The Art of Cuisine

Healthy Snacks for Everybody

These recipes are practically the Holy Grail of acceptable school snacks—suitable for the "allergy classrooms" at your child's school: no meat, no wheat, no dairy, no berries, no nuts. If only you'd found them sooner!

Safe Healthy Snacks

• Oatmeal Crisps recipe —Flourless, crunchy oatmeal cookies with a little bit of chocolate thrown in for good measure. If you are looking for a dairy-free cookie, you can omit the chips or seek out chocolate that has no milk solids and finely chop.

• Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies recipe —Perfect for kids (or anyone) who is allergic to peanut butter. Just check the label to be certain the sunflower seed butter wasn't processed in a plant that also processes peanuts. These are also gluten-free.

• Corn and Coconut Muffins recipe —Coconut takes the place of flour in the lightly sweetened muffins, while

buttermilk keeps them nice and tender. Angel flake coconut is what you'll typically find on the supermarket shelf-no need for a trip to the health food store. These will freeze successfully; wrap well and keep frozen up to 3 months.

• Snack Mix recipe — This savory take on a classic makes a great classroom snack. If you know your audience and that like things a little spicy, add a touch of chili powder or cayenne to the mix before baking.

• Fruit Power Bar recipe —The jury is out about oatmeal and gluten, although it seems that most people who are gluten-intolerant can handle oats. But if oats cause a problem these bars are for you. Quinoa flakes are gluten-free in addition to containing a fair amount of protein. Look for quinoa flakes in health food stores and some specialty shops.