Peanut butter & banana cookies ( + healthy snacks for kids)

My 4 1/2 year old Bonnie is a hungry, high-energy kid (also smart, sweet and very funny - call me biased). She has a huge appetite and eats all day long. I need to arrive at daycare at 3.30pm with a snack for the car otherwise we won't make it home without tears.

I love that she's got such a good appetite and loves food so much but it's also a juggle to make sure I'm armed with plenty of healthy snacks to sustain her between meals. The key seems to be a good amount of healthy fats and protein. She needs carbohydrates to fuel her too but I'm always aware of not just letting her eat fruit from morning till night as she would if it was up to her. It's healthy but doesn't keep her full or sustain her for very long.

Below are some of my favourite simple snacks for Bonnie:

• Slices of cheese and apple wedges
• Hummus w/ carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes
• Cashew nuts
• Boiled eggs
• Unsweetened Greek yoghurt w/ berries 
• Cottage cheese and chives on toast or crackers.
• Avocado and sauerkraut on toast
• Homemade healthy baking (like these cookies!)
• Smoothies (like this banana, avocado & walnut one)
• Leftover sausages - cut into pieces and served with passata as tomato sauce. It's much lower in sugar.

She also really loves popcorn (especially Serious Popcorn). It doesn't fill her up but it's a fun addition to her lunchbox and is a great way to keep her amused while I'm running errands or in the time leading up to dinner. Plus as a topping for homemde ice cream! 

We've been trying out the new 'Kids Good Stuff' smoothie powder from Nuzest. She's totally obsessed - like a walking advertisement. Check out the ingredients list. It's awesome

Healthy homemade baking is always on hand in our house. These cookies are awesome for kids lunchboxes and afternoon snacks. Really low in sugar, with a good serve of healthy fats and with that winning combination of peanut butter and banana. They always go down a treat. Other favourites include this kids banana cake and these breakfast muffins.

Last year I did some recipe writing for the wonderful folks at All Good Bananas and this was one of the recipes I created. They're responsible for bringing us the best fair trade and organic bananas around. They've been champions for sourcing ethical food for a while (before it was seriously trendy) and I'm a huge fan of what they do.

Kids energy cookies w/ peanut butter & banana

Makes 20-25 cookies

¾ cup good quality crunchy peanut butter

1 very ripe All Good fair trade banana – roughly mashed

1 ½ cups dessicated coconut – use organic to avoid preservatives

1 tablespoon maple syrup (could also use honey)

1 teaspoon good quality vanilla essence

pinch sea salt

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius

Place all ingredients into a food processor and run for two minutes until even in consistency.

Roll heaped teaspoons of cookie dough into balls.  Slightly damp hands can make this job easier. Use a moistened fork to slightly press down each cookie.

Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden. Do not move cookies for 15 minutes.

Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Will freeze well for up to 2 months.