5 Healthy Study Snacks that are 5 Ingredients or Less

How can you not love this time of year? It’s the beginning of a brand new semester! I find the beginning of a new semester quite refreshing. New people, new classes, and a change in GPA! I can see it now. It’s my first big exam of the semester and it’s in Organic Chemistry. I’m incredibly nervous (obviously) so I decide that it would be best to go over my test materials again. I need a snack. I have a roll of cookie dough in the fridge and a over-sized spoon. Wait! I was really trying to be healthy today. Luckily, I saved this blog post with healthy study snack alternatives 🙂

I’m a firm believer in study snacks, I really do think they help, but sometimes they are not always the healthiest. So I have 5 healthy, easy to make snacks that only require a few ingredients and a fraction of your study break time.

Cinnamon Apple Chip Crisps

These are a new healthy experiment of mine. I’m trying to sneak in the fruits and veggies that I normally don’t go for. This study snack only requires 2 ingredients: an apple and some ground cinnamon. It’s that simple! This works best if you have a kitchen with a conventional oven available to you, and most dorms should.

This recipe is from Tasty’s Latest and Greatest Cookbook but I made a few adjustments for the purposes of enjoying this in a dorm!

1. Preheat your oven to 350*F and spray a baking sheet with a healthy alternative to cooking spray like coconut or avocado.
2. Turn your apple onto its side and cut into the thinnest slices possible which will give it the chip shape and place on the baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle with Cinnamon and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Then flip and cover with more cinnamon and bake for another 15 minutes.
4. Let cool and enjoy!

The only thing I have to tell you about this recipe is I have tried many fruit and veggie chip recipes and I have never been able to get that crunchy quality. More often then not they turn out a little soft, but personally I don’t mind it with the cinnamon apples.

Peanut Butter + Chocolate Energy Balls

Remember the cookie dough I mentioned earlier? Ya I haven’t stopped thinking about it either. Honestly I have never stopped thinking about cookie dough, but I have come close when I make these delicious Peanut Butter Chocolate Energy Balls. Most of the time I end up eating this with a spoon before I can take the time to shape it into balls. This is also a great recipe for a pre/post workout snack or if you’re on the go! It’s only 4 ingredients that you probably already have!

1. In a large mixing bowl pour 1 cup of rolled/quick oats, 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter, and 1/3 cup of honey or vegan alternative like agave syrup. Mix together.
2. Once you get a creamy consistency throughout, fold in semi-sweet chocolate chips. (I will not tell you how many you need that’s a personal evaluation you need to make based on the week ahead).
3. Place in fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Use a ice cream scoop or a large spoon to separate the mixture into portion sizes and roll with your hands into balls.
5. Place balls into small sandwich bags to grab on the go all week! (My roommate and I usually finish off the supplies before the weeks end).

Banana Bites

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: bananas are amazing. They can be used in so many different ways to create healthy alternatives to your favorite foods. Did you know that you can make low carb dairy free pancakes with just one or two of them? But that’s a recipe for another post. These are another snack that can be taken on the go and only have 3 ingredients: Peanut Butter, Banana, and Chocolate (the food holy trinity).

1. Slice your banana into 1/4 of an inch sized pieces.
2. Spread creamy peanut butter on the top of the banana slices and sandwich them together.
3. Take 1/2 cup of melt-able chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for increments of 15-30 seconds for up to a minute and a half so that the chocolate melts completely without burning. Believe me it happens and I’ve done it.
4. Dip half of your banana sandwiches in the chocolate.
5. Place 3-4 in small sandwich baggies, refrigerate and enjoy on the go!

Vegan Strawberry Nice Cream

This is a great alternative to the ever popular, “I just failed an exam” dessert. I’m not saying I anticipate that, but I’m not not saying I have a pint sized container of it ready. This Vegan Strawberry Nice Cream only requires 2 ingredients: a bag of frozen strawberries and 1 and 1/2 cups of non-dairy milk. This recipe requires you to have a personal blender, which I would recommend having anyway because it can be used for multiple purposes, but mostly because of the nice cream.

1. Depending on the type of blender/bullet you have, empty the entire bag of frozen strawberries into the container.
2. To help with mixing, pour in 1 1/2 cups of non-dairy milk in as well.
3. Blend until smooth.
4. Pour mixture into thin Tupperware containers and place in freezer.
5. Enjoy after your Organic Chemistry Exam!

Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Popcorn

Okay this is kind of a cop out for me. “YOU CAN’T CALL IT A RECIPE IT’S POPCORN!!” Yes I can and I will because we’re adding a sweet twist to regular old popcorn. Not to mess with the perfection that is popcorn, but let’s mess with perfection. This only needs 3 simple ingredients. Still got some of the ground cinnamon from earlier? Great! Now all you will need is some pre-popped popcorn, ground cinnamon and a little brown sugar.

1. Portion out your popcorn into 4 small sandwich baggies and place them to the side.
2. In a small container mix together 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon and 3 tablespoons of sugar.
3. Pour in a little of the cinnamon sugar mixture to each bag and before serving, shake the baggies.
4. Enjoy!

Good luck to all of my fellow students going back this semester and thank you for taking the time to read this blog post! I hope that you found at least one of these healthy study snacks to help you do your best this semester. If you have any questions feel free to comment below and subscribe for more ways to make the most of your mini-fridge. – Allison