Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Loaf and 10 more Back to School Snack ideas! Chocolate and Pumpkin together forever in this Pumpkin bread recipe.
I’ve got some really great snack ideas this round for you! When Fall officially hits and you need some snacks to last all week, look no further.
I’ve got the Pumpkin Loaf teamed up with pears. Now I know a lot of kids won’t eat brown fruits like apples or pears, but I’ve always packed them and my kids always eat them.
I don’t make a big deal about it, so they don’t either. If you need a trick to keep them from browning, rubbing the slices with lemon juice works well.
This Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Loaf is one I make every year and it’s a great way to get more pumpkin (aka squash) into our diets. Squash is still a challenge for me, but as you can imagine this pumpkin bread recipe swirled with chocolate is always a win.
I love this Pumpkin bread recipe. I made it a lot last school year for its cozy Fall feels, but also because my picky eater won’t touch a carrot or a sweet potato for the life of her so I introduced pumpkin. A lot of it. And what’s Fall without a Pumpkin bread recipe?
How do you keep pumpkin bread moist?
The key is the right amount of pumpkin puree combined with the right amount of oil. Here we’ve balanced the 2 to make sure the pumpkin loaf comes out perfectly.
And now here are 10 snack ideas for kids that are perfect for back to school, including this pumpkin bread recipe.
As apples and pears come back into season in the Fall, I pair them up with other snacks a lot.
Remember to rub the fruit slices with lemon juice to prevent browning if that’s a concern. My kids are now indifferent to the slices browning or I’ll cut pears and apples in half as oppose to slices so there’s less to brown.
I’ve got a cheese stick (so original, I know), BUT it is paired with apple chips. Apple chips are a great way to healthy way to enjoy a “chip”!
I’m a huge fan of cheese and apples together so this pairing is one I’ve been sneaking and snacking on myself. A lot of apple chips are grown here in Canada on a family run farms too.
Give juice boxes for school snack or lunch? I always buy juice boxes with no added sugar. I had major issues with juice boxes and allergies when I was a child and I rest easy knowing my kids get juice with no added sugars, preservatives, or flavours.
The recipe for these Mini Peach and Raspberry Mini Buckwheat Muffins can be found here, and they are freezer-friendly meaning you can pull them out once per week to last you a couple of months! I swapped out the blueberries for the peaches and raspberries given the fruit season.
Back with my vegetable adoration. Colour sliced mini peppers deliver a ton of Vitamin C (way more than an orange) and Vitamin A, not to mention the B Vitamins and fibre.
And since tiny hands like mini vegetables, these sustainably grown greenhouse vegetables make an appearance all year round.
Nuts are obviously a huge no for schools which can make trail mix a bit more difficult. A great way to incorporate snacks higher in iron and other minerals and vitamins is through seeds.
Sunflower seeds are excellent sources of plant-based iron and magnesium. Mixed with pumpkin seeds and banana chips for a fun play on a nut-free trail mix.
We LOVE this last pairing. Rice crackers smeared with (or dipped in) cream cheese and topped with cucumber slices. Healthy and freaking yummy. We enjoyed this for lunch multiple times over the past couple of weeks and my 4 yr olds got a kick out of practicing their (kid-friendly) knife skills.
I used mini cucumbers so it’s easier for their small fingers to handle and less seeds seems to apply to my kiddos.
More snacks for kids (& adults too!):
- Kid-Friendly Energy Bites and 9 other healthy snacks for kids
- Homemade Fruit Leather and 9 other school safe snack ideas
- Kamut Marshmallow Squares and 9 other snacks
Chocolate and Pumpkin together at last!! Easy and delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Loaf!
- 398 ml pure pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie (this equals one can)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil or other vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp milk or water
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
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Preheat oven to 350° F and grease a 9"x5" loaf pan.
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In large bowl combine pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, and eggs. Whisk until well combined.
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To the same bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined.
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In a medium bowl combine cocoa with milk (or water).
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Remove about a third of the pumpkin batter (eyeballing/guessing is fine) and place in in the medium bowl with the cocoa mixture. Mix together.
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Add the cinnamon and nutmeg to the pumpkin puree (in the large bowl).
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Place pumpkin batter into the prepared loaf pan and top with chocolate mixture. Using a butter knife or a chop stick, swirl batter until chocolate mixture curves through the pumpkin mixture.
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Bake for 50-65 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes out of the loaf clean. Cool for 15-20 minutes in the pan and remove to fully cool on a rack.
The Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Loaf was adapted from The Frugal Girls and inspired by Life is but a Dish.
Enjoy! xo
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