Apple Cinnamon Sunbutter Oat Bites

Considering that peanut allergies are far more common nowadays than when I was growing up, the limited number of nut-free snack options for kids (with the exception of sugary granola bars and starchy crackers) surprises me.

My brother-in-law has a peanut allergy, so after hearing my mother-in-law’s stories, I can understand how scary it must be for parents to let their child go on playdates to houses where the other kids don’t have allergies.

So when one of my mom-friends (with a daughter who has a peanut allergy) mentioned how difficult it was finding bars or snacks without nuts, it resonated with me… and I started to notice how nearly all of the snack bars we have in our house have nuts in them as well.

I decided to go outside my nut comfort zone and experiment more with sunflower-seed butter (or sunbutter). It’s a little tricky since sunbutter is more bitter than almond, cashew or peanut butter. But I added a couple of dates to balance the bitterness, and I also incorporated sprouted watermelon seeds for some extra protein (10 grams per ounce! A game-changing ingredient I discovered with my go-go goji berry protein bars).

As for these apple cinanmon sunbutter oat bites, the end result was one my toddler was very happy with… and I hope it will help other families who are looking for nut-free alternatives or who attend “nut free” schools and need more snack ideas.

Apple Cinnamon Sunbutter Oat Bites

Ingredients (makes about 15-20 bites, depending on how large you make them):

• 1 cup of oats
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened sunflower seed butter (also called “sunbutter”)
• 1/4 cup of sprouted watermelon seeds
• 1/4 cup of dried apples (or another dried fruit if you prefer… dried cherries or blueberries would work well too!)
• 2 tsp. of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. of coconut oil
• 2 dates, pitted

Directions:

Place the dates, coconut butter and sunbutter in a food processor and blend until mostly smooth. Add in the oats, apples and cinnamon and blend again. Take out a small spoonful of the mixture and roll into a ball that’s about 1 inch in diameter. Refrigerate for about an hour to allow them to “set,” and keep refrigerated for best results.

Do you have any other nut-free snacks that you love? Let us know in the comments! And for another nut-free snack, try our banana blueberry oatmeal “cakes” too!

XO,

-P