is creamy and nutty-tasting. I use it in all kinds of cookies, sauces and granolas.
We have no tree nut allergies in our family and can get away with using almond butter. As long as it’s made in a peanut free facility like this smooth butter made by Barney. The problem with using almond butter in our snacks is remembering that it cannot be taken to school as our son has a nut-free classroom. Using SunButter instead gives me peace of mind that I’m not going to cause an allergic reaction in one of his little friends.
We love Enjoy Life dairy free chocolate chips. Enjoy Life products are free from gluten and 14 common food allergens. I used the mini semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe. They are the perfect size for the bites. I always make sure that I have a variety of their products on hand in our pantry just in case the baking mood hits.
Top Eight Allergens
These snack bites are rolled in sesame seeds to give it another crunchy texture and nutty-flavour. It also helps them not stick to your fingers so much when you’re eating them. A word of caution though, sesame seeds are one of the eight most common food allergens. Make sure there are no sesame allergies in your child’s school before packing it in their lunch box.
If you want to cover all your bases and make this snack to be top-eight allergen free, substitute the sesame seeds for coconut. It gives the bites a different taste but the coconut helps cut down on the stickiness. And you’ll have peace of mind that they are allergen-safe.
Carefully Reading Ingredient Labels
Rice cereal is the main grain of these snack bites. I made the rookie mistake once of using regular Rice Krispies cereal. I foolishly thought that because it was made with rice, it was naturally gluten free. Wrong. This is why reading food labels is so important. Listed on the box’s ingredient list is “barley malt”. It was a few days into a flare up before I realized my mistake. Now I make sure to order the gluten free brown Rice Krispies online as my local grocery store has yet to stock them.
These bites are chewy and delicious and the perfect afternoon snack to go with a cup of tea. They keep really well refrigerated in an airtight container for a few days. I’m sure it could be longer but honestly, they only last at the most two days in our house! You can also pop them in a freezer bag and hide them in the depths of your freezer to pull out for future sweet cravings.
Best Nut Free Gluten Free Vegan Snack Bites (Easy, No-Bake)
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten free rice cereal
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds chopped
- 1/2 cup currants
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips dairy free
- 2 tbsp sunflower butter SunButter
- 1 tbs maple syrup
- 1 tbs molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup brown rice syrup
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
Instructions
Prepare Dry Ingredients
- Measure the pumpkin seeds. Chop up the seeds using a sharp knife and cutting board. Alternatively, you can use a food processor and just give it a quick pulse to break the seeds down to crumbles.
- Measure out the remaining dry ingredients and add to a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
Prepare Wet Ingredients
- Measure remaining wet ingredients.
- In a second bowl, combine the wet ingredients: sunflower butter, maple syrup, molasses and vanilla extract. Stir to fully incorporate.
- Add the brown rice syrup and mix thoroughly.
Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients
- Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Use a rubber spatula to scrape out the sticky mixture and stir to combine thoroughly.
Chill
- Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for an hour to allow the mixture to set. This will make it easier to form into balls.
Rolling the Bites
- Grease hands with vegan margarine or coconut oil to prevent the mixture from sticking. I prefer to wear nitrile kitchen gloves for this step.
- Create a bite-sized ball by pressing and forming the mixture with your hands. The mixture should make approximately 20 bites.
- Roll the ball in sesame seeds until coated.
- Repeat until all mixture is used.
Keep Cool
- They are ready to eat right away but if left out in heat, the bites may become a little soft. Store them in an airtight container and place back into the refrigerator or cooler.
