Healthy Kids Snacks That Taste Like Dessert? Yep, They Exist

When 3 p.m. rolls around, stomachs start growling, kids start whining, and the carpool food wars begin. The struggle is real.

When it comes to giving kids the nutrition they need to power through homework and soccer practice, parents know best. But, when it comes to their own picky taste buds, kids sometimes have other ideas. The only way to end the snack wars? A treat that satisfies both.

It’s not an impossible impasse, as Veronica Bosgraaf—mom and founder of Pure Organic—found out when her then-six-year-old daughter Anna became a vegetarian. Wanting to support her daughter’s decision to pass on the ham and cheese sandwiches, Bosgraaf grew determined to find convenient, nutrient-rich, and still-satisfying lunchbox swaps.

When she couldn’t find them at the market, she created them in her own kitchen. Armed with a food processor, ingredients from the local farmer’s market, and her kids’ honest opinions, the perfect snack bar was born. Pure Organic Bars tick all the boxes: organic, wholesome (nothing fake here!), and most importantly, kid-approved.

Bosgraaf, whose children are now teenagers and still sign off on the taste, explains the importance of that third requirement: “If a mom loves something, chances are a kid won’t. And you cannot force children at young ages to eat what they don’t want to eat.”

And with options like Chocolate Brownie Bars, Strawberry and Banana Fruit Sandwich strips, and Salted Caramel Crispy Clusters (and more top-secret recipes on the not-so-distant horizon), parents don’t have to force their kids to chow down on these bars.

Bosgraaf remembers when she herself was in school, she got teased for the homemade (not Little Debbie) bread and cookies her mom packed each day.  “Fortunately,” she says, “times have changed and kids no longer have to feel different just to enjoy delicious food that’s good for them.”

Photo credit: Paul Delmont