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I challenged myself to see if I could make 1 month of snacks and lunchbox fillers within a couple of hours, ensuring a mix of sweet and savoury options, along with lots of healthy ingredients. As these are for school lunchboxes, they are all nut-free. I try in this video to double up recipes and split the batch in two, to save on time but to ensure we have a great variety of options and flavours.

Sweet Recipes

  • Mini Banana Muffins – 2 ways
  • Chewy Oaty Cookies – 2 ways
  • Cacao Energy Balls – 2 ways
  • Blueberry Crumble Bar
  • Mini Choc Chip Cookies

Savoury Recipes

  • Tomato & Olive Rolls 
  • Pesto, Butterbean & Olive Rolls
  • Sweet Potato Flatbreads
  • Cheese & Lentil Muffins – 2 ways 
  • Chicken & Stuffing Mini Loaves 

Chewy Choc Chip Cookies

I made one big base mix of these cookies and then split it up to create two different flavours. They’re oaty, chewy and really tasty – they also defrost really well. 

Ingredients:

  • 4 very ripe bananas
  • 240g oats
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp olive oil or melted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • Handful blueberries
  • Handful dark choc chips
  • Handful white choc chips

Method:

  1. Mash bananas.
  2. Stir everything together.
  3. Split into two bowls – in one add the dark choc chips, and in the other add the white choc chips and the blueberries. 
  4. Scoop onto a baking tray in small blobs and flatten slightly.
  5. Bake 170°C fan, 12–15 mins.

Banana, Sultana & Choc Chip Muffins

Using over-ripe bananas and dried fruits are a great natural sweetener for cakes, and these went down a treat! These are an absolute staple of our lunchboxes!

Ingredients:

  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 225g self raising flour
  • 100g sultanas or raisins
  • 50ml veg oil
  • 3-4 tbsp milk
  • 2-3 tbsp Maple Syrup
  • 1-2 tbsp Cacao Powder
  • Handful Dark choc chips

Method: 

  1. Mash the bananas
  2. Combine the oil and milk with the bananas, then stir into the dry ingredients
  3. Split into 2 bowls – in one bowl add the dark choc chips, in the other add the cacao & raisins. 
  4. Spoon into cupcake / muffin cases and bake at 180 for 15-20 minutes

Energy Balls

This recipe is a great one for lunchboxes where again I make one big batch and split it into 2. I love the vibrant colour of these energy balls thanks to the freeze dried strawberries! These are nut-free so that they can go into school in the lunchbox. 

Ingredients:

  • 160g oats (blend 80g into flour, keep 80g whole)
  • 6 medjool dates
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp cacao powder
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp olive oil or melted butter
  • 30g raisins / sultanas
  • Handful of freeze dried strawberries
  • Pinch salt

Method: 

  1. Mix chia seeds with water. Leave 5–10 mins until thick like a gel
  2. Blend dates, maple syrup and oil until a smooth paste forms
  3. Add in the oat flour, whole oats, cacao, salt, date paste, chia gel and sultanas
  4. Leave for 5-10 mins then roll (can chill first if they’re a little sticky)
  5. I split the batch in half and rolled in some freeze dried strawberries that I blitzed in the food processor 

Blueberry Crumble Bar

This is the sweetest of the snacks I made today, so I only give the kids a small portion of these! There are some great lower sugar shortbread recipes out there, so you could definitely swap in for one of those if you have young children and / or are limiting sugar. These are great defrosted from the freezer, or you can pop them frozen in the air fryer and serve warm!

Ingredients:

  • 265g plain flour
  • 125g light brown sugar
  • 100g oats
  • 225g unsalted butter (cold and diced)
  • ¾ Bag of frozen blueberries 

Method: 

  1. Preheat oven to 170°C then line a baking tin (20 cm) with baking paper
  2. Place flour, brown sugar and oats in a food processor and mix
  3. Add butter and mix until combined into a crumb like consistency
  4. Pour most of the mix into the base of the tin and press down firmly
  5. Top with frozen blueberries and then sprinkle the remaining shortbread crumble on the top
  6. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden
  7. Wait to cool before slicing 

Mini Choc Chip Cookies

When I made these, I wanted to recreate the mini cookies that our kids like getting as a treat from the shops. I underestimated how small the drops of dough needed to be before baking, and I also should have kept a better eye on mine while they were baking! They were still super tasty and went down very well.

  • 100 g unsalted butter (soft)
  • 40 g light brown sugar
  • 20 g maple syrup 
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 150 g plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • pinch salt
  • 80 g chocolate chips 

Method

  1. Mix together the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup
  2. Add in the egg and vanilla
  3. Finally add in the remaining ingredients
  4. Spoon into small blobs onto a baking tray – go smaller than you’d think you need to go!
  5. Bake at 170 for 8-10 mins but keep an eye on them (as mine went slightly over!)

Tomato & Olive Rolls

These rolls are really tasty and easy to make – I like to use butterbeans to thicken the sauce and hide in some extra goodness! 

Ingredients:

  • 1 pack ready made puff pastry
  • 1 tbsp cream cheese
  • Handful of olives – sliced
  • 1-2 tbsp tomato puree
  • ½ tin butterbeans blended with lemon juice
  • 50g grated cheddar
  • Oregano
  • 1 egg – whisked
  • Optional – handful nigella seeds

Method:

  1. Mix the blended butterbeans with the cream cheese and tomato puree
  2. Lay a sheet of puff pastry out and spread the mixture over the top, then add the olives, cheese and oregano
  3. Slice lengthways then fold each half over and slice into mini rolls 
  4. Brush each roll with the whisked egg and if using, add a sprinkle of nigella seeds
  5. Bake at 190 for 20-25 mins until golden

Pesto, Butterbean & Olive Rolls 

Following the same method as before, these rolls also use butterbeans and I love the pesto and olive combo. I like to sprinkle nigella seeds on the rolls to make them look extra inviting.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pack ready made puff pastry
  • 1 tbsp cream cheese
  • Handful of olives
  • 1-2 tbsp pesto
  • ½ tin butterbeans blended with lemon juice
  • 50g grated cheddar
  • Dried parsley
  • 1 egg – whisked 
  • Optional – Handful nigella seeds

Method:

  1. Mix the blended butterbeans with the cream cheese and pesto
  2. Lay a sheet of puff pastry out and spread the mixture over the top, then add the olives, cheese and parsley
  3. Slice lengthways then fold each half over and slice into mini rolls 
  4. Brush each roll with the whisked egg and if using, add a sprinkle of nigella seeds
  5. Bake at 190 for 20-25 mins until golden

Sweet Potato Flatbreads

This follows a similar method to the sweet potato pizza bases that I like to make every so often – I always underestimate how much flour I’m going to need, as you want the dough to not be too sticky, so that you can roll it nice and thin!

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 large sweet potatoes
  • 500g plain flour 
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika

Method: 

  1. Bake the sweet potatoes in the oven (wrapped in foil) at 180 for 30-40 minutes until soft
  2. Scoop out the sweet potato, allow to cool and the mix with the olive oil and smoked paprika
  3. Add in half of the flour and stir to combine, then keep adding flour until you have a smooth dough that can be rolled easily
  4. Roll out into wraps / flatbreads of your desired size on a floured work surface
  5. Dry fy for 1-3 mins on either side until puffed up and slightly browned

Spinach & Lentil Muffins – 2 ways

We love making savoury muffins as they make a great change to sandwiches in the lunchbox! In this recipe, I swap some of the flour for lentil flour, to pack in some extra nutrients. I also now use frozen chopped spinach to save on prep time and food waste. 

Ingredients: 

  • 120g cheddar cheese
  • 100g feta cheese 
  • 200g self raising flour
  • 100g green lentils (or can use red if you don’t have green)
  • 200ml milk
  • 100g unsalted butter 
  • 4-5 clusters of chopped frozen spinach
  • 4 eggs

Method: 

  1. Place the green lentils in a high speed food processor and blitz until they turn into a fine powder.
  2. Melt the butter
  3. Stir together the flour, butter, milk and eggs, then add in the spinach
  4. Divide the mixture into two and add feta to one half, and cheddar to the other.
  5. Spoon into cupcake / muffin cases and bake at 180 for 15-20 minutes.

Roast Chicken & Stuffing Mini Loaves

Ingredients: 

  • 200 g self-raising flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 150 ml milk
  • 60g melted butter
  • 150-200g roast chicken pieces
  • 2-3 clusters of frozen spinach
  • 80g grated cheddar (optional – 40g extra for topping) 
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp dried sage
  • 1 tsp onion granules

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180
  2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and seasoning
  3. In another bowl whist together the eggs, milk and oil / butter
  4. Combine the two mixtures then add in the spinach, cheese and chicken
  5. Spoon into a muffin tray or mini loaf tin and top with cheddar cheese.
  6. Cook for 20-25 minutes until golden