There’s a time of day when the 4 year old should have had a nap, but now if you lay him down he won’t sleep tonight. It’s the time of day when he sees his sister’s chocolate protein bars that are tucked away in her closet, so her brothers and sisters won’t eat them, and she can have them for after her pointe class. The time when he brings the box to her with his big baby eyes and says, “Can I have one?” And she has to say, “no” because if he gets one then they all will want one and she won’t have what she needs for dance class.
Then his cute little lip sticks out, and big alligator tears trickle down his cheeks and your heart breaks and melts into a pile of enabling goo. And you know if you don’t do something, that sad little moment will turn into a kicking, screaming, thrashing, a “oh why didn’t I give the toddler a nap?”, moment.
When this happens, I take him by the little hand. And put a spoon in it. Then we pour honey, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and oats in a pan and wait for the magic to happen.
Snack Balls
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup quick oats
Place honey in a saucepan over medium high heat. Stirring until it is very runny. Turn off the heat and add the peanut butter and cocoa powder, stirring until smooth. Add oats and stir until mixture forms a dough. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and let cool for a few minutes (or don’t.) Eat right away and store the leftovers (there won’t be any) in an airtight container. Then cuddle your boy with a good book.
Gonna try this quick snack for sure! Especially on the missed nap days! And I love that you hide your daughters snacks in her room from the others. Great way to save money ;o)
This sounds so yummy and easy. Oh, if only I had had it when my son was little. Thanks for sharing!
Very tasty. My husband is a big fan of no bake cookies. He said these are a great substitute. I LOVE the fact that they are much healthier with honey instead of sugar.
This is such a great snack for my ever-hungry, sweet-toothed children 🙂 I especially love that you can make these into any size. They are a great, bite sized snack that travels easily. thank you!
today my toddler has woken up at 4 and now is napping from 7-9. I am thinking this may be a very timely post this afternoon. Thanks Angela
… now any ideas of how to keep mommy from eating the rest??? ;0)
Mandy, Lol sounds like you need more children :). I made the recipe small so each of the kiddoes cou00ld have 2 and none left for me. But each ball is only 130 calories about the same as a cookie.
I can’t wait to try this recipe this afternoon. I have 5 kiddos and one of them has been on an elimination diet for 6 weeks and can’t have honey but I’m going to attempt this with agave necter. I think it will work… Thanks for all your great recipes to keep my always-hungry kids satisfied and healthy 🙂
My son is allergic to peanuts so we made these today with sunflower seed butter. They were very tastey. Thank you for the recipe 🙂