Cheese + Cracker Stackers
This was part of the Kid’s LEGO birthday party. (here)
You do NOT need a recipe for this, I simply wanted to show you these adddddorable mini Saltines
I bought cheese sticks and cut them down into cubes, which fit the mini crackers just right.
They were just the cutest things ever and I thought the idea of making your own tiny stackers would be perfect and fitting for the Kid’s LEGO themed party!
Cracker Ornaments
There are so many sweets to eat over the holidays, sometimes it’s nice to mix it up with something savory. My kids love to get involved in the kitchen, which is a nice break for me.
I got some water crackers and let them go at it making their own edible ‘ornaments!’
ingredients:
round water crackers
cream cheese
dried mango sliced thin
mini chocolate chips
craisins
fruit chews
pretzels
fruit roll up
cheese
It’s really up to you what you want to decorate your ornaments with – I just used what was in my pantry.
I found these adorable individual 1oz cream cheeses that are perfect because that way the kids don’t waste a lot. I had them spread that on the cracker first, so that all their ‘decor’ would have something to stick to.
Then they added fruits and snack pieces. I sliced some dried mango super thin, and I had the tiniest of cookie cutters and let them cut out shapes from cheese slices and fruit roll ups.
They came up with some elaborate (i.e. crazy) designs. I even made a more subdued one myself:
How you like me now?? Hard to believe I’m older than 7 years old, isn’t it?
The kids loved this project and it was a fairly healthy snack that was a whole lot of fun to make!
Snack bars
The kids get two snack breaks at school, two! Which means I need to get creative.
I decided to make them some snack bars – I could just buy them the boxed bars at the store, but I hate pre-packaged preservatives, so I like to avoid them if I can. (That rule is for the kids only. Me – I’m eating as many Halloween Twix as I can while I am typing this… ~hypocrite~) That being said, keep ‘em in the freezer for when the snack attack hits.
ingredients:
2 1/2 cups rice krispies
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup cinnamon chips
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup sweet sunflower seeds
2 Tb brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup applesauce
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9×13 pan by greasing it with melted butter.
Obviously this recipe is totally changeable, it was just about what I had in my pantry. I happened to get these AMAZING sweet sunflower seeds when I was at the snack store in Hawaii and they are soooo good, I just threw them in but regular old sunflower seeds would work fine too, as well as any nuts.
In a large bowl stir together the rice krispies, rolled oats, mini chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, craisins and sweet sunflower seeds.
In another bowl combine the brown sugar, egg, flour, honey and applesauce. Stir together well, and pour over the dry ingredient mixture. Stir until it’s completely coated.
Press the mixture into the prepped pan. Bake for 20 mins.
Let cool completely. Once cooled, cut into bars.
I like to wrap them in parchment paper and add a sticker to seal them up with a little note to the kids. Sometimes it’s hard to remember to go to all these after school activities, a little reminder is helpful.
I wish someone would tell me to have a good day sometimes. Maybe I should leave these in my purse as notes to MYSELF. (First sign of insanity: writing notes to yourself on food, I’m sure.)
These make great school snacks, change up the ingredients with whatever you have on hand. Keep them in an airtight container for 2-3 days or keep them in the freezer!
Cloud City pops
Made for the Ultimate Star Wars party (here)
When you go to visit Lando, this is what he serves you…right before he stabs you in the back. Jerk.
ingredients:
20 strawberry marshmallows
40 mini marshmallows
20 lollipop sticks
frosting
sprinkles
Place two mini marshmallows on a skewer, followed by one regular sized strawberry one.
Dip the end of the marshmallow into frosting, then sprinkles.
These look nice on display but can also be wrapped and given out as party favors! If you aren’t doing a Star Wars party you can always use these for a fairy party, jes sayin’.
Ewok food
Made for the Ultimate Star Wars party (here)
When Ewoks are out in the woods, this is the snack they carry along with them. Honest.
ingredients:
2 cups goldfish crackers
1 cup pretezels
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Mix it all together.
Well, that was a difficult recipe. It’s a great snack to leave out at parties. But if you need some fun party favors…
Put these in little containers and hand them out to the kids at the party. Who doesn’t want to eat like an ewok?
Bacon wrapped Lightsaber Pretzels
Made for the Ultimate Star Wars party (here)
The tastiest snack for your Jedi in training.
ingredients:
pretzel rods
bacon
While generally I love thick, applewood smoked bacon, for this I like to use thin-ish bacon. It’s much easier to wrap around and crisps up faster.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prep a baking sheet with silpat on the bottom and then a wire rack on top. The silpat will catch the bacon grease.
Take the bacon and starting at the top – wrap it around the pretzel rod, ending about 1″ from the bottom.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the bacon is crisp.
Sure these lightsabers don’t light up, but they are darn tasty.
Kakimochi (arare) cookies
Kakimochi is also known as Japanese rice cracker. It’s a teriyaki crunchy cracker and yes, there are some Hawaii bakeries that put them in cookies. The cracker kind of acts as a replacement for nuts or cereal, anything crunchy. Don’t knock it til you try it!
When I saw HEART SHAPED kakimochi in Hawaii, well, I just couldn’t resist and I knew I had to make up my own version of this old skool snack…
ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 /2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup crushed kakimochi (arare) + more to decorate if you wish
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep baking sheets with silpats.
I have NEVER come across kakimochi in this shape except for in Hawaii. It is so cute I can hardly stand it.
You can use any shape, of course since hearts are pretty hard to find. It hurts to crush up these cute little kakimochi hearts, but it has to be done.
In a freezer bag, place the kakimochi and crush them to pieces using a rolling pin, your hands, your full aggression. Hello anger management. Set aside.
In a small bowl whisk together the flour and the baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the brown sugar. Add the egg and the vanilla.
Add in the flour/baking soda mixture until combined.
Personally, I love mini chocolate chips. They add a lot of flavor in very little bites.
By hand, fold in the crushed kakimochi and the mini choco chips into the batter.
Spoon by teaspoonfulls onto the prepped baking sheets. Make them rounded and press them down slightly. Since the heart were SO cute I also placed one on top of each batter ball before sending it into the oven. You don’t have to do this, but I thought it looked adorable and added even more crunch.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until brown. Let cool on a wire rack.
For people who may have only eaten kakimochi as a snack, this is a new and interesting take that is worth trying out!
Cap’n Crunch Treats
Everyone makes Rice Krispy treats, sure. But I like to change it up sometimes and the colors of the “berries” (yeah, right) in the Cap’n Crunch make this treat pretty festive.
ingredients:
1 bag of large marshmallows
2 Tablespoons butter
pinch of salt
6 cups Cap’n Crunch Crunch Berries Cereal
Grease a 9″x13″ pan with melted butter. Set aside.
In a large pot heat the marshmallows and the butter. Once it starts to break down and melt, add the pinch of salt. Stir up this sticky mess and once it is all combined fold in the cereal, careful not to crush it.
Once the cereal is coated in the marshmallow mixture, pour it into the prepared pan. Push down to even it out flat, and let sit to cool. Cover with plastic wrap until you are ready to serve. Then cut into squares.
These are definitely sweeter than your traditional rice cereal treats, but they are a yummy colorful alternative!
Snack bar how-to
You don’t really need a how-to for this, I just wanted to show you how easy it is to set up a snack bar. They are great for parties because it gives the guests the opportunity to ‘graze’ and socialize as they please.
I am partial to glass jars, which are fairly cheap at Target. Like in an old time candy store , glass allows you to see all the colors and textures which makes the idea of ‘snacking’ that much more desirable. But you don’t need fancy jars – vases, bowls, those all work too.
Salty and Sweet snack bar
A nice combination of salty and sweet makes for great party snacks. It will make your guests keep coming back for more. I did these for The Baby’s Batman themed party and the kids loved it, but their parents loved it even more!
Cookies and Milk bar
Who doesn’t love cookies with a nice cold glass of milk?? Again, I just like to get a bunch of different flavors – I baked three different kinds, hoping that there would be something at appealed to everyone.
Chips bar
Chips are great because they come in a variety of textures and are fairly inexpensive. I chose these based on trying to get different flavors and how the colors would look next to each other too.
Cereal bar
A cereal bar is a unique fun thing to have at a party. You can get a variety of different flavors and colors and they look GREAT in glass jars. It makes people nostalgic for their youth and there’s something comforting about eating a small bowl of cereal for dessert!
themed snack bar
This was for a Hawaiian themed 1st birthday party so I tried to get all ‘local’ snacks: Kakimochi, Kimi Boro balls, Pocky, Li Hing candy, Diamond Animal Crackers, Green apple candies. Whatever your theme may be, stick to it and your guests will get a big kick out of it.
For all these ideas I made signs to go with each snack. It makes it easier on the guests and by themeing with your color scheme or party theme it will tie your whole party together!
Fancy PB & J
Not your ordinary pb&j – wanted by only the best bounty hunters.
ingredients:
King’s Hawaiian sweet bread rolls
peanut butter
jelly
bananas
honey
sea salt
I’m a big fan of King’s Hawaiian sweet bread rolls because they are just the right size for a snack, or two…or three. I cut them in half, and spread one half with peanut butter, the other with jelly. Typical, right?
Then I slice some bananas, drizzle a little honey and sprinkle just a touch of sea salt.
And THAT is your fancy pb & j right there. No one can resist them, not even Boba Fett.
