The Best (Top 9 Allergen Free) Toddler Snacks

 

If you do a quick google search for the best toddler snacks, there are a lot of suggestions out there. Unfortunately, a lot of the suggests are a no go if you have food allergies.

• Cheese? Yogurt? Milk. Milk. Milk.
• Hummus? Sesame seeds
• Crackers? Bread? Muffins? Wheat. And maybe some eggs.
• Peanut butter? Nut butters? Womp. Womp.

You’re mostly left with fruit (which can have its own problems) and vegetables (Ha. Ha. Ha. Toddlers eating snap peas? Not when they gain control of their hands and can chuck it across the room.)

Having healthy, filling snacks is extremely important to my family because my two kids are skinny little guys. When I see a big, chunky baby, it’s hard for me not to envy those cute little rolls; their parents probably never get comments on how small their kids are. When people feel the need to point out my kids are small, I always respond with a “I feed them!” as I huff away.

To stop the “wow, she’s a lot smaller than my 20-month-old Michelin tire baby” comments, I try to pack some high calorie foods every time they eat and that means finding some protein and fat to add to the carbs. For my toddler, this includes having high calorie things to dip into because that kid loves to dip. And, whether she digs in with the other food on her plate or goes straight for the sunbutter with a spoon, I don’t care. I’m just happy she’s getting those calories.

My favorite allergen* friendly dips:

• Vegan cream cheese – it’s creamy, it doesn’t taste that different from the real thing, and the best ones don’t have soy or nuts!
• Coconut butter- guys. This stuff is so delicious. It’s just coconut meat that they blended up until it became a cream. It’s a fatty. It’s sweet. It tastes like dessert.
• Sunbutter- it’s not peanut butter but it’s close. I guess.
• Avocado/guacamole- my little one calls it “cado” and we always have to have it around
• Black bean dip- really any kind of pureed vegetable spread is a good hummus substitute. I guess you could just make homemade hummus and leave out the tahini paste, but making homemade hummus always sounds like a great idea but never works out. How do restaurants get it so creamy? I’ve tried cooking dried chickpeas, boiling in baking soda, more oil, blender instead of food processor…. It’s just not the same. Black bean dip, carrot dip, lentil dip on the other hand, all are winners. Just pick a vegetable. Cook it until it’s falling apart. Blend it up with some oil, lemon juice, salt, and leave the tahini paste in the pantry.
• Smoothies- they’re cold and refreshing and a good way to hide some spinach. My favorite? Frozen banana, nondairy milk, sunbutter, spinach. You can add some flaxseed if you are feeling yuppie. It’s a healthy milkshake.
• Vegan yogurt- a lot of the vegan yogurts don’t have a lot of calories… which is why I make my own. But if some of the coconut ones have some good fat in them.

Honesty, our dippers are usually fruit or crackers. Since wheat is out for some people, I did some brainstorming to think of some delicious cracker alternatives.

Dippers:

• Cheerios- cheerios are just the best. There’s a reason they are classically a kid’s first cereal. No wheat. Easy to chew. Great for dipping.
• Rice/corn squares- the cereal aisle is just a good place to go for wheat free snacks.
• Rice cakes- these seem a little harder for younger toddlers, but once they get those teeth in, it’s a crunchy snack
• Tortilla chips- it seems weird to put chips as a healthy snack idea, but tortilla chips are a little bit better for you than their potato cousins? Maybe?
• Veggie straws- again, I’m not sure these are that different than chips and they definitely don’t deserve to have “veggie” in their name, but when wheat is out, you gotta go looking for other things.
• Corn tortillas- corn tortillas mostly make me want a taco, but dipped in some black bean dip would be ok, too.
• Fruit- my family loves some fruit
• Veggies- I guess??? How do people get their kids to eat vegetables? The smug look on my friend’s faces when their kid dives in to a beet salad drives my blood pressure through the roof. I get it. Your kid will eat beets. You’re clearly the superior parent.

 

Have fun snacking!

*I’m not including coconut as one of the Top 9 allergens. The FDA qualifies coconut as a tree nut (so it has to be clearly labeled), but allergies to coconut are very rare and usually occur in people who are not allergic to other tree nuts.