When you want a mid-morning or mid-afternoon pick-me-up, nothing satisfies like a sweet yet healthy snack.
And I think you’ll find so many good ideas among these 20 recipes that you’ll have trouble choosing a favorite.
From Fruity Quesadillas, with a sweet center of diced fruit and cream cheese, or Easy Popcorn Trail Mix, which combines popcorn, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and dried strawberries into an irresistible crunchy treat, there’s something for everyone.
So, pack some of these every day and and you’ll never have to worry about being tempted by the vending machines again.
Enjoy!
Picture courtesy of gillty pleasure
This Greek yogurt snack doesn’t require a spoon. Instead of layering everything into a bowl, the yogurt, berries, and granola are added to a popsicle mold.
To make the base, simply thin out the yogurt with a bit of milk, and freeze one-third of it with sliced raspberries inside. Add granola with more yogurt, chill in the freezer, and then layer in with more berries. Fill with the last third of the yogurt mixture, and let harden completely.
After a couple hours’ patience, you’ll be rewarded with a frozen yogurt parfait on a stick.
Serves 2
Ingredients
6 oz. nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt
1/3 cup low-fat milk
6 raspberries
4 1/2 tsp. granola
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 109
Protein: 11 grams
Carbs: 20 grams
Fat: 4 grams
Picture courtesy of MyFitnessPal
Think it’s too tough to make an incredible dessert from scratch? Then you haven’t tried granita, which is like a quick sorbet starting with whole fruit.
There’s no ice cream maker required. Make a simple syrup by dissolving sugar in simmering water, and then puree that with fresh strawberries – or a pound of other fruit. Spread out the mixture in a thin layer, and set in the freezer, occasionally stirring with a fork to break up the pieces.
When finished, the granita will have a texture like an icy snow cone but made from real fruit.
Serves 3
Ingredients
1 lb. fresh strawberries
1 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 Tbsp. coconut milk
1/3 cup pistachios
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 179
Protein: 3 grams
Carbs: 24 grams
Fat: 7 grams
Picture courtesy of My Darling Vegan
There’s nothing wrong with having chocolate as a snack – literally.
Not only is it hailed for being an awesome source of antioxidants, but also contains fiber, copper, and iron. And although it’s high in fat, cocoa powder may lower the risk of cholesterol clogging your arteries.
Of course, when you get your chocolate fix it doesn’t hurt to add some other superfoods as well like dates for fiber, brown rice for protein, and maca for extra vitamins.
Serves 12
Ingredients
1/2 cup cashews, soaked 2–4 hours
1/2 cup walnuts, soaked 2–4 hours
8 large Medjool dates, pitted
2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. chocolate maca protein powder
2 Tbsp. cacao nibs
2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 205
Protein: 6 grams
Carbs: 26 grams
Fat: 10 grams
Picture courtesy of Saveur
With an egg and a touch of honey, you can transform ricotta cheese into a delicious custard.
It’s not quite a cheesecake – think even simpler than that. And since it’s not as sweet, you can serve it as an appetizer or dessert. Either way, what turns this into an outstanding snack to kill your sweet cravings is the cherry compote on top.
If you’d rather not make one from scratch, warm up your favorite fruit preserves to spoon on top.
Serves 6
Ingredients
Baked Ricotta:
1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese, drained overnight
3 Tbsp. pure honey
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 large egg
Cherry and Orange Blossom Compote:
1 cup cherries, pitted and halved
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 tsp. orange blossom water (optional)
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 165
Protein: 8 grams
Carbs: 21 grams
Fat: 6 grams
Picture courtesy of Nutritious Eats
A traditional trail mix has peanuts, almonds, and dried cranberries. While that’s a good combo to take on a hike or fuel your endurance workout, it’s not always the sweet snack you’re craving.
Pick another fruit and nut, such as strawberries and walnuts, and you’ll have a different flavor profile. And because this uses popcorn, you can eat several handfuls instead of a small 1/4 cup – the recommended serving size for most trail mix.
Serves 4
Ingredients
6 cups popcorn
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
3/4 cup dried strawberries
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 178
Protein: 7 grams
Carbs: 14 grams
Fat: 12 grams
Picture courtesy of Super Healthy Kids
For a quesadilla snack, you might go with just tortillas and cheese. However, then you’re missing out on an opportunity to fill the inside with more nutrition. That can be meat or veggies, but for a sweet treat, give this quesadilla a try.
Mix together diced fruit and cream cheese, and then divide between the tortillas. Fold in half, and pan-fry the fruit quesadillas until the outside begins to brown.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup orange slices
1/2 cup diced mango
8 small whole-wheat tortillas
1/4 cup light cream cheese
Cooking spray
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 203
Protein: 4 grams
Carbs: 32 grams
Fat: 8 grams
Picture courtesy of Peanut Butter Plus Chocolate
Can you eat cheesecake in the middle of the day and call it a healthy snack?
Don’t swing by The Cheesecake Factory on your lunch break, but if you make a protein-packed dessert at home, you can definitely bring a slice to work – just be sure to clearly mark that it’s yours so it doesn’t go missing from the fridge.
And when you bake a protein cheesecake, be sure not to leave it in the oven too long. To keep it moist, the center should be firm but not fully set when it’s removed from the oven.
Serves 12
Ingredients
1 container (15 oz.) low-fat ricotta cheese
1 container (8 oz.) fat-free cream cheese
1/4 cup egg whites
2 scoops WHEY+ vanilla protein isolate
1 Tbsp. tapioca flour
1/2 tsp. stevia
1 container (5.3 oz.) nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp. mini chocolate chips
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 154
Protein: 12 grams
Carbs: 5 grams
Fat: 10 grams
Picture courtesy of Get Off Your Tush & Cook
Although you can buy apple chips in the store, the markup in unbelievable. These are easy to make at home without a dehydrator, and by taking on the task from scratch, you can choose the variety of apple you like, plus the seasonings.
While you’re at it, whip up a delicious dip so this becomes a healthy version of the potato chip party snack – only with a whole apple per serving.
Serves 3
Ingredients
3 apples
Pinch of salt
Ground cinnamon to taste
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter (or almond butter)
1 tsp. pure maple syrup
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 187
Protein: 5 grams
Carbs: 30 grams
Fat: 7 grams
Picture courtesy of The Creative Bite
This two-ingredient dessert is really easy to make.
The only tools you need are a plastic bag and a spoon or spatula. Mix together the peanut butter and whipped topping, scoop into the bag, and cut off a small piece of one corner. Now it’s possible to pipe out the peanut butter whipped topping into bite-sized pieces, and freeze for an hour.
Store in an airtight container for up to two months.
Serves 24
Ingredients
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 container (8 oz.) Fat-free Cool Whip
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 47
Protein: 1 gram
Carbs: 4 grams
Fat: 3 grams
Picture courtesy of Offbeat and Inspired
You won’t believe how easy it is to upgrade a simple grapefruit to an amazing snack or even a wholesome dessert.
Slice it in half, sprinkle sugar on top, and place cut-side-up in a high-heat baking dish. Then the citrus fruit goes under the broiler for about five minutes to bring out depth of flavor and create some caramelized notes.
Top with yogurt and cinnamon, and grab a spoon to dig in.
Serves 1
Ingredients
1 grapefruit, halved
2 tsp. turbinado sugar (or honey)
1/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
Ground cinnamon to taste
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories:137
Protein: 7 grams
Carbs: 29 grams
Fat: < 1 gram
Picture courtesy of Yummy.ph
Panna cotta is the most popular no-bake dessert in restaurants because it’s easy, adaptable, and can be made ahead of time.
It’s essentially a quick pudding with cream, a touch of sugar, and gelatin to set it. And like whipped cream, it’s delicious enough to improve everything it’s paired with. Panna cotta takes less than a half hour to make, not including the chill time, yet the result is a gourmet dessert.
This one adds a few tablespoons of Nutella to make it truly irresistible.
Serves 8
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups milk, cold
1 envelope (3 tsp.) powdered gelatin
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup Nutella
Pinch of salt
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 173
Protein: 3 grams
Carbs: 15 grams
Fat: 12 grams
Picture courtesy of Cut and Jacked
These healthy chocolate cookies only require five ingredients to make – and one is water. Because this is so simple, changing even one ingredient can throw a wrench in the recipe.
These cookies work best with pea protein or rice protein powder, both of which are lighter and create a silkier texture than whey. That’s not to say that you can’t make chocolate chip cookies with whey, just that these aren’t the ratios to use.
In that case, it’s wiser to start with your favorite recipe (like Nestlé) and substitute half the flour with whey protein powder.
Serves 8
Ingredients
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup filtered water
Pinch of sea salt
1/3 cup chocolate pea protein powder
2 Tbsp. stevia-sweetened chocolate chips
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 76
Protein: 5 grams
Carbs: 3 grams
Fat: 5 grams
Picture courtesy of Power Hungry
Walk right by the prepackaged pudding mixes in the grocery store, and grab a can of pumpkin puree instead. That way, you can make a much richer pudding in terms of both nutritional content and flavor.
It’s still luscious and creamy thanks to the pumpkin, meaning you can use low-fat or non-dairy milk without worrying about this dessert becoming lackluster. Now only is it super chocolatey, but this protein pudding is also low in sugar with just 3 grams per serving.
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 can (15 oz.) unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (2 scoops) WHEY+ chocolate protein isolate
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
Sweetener to taste (optional)
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 82
Protein: 11 grams
Carbs: 10 grams
Fat: 1 gram
Picture courtesy of Protein Pow
This is like a slice of carrot cake and a healthy smoothie – all packaged in one awesome cookie.
There’s lots of cake flavor from the fresh carrots and coconut butter in the dough, plus bright orange juice and zest in the icing make the ingredients sing. Yet you’ll get better macros than any cake or smoothie.
With whey protein hidden in both the dough and the icing, each cookie has 10 grams of protein in less than 90 calories.
Serves 12
Ingredients
Cookies:
1/2 cup (2 scoops) WHEY+ vanilla protein isolate
1 cup cooked carrots, mashed
1/4 cup coconut butter
Pinch of sea salt
2 Tbsp. shredded coconut
Icing:
1/2 cup (2 scoops) WHEY+ vanilla protein isolate
2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp. orange zest
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 81
Protein: 10 grams
Carbs: 4 grams
Fat: 3 grams
Picture courtesy of DAMY Health
The original Creamsicles might not put a big dent in your diet with just 100 calories, but where exactly are those calories coming from?
Since the main ingredients are nonfat milk and water, the bulk of the popular frozen treat is sugar, corn syrup, and high fructose corn syrup. Basically they’re all added sugar. There’s orange juice but no whole fruit.
This recipe, by contrast, starts with real oranges that are blended with Greek yogurt, cashew butter, and vanilla protein powder.
Serves 8
Ingredients
3 extra-large oranges
1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. pure honey (or 6 packets stevia)
1/4 cup cashew butter
3 scoops WHEY+ vanilla protein isolate
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 169
Protein: 14 grams
Carbs: 21 grams
Fat: 4 grams
Picture courtesy of EatingWell
These glazed strawberries are upgraded. Rather than using corn syrup to coat the fresh fruit, this recipe infuses the strawberries with orange liqueur like Grand Marnier.
Of course, you can use orange juice instead for a little less flair. And if you’re on a low-sugar diet, use half a teaspoon of stevia in place of the sugar.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)
1 tsp. lemon juice
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 73
Protein: 1 gram
Carbs: 17 grams
Fat: 0 grams
Picture courtesy of Jamie Corso
Once you have a bowl of plain popcorn, the sky’s the limit as to how to flavor it. Seasonings can definitely make that bowl of popcorn disappear real quick, but if you want to boost the protein, you can actually add whey powder to the mix.
This recipe also uses peanut butter, strawberry jam, and honey to make a popcorn ball that’s sweet and satisfying.
Serves 8
Ingredients
10 cups air-popped popcorn
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup low-sugar strawberry preserves
1 scoop peanut butter marshmallow whey protein powder
1 bag (18 g) cocoa-roasted almonds
2 Tbsp. chocolate chips
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 221
Protein: 9 grams
Carbs: 25 grams
Fat: 11 grams
Picture courtesy of Anto’s Kitchen
Think you have to toss that bunch of bananas? When they’re mostly brown instead of yellow, the fruit is actually perfect for certain recipes like banana bread or these fritters.
Turn an overripe banana into an indulgent snack in about ten minutes with a bit of flour, sugar, and oil. The amount of fat varies depending on the temperature at which the fritters are fried. Aim for 350 to 360 degrees Fahrenheit so the banana appam crisp up without getting soggy.
Serves 7
Ingredients
1 ripe banana
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 oz. (about 1/3 cup) water
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 167
Protein: 2 grams
Carbs: 40 grams
Fat: 1 gram
Picture courtesy of Snack Girl
Enjoy everything you love about sweet potato casserole – only with less sugar and less prep time.
This healthy dish replaces the marshmallow topping with creamy vanilla yogurt, so you still get that savory-sweet combo without the overload. Not quite a pudding, it’s more of a baked sweet potato snack with a dollop of Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
To make it a little sweeter, drizzle on pure maple syrup to taste, and add toasted walnuts to take it over the top.
Serves 1
Ingredients
1/2 medium sweet potato, baked
1/4 cup nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. sliced almonds (optional garnish)
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 120
Protein: 7 grams
Carbs: 17 grams
Fat: 3 grams
Picture courtesy of Power Hungry
Most of the ingredients in this recipe will seem familiar: baking soda, an egg, a cup of sugar, and oil. The one big difference is what elevates these cookies from dessert to a wholesome snack.
The base of this dough is quinoa flour. It’s slightly higher in protein content and has 20 grams fewer carbs per cup when compared to whole-wheat flour. And if you can’t find it in stores (or don’t want to order online), make your own using dry quinoa and a coffee grinder.
Serves 40
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups quinoa flour
1 Tbsp. cornstarch (or arrowroot powder)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup natural cane sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups par-cooked quinoa, cooled
Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)
Calories: 64
Protein: 1 gram
Carbs: 9 grams
Fat: 3 grams
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That means you can say “yes” now and decide later. You really have nothing to lose.
Many companies use shipping and handling fees to increase their profit margins, but here at Legion, we hate profits, so our shipping is free!
Okay, so we do dig on profits, but we also go in for happy customers, and free shipping works like gangbusters. So, if you’re outside the USA, your order ships free when it’s over $299.
Why the restriction on international orders? Unfortunately, shipping abroad is very expensive, and if we didn’t require a minimum order size, we’d lose a lot of money. But! We're also hustling to improve our international logistics and will be passing our savings along to our international customers.
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