No time to make a sandwich? No problem. Grab some grain free sunbutter and jelly bars from the freezer and an allergen friendly lunch is ready in no time.
We’ve been back to school for exactly one week. And I’m already sick of packing lunches. Anybody else?
In all honesty I don’t mind it *too* much. But it sure is nice when I have some easy things to pack that are filling and nutritious.
Skip the nuts.
Of course I’m always conscious of allergies too. So while peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are about the easiest thing to make I don’t pack them in my daughter’s lunch (even though she is not allergic to nuts).
Recently I started using sunbutter in place of nut butters. My kids love it! I love that I don’t have to worry about them getting nuts on their baby sister when they eat it. Plus I can send it to school without potentially causing another child harm.
That means my daughter does get sunbutter sandwiches once in a while. They are easy and delicious.
Skip the bread.
But there is something even easier!
Grain free sunbutter and jelly bars are easy to make, easy to pack and easy to eat. You get the added bonus that you don’t have to worry about making or finding decent bread! This is especially key if you are gluten, grain or anything else free.
To make the dough simply dump all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix. The “jelly” filling is just three ingredients pureed in the blender for thirty seconds.
Then pour, bake and eat.
Skip the long lunch prep.
I like to make a big batch so I can keep a bunch in the freezer. Then packing lunch is easy and has virtually no preparation. In fact kids can pack it themselves!
A sunbutter and jelly bar paired with veggies and dip and some fresh fruit is a great lunch. Or you can really boost the nutrition factor by pairing it with a thermos of your favorite soup. My daughter loves split pea!
Change the flavor.
Let your kids pick the jelly flavor. Strawberry is a favorite here. But raspberry, cherry and blueberry all work well.
If your kids don’t like jelly then you can make the bars without the filling. It will be like a sunbutter and honey sandwich.
Are you in need of another easy lunch component to add to your rotation? Skip the sandwich. Go for grain free sunbutter and jelly bars. They are sure to be a hit!
Don’t need to pack a lunch? Serve them for breakfast. Kids love them any time of day.
- 1/2 cup sunbutter
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 2 eggs (or flax or gelatin eggs)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cane sugar
- 1/2 tsp. unrefined sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1 cup fruit (strawberry, blueberry, cherry, raspberry), thawed and drained if using frozen
- 1 1/2 tsp. grass-fed gelatin
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- Heat oven to 350*F. Grease a 7x11 baking pan.
- In a large bowl combine all of the bar ingredients. Beat until well mixed.
- Spread half of the dough into the greased pan.
- Blend the filling ingredients in a blender until pureed. Pour the filling over the dough in the pan. Spread.
- Pour the remaining half of the dough on top of the filling.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- Allow to cool. Cut into bars.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to one year.
- White rice flour can be substituted for tapioca. It will no longer be grain free.
- The eggs can be replaced with ground flax seeds.
- You can also assemble the bars by pouring all of the batter into the pan and pouring the filling on top.
- Any nut or seed butter will work in place of the sunbutter.
Would this recipe work with almond or peanut butter?
Yes, Heather! See the notes in the recipe 🙂
Love this recipe. So easy when you need to pack lunch.
Super kid-friendly! I’m sure my kids are going to love them. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing them at Savoring Saturdays. They were the most popular post from last weekend’s party, so we’re all featuring them this weekend! 🙂
Awesome, Raia!!! Thanks so much. I hope you enjoy them.
Baking in the oven as I type. I had to replace the flour withoat flour, and used my home jam for filling. I will tell you how it turns out. This is my 6th week gluten free, so a good desert would be awesome!
Thanks,
Destiny
I hope they turn out for you, Destiny! And good luck with the gluten free diet. It is hard to get started, but once you are used to it it’s not bad at all.
equal amt of almond flour, do u think? i think coconut flour mite be rly good here too but i gotta figure how much…and prob add an egg. im going to try to double it for a 9×13 pan too, with my crew this would be a tease lol
love the idea of this recipe even for nonallergenics!
You’ll have to play around and see. Let me know how it works out!!
Can I do this recipe without the gelatin?
You could try, Kara. But the fruit part might be a bit messy. Maybe skip the honey and pureeing and just add whole fruit? That might work.