Of all the rooms in a house, the kitchen is without a doubt the one that creates the biggest amount of trash.
And that’s why I’m struggling to find ways to keep it low waste.
One of my conflict areas comes from the fact that I’m a self-confessed snack maniac. And you cannot imagine the struggle of finding affordable, package-free, healthy, and non-boring snacks.
Granola bars, protein bars, cookies, chocolate bars,… every single snack comes in a plastic packaging.
And I do live in a city with zero waste shops, but my bank account strongly disagrees with me visiting those more than I should.
So that was my AHA moment. I cannot find what I want and as I want it? I’ll make it then.
I managed to make these snacks with ingredients bought in bulk, or in plastic-free packages when they were not available in bulk. Not bad!
PS 1. All my snacks have to be VERY HIGH in the scale of yumminess. And they must be healthy – I live with a doctor. So refined sugar and questionable ingredients are out of the question.
PS 2. Writing this post I actually realized making these is WAY CHEAPER than buying snacks in a normal market or any zero waste shop. Oh boy this is a win-win-win-win situation.
Anyway, I digress. Here you have my 3 all-time favorite zero waste snacks.
Grab your apron and let’s get to it.
Snicker bars
This is officially and without any doubt my new favorite sweet to ever exist.
I just stock my freezer with a bunch of them at the beginning of each week to have something delicious and healthy to munch.
You will need…
- 100 grams of dates
- 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- A pinch of Himalayan salt
- 85 grams of oat flour (blended oats)
- A handful of peanuts
- 30 grams of cacao butter
- 25 grams of cacao powder
Substitutions
- You can use coconut oil instead of cacao butter, but the coverture of your bars will melt faster with the coconut oil!
- Instead of oat flour, you can use almond flour or another kind of nut flour that doesn’t need baking. I just find that rolled oats are more affordable and accessible to everyone.
Instructions
First things first: soak the dates for like 10 min so that they get softer. But avoid leaving them in water for too long or they’ll lose a lot of vitamins!
Then, put them into your blender along with the peanut butter. And add a pinch of salt.
The result is your snickers caramel! If you prefer your caramel on the sweeter side, you can add molasses, but the sweetness from the dates should be more than enough.
Now take about one-third of the caramel and put it in a bowl, where you’ll mix it with the oat flour. Make sure everything is peeeeerfectly mixed. We don’t want oat clumps.
Take a tray and put this doughy mixture on the bottom. Press on it until it’s uniform, and spread your caramel on top.
Take the peanuts and put them on top of the caramel to give that rocky snicker look to your bars. Then, cut the ‘pie’ bars as wide and as long as your heart desires.
Put the tray in the freezer and while your bars harden a bit, make the chocolate coverture. It’s as simple as melting your cacao butter and mixing the cacao powder in.
And now take your bars from the freezer and cover them in chocolate. This step can be messy, but you can use an oven rack with a tray underneath and carefully pour the chocolate on the bars for minimal mess.
Put the bars in the freezer or fridge and wait until the chocolate is completely solid.
And TADAAAAAAAA. Eat them and rejoice. You have made the most delicious healthy snack you could dream of.
Energy bites
There’s like a thousand ways you can make energy balls. But this is my go-to recipe and one of the most basic ones you can make.
So add whatever makes your tummy happy, we have no rules here.
You will need…
- 50 grams of pitted dates
- 125 grams of peanut butter (LINK)
- 80 grams of rolled oats
- Cocoa nibs – as much as you want
- A handful of chia seeds
Substitutions
- You can use any nut butter you want! This is 100% customizable
- Instead of chia seeds, you can use hemp or flax
- If you don’t want to use dates, you can use any liquid sweetener (molasses, honey, agave or maple syrup). Just bear in mind that these sweeteners will make the mixture gooier, so you might have to add more rolled oats. Improvise, adapt, overcome.
Instructions
Soak the dates in water for no more than 10 mins and then smash them with a fork until they become a paste.
Then, in a bowl mix the nut butter of your choice with the dates, cacao nibs, and oats until it looks edible – jk, just until everything is well mixed.
Add in as well the seeds and the cocoa nibs. And there you have it.
You can make a big batch of these and keep them in your freezer for when you get cravings.
Or eat them by the spoonful as a good ol’ cookie dough.
Molasses chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate chip cookies must be everyone’s favorite. And what can be better than eating them with a healthy twist?
You will need…
- 50 grams of coconut oil
- A teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Flax egg (3 tablespoons of water to 1 of flax)
- 120 grams of oats flour – literally just blend your rolled oats
- A teaspoon of baking powder
- Two heaping tablespoon of molasses
- Cacao nibs or chocolate chips to will
- A pinch of Himalayan salt
Substitutions
- Instead of flax egg, you can use one normal egg.
- If you’re a sucker for sweets, you can add sugar to the mixture – extra points if it’s unrefined! In this case, feel free to use less molasses.
- Again, you can use any nut flour instead of oat flour.
Instructions
Melt the coconut oil and add in the egg, vanilla, and the molasses.
Mix together and add your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt.
Last but not least…the stars of the show: add your cacao nibs.
Shape the cookies as big as you want them to be and put them on a lined baking tray.
Bake them for around 12 min (depends on the oven you’re using) and you’re done!
Ok, now tell me, which one is the first recipe you’ll make? I 10/10 recommend all of them – and I don’t like to pick favorites, but I’m a BIG fan of the snickers.
And I have many more zero waste sweet recipes from the same place these came from, so stay tuned for more.
