8 Peanut-Free Snacks Your Kids Will Love
These sweet and savory snacks are ideal for little ones with peanut allergies and can all be purchased online.
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You’re filling up a virtual shopping cart with your supermarket haul for the week, on the lookout for snacks for junior—and there it is: peanut butter filled pretzels. Alas, your little one is among the 2 percent of American kids who suffer from peanut allergies, so it’s on to the next aisle. But wait! What’s that you see? An almond butter and pretzel snack pack? Hallelujah. Yes, welcome to a world where many retailers are now selling peanut-free versions of the mainstays you remember from childhood.
“These allergen-friendly brands do a fantastic job at using innovative ingredients, like sesame seeds or sunflower seeds, to create a seriously delicious and healthy product,” says Stefani Sassos, M.S., R.D.N., the registered dietitian for the Good Housekeeping Institute. All of these sweet and savory snacks, which Sassos helped select, are made in peanut-free facilities and are ideal for kiddos with peanut allergies. “While these items don’t taste exactly like peanuts or peanut butter, they have a unique nutty flavor that is just as tasty as traditional nut products.” Happy snacking!
Remember: just because an item doesn’t have peanuts in the ingredients list doesn’t mean it’s safe for your little—it might be made on production lines where cross-contamination can occur. So, in addition to evaluating ingredient lists for “peanuts,” you’ll also want to be on the lookout for other phrases on the packaging like “may contain tree nuts or peanuts” or “produced on shared equipment with tree nuts or peanuts.”
Made from watermelon, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, these single-serving creamy spreads have slightly nutty undertones, with a dash of salt and roasted flavor to tame the bitterness. They’re a “great alternative to nut butters,” Sassos says. “Simply swap with the peanut butter in PB&J to make an allergen-friendly alternative.” Another Sassos-approved idea? Use them in place of any nut butter at snack time—spread on apple slices, crackers, or celery sticks with raisins on top for a complete ants-on-a-log experience!
Sassos is a fan of this new sesame seed butter that’s free of all of the top eight allergens, including peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, soy, and dairy. Since it has no added sugars, preservatives, colors, or flavors, you can feel good about offering this tahini-inspired salty-sweet spread to your kids in meals, snacks or desserts. Seedible Cheesecake, anyone? (Just swap out the PB for Seedible and use sunflower butter cups instead of peanut butter ones.)
This colorful, kid-friendly brand offers crunchy and soft baked snack packs of allergen-free cookies in flavors that little ones will love, including birthday cake, pumpkin spice and chocolate chip! Sassos is particularly fond of the Cookie Butter Soft Baked variety since “a serving of three of these vegan, allergy-friendly cookies only has 5 grams of added sugar.”
It can be challenging to find a nut-free granola bar, but Sassos loves this one, packed with oats and brown crisp rice. Added bonus? “It’s organic and contains 16 grams of whole grains,” Sassos says. And don’t worry, the bits of organic chocolate mixed in are sure to win over even the pickiest eaters of the peanut-free crowd.
Many chips and fries are cooked in peanut oil—but not Beanfields. Available in bean chip and cracklins variety (similar to chicharrones, minus the pig), all of the recipes sold by this brand are both peanut-free and made in a peanut-free facility. “They come in a variety of flavors and are satisfyingly tasty, plus I love that they have a great crunch, Sassos says. To mix things up all week long, try a chip variety pack that comes with flavors such as cheddar, nacho and pico de gallo.
Granola bars and cookies are treats, to be sure, but even Sassos likes to fuel up with Made Good goodies. “They’re all organic and free from the eight most common kinds of allergens—including peanuts and tree nuts,” she says. Try these cereal bar squares for a more wholesome, allergen-free upgrade on the classic crispy rice and marshmallow treats.
Is your kid more of a salty than sweet snacker? These roasted chickpea “nuts” are one of Sasso's personal favorites. They pack in a ton of plant-based protein and fiber, and come in chili lime, classic hummus, and sweet sriracha flavors in addition to standard sea salt.
Instead of the go-to GORP (Good Old Raisins and Peanuts) blend, try this snack mix of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit and dairy-free chocolate chips. “Peanuts and tree nuts don’t even enter their production facility,” Sassos notes of brand Enjoy Life. “For extra security, they perform peanut and tree nut rapid tests on their raw ingredients as well as the finished products in order to ensure the highest levels of safety and quality.”
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