20 Healthy Gluten-free Power Snacks

April 18, 2012 By Leanne Vogel March 29, 2017

Whether you’re training for a big race, hiking, biking, or taking the dogs for a long walk, an increase in activity requires us to choose the right foods to fuel our day. There’s nothing worse than going for a hike and realizing the sugary granola bars you packed are making you feel tired and lethargic. What snacks should we be eating? The best approach is a whole foods one – snacks that have less sugar, lots of fiber, carbohydrates for before your activity and a good ratio of carb, protein and fats following. I could go on and on about what’s best, but going through a list of my favorite gluten-free (and often vegan) power snacks is far more fun. Wouldn’t you say? Let the chin wiping begin!

1. Tongue Twisted Buckwheat Berry Binge Bars

*vegan* I remember my first bite of these bars. My immediate thought was – why didn’t I made more filling?! Instead of the usual wheat flour base with oat topping, I used buckwheat, almond flour and oats for this delicious sugar-free treat. The filling also doubles as a porridge topper. Mmm!

2. 5 minute Breakfast Cup-cake

*vegan option* I do far better fueling with fats that I do with carbs. It took me awhile to realize that I could make a cake from flax and coconut, but when I did… oh boy did I make up for lost time!

3. Runners Repair Cookies

They may not look like much, but I’ve had plenty of compliments on the taste of these cookies. They’re light, packed with protein, and will refuel you after an intense workout. These were my go-to snacks last season during my half marathon training.

4. Blueberry Banana Cake Bars

I prepared these bars while Kevin’s family was visiting from Germany last Spring. They’re made with buckwheat, chickpea flour, packed with blueberries and sweetened primarily with mashed banana. They made for a great healthy road trip snack.

5. Gluten-free Multigrain Rosemary Crackers

*vegan* One thing I miss about not eating gluten is the availability of delicious crackers. There are lots of gluten-free crackers out there, but many have cheese, corn, or are just made from less-than-optimal ingredients. With a little bit of testing and tweaking, I came up with a cracker that ensures there will be no glutenous cracker swooning in our house!

6. Rise and Shine Muffins

A visit to a Starbucks in London, England inspired this sugar-free, grain-free muffin. At just under 170 calories per, you can feel good about indulging in one on your way out the door, packing in your child’s lunches, or just making a batch for yourself on a sunny/snowy Wednesday morning.

7. Goldilocks Scones

*vegan* These grain-free scones aren’t too big, too small, too sweet or too filling. They’re juuuuust right… and packed with raisins, maple, pecans and almond goodness!

8. Banana Drunk Macaroons

I dreamed of these while completing an intense set of laps in the pool at our local gym. I was so hungry and couldn’t get the thought of banana flavored clouds out of my head. Hey, you do what you can when you’re pushing yourself to the max and I’m not ashamed to admit that banana clouds are my safe place.

9. Raw Cashew Lemon Drops

*vegan* I love LARABAR but hate paying the $2.50 per bar. These snack balls have similar ingredients to lemon LARABARs but at a fraction of the price and I’d like to think they taste better, too ;)

10. Raw Spirulina Energy Crunch Bars

*vegan* Dehydrated or frozen, these 6 ingredient bars helped me make it through my afternoon workouts last race season.

11. Tropical Quinoa Health Bars

I love a big bowl of quinoa porridge in the morning, but sometimes time isn’t on my side. For moments where a sit down breakfast just isn’t an option, I turn to bars, muffins and cookies to deliver my nutrients in the AM, and these quinoa snack bars do a wonderful job at it!

12. 5 Ingredient Chewy Vanilla Coconut Cookies

Oh boy, this recipe is major weakness of mine, and from the looks of it’s popularity, it’s yours too. 5 ingredients, 20 minutes, and these coconut packed cookies are yours for the taking.

13. Tofu Miso Balls

*vegan* I came across this recipe years ago when I was trying to find a vegan appetizer for a Christmas party. Since then, I’ve probably made upwards of 24 batches. You can make them ahead of time, dress them up with sauce, or dress them down by eating them plain. Either way, they’re delicious!

14. Overnight Banana Almond Pudding

*vegan* I enjoy my morning smoothies but if I’m forced to take them out on the road with me and they get all soupy, my love for them decreases minute by minute. There’s nothing like a smoothie that’s been watered down by melted ice, yuck! When I don’t want to fall victim to a soupy smoothie, I make a batch of banana pudding. It has just 4 ingredients, can be made the night before, and enjoyed hot or cold.

15. Vegan Banana Bread Animal Crackers

*vegan* I love banana bread, I love animal crackers. It’s about time these two recipes joined forces. This list just wouldn’t be the same without them.

16. Cinnamon Raisin Flat bread

*vegan* This flat bread recipe was my absolute favorite repair snack after cycling classes last season. Paired with nut butter, fruit spread and seeds, you have a snack that no store-bought product can beat!

17. Candy Apple Macaroons

*vegan* The cousin of the banana macaroon, these sugar free apple and coconut morsels are light, refreshing, sweet and healthy.

18. Chocolate Hemp Runners Repair Bars

Hemp protein may not be my favorite smoothie protein powder, but it certainly makes up for it in it’s ability to act like a flour in some of my favorite high protein snacks. These little morsels are fantastic as a take along in your gym bag and a consistency similar to a soft cookie. They’re quick to make, portable, sugar free, tasty, and will save you loads of money on store-bought energy bars.

19. 5 Ingredient No Bake Fudge Drops

*vegan* Everyone gets a craving for something now and again. My vice, is chocolate. While I could just grab a handful of dairy-free chocolate chips, it’s not all that enjoyable for me. When my chocolate craving strikes, I come up with things like healthy fudge balls to keep me entertained.

20. 100 Calorie Beary Simple Cookies

*vegan* Sugar-free foodies need to have fun, too! At 2 grams of sugar and 100 calorie per cookie, these bears are great for lunches or a pick me up snack any time of the day. Officially drooling over here. What’s your favorite power snack?

This entry was tagged: healthy snack, snack