Fruit and Vegetable Snack Bars

Let me let you in on a little secret. A secret ingredient that is. Pureed fruits, specifically applesauce, are often used as a fat replacement in baking— because baked goods are traditionally higher fat and calorie foods. But what happens when you do ANOTHER swap. Swapping the plain old applesauce for something like VEGETABLES. Can you guess what’s in these fruit and vegetable snack bars?!

My friends at Happy Tot helped to inspire this recipe by sharing their newest products, the Love My Veggies pouches. These new pouches are available exclusively at Target stores, as part of Target’s Made to Matter program. What I love about Happy Family and their products is that they are realistic about feeding families. They GET what the mealtime struggle is like. Especially when it comes to veggies.

Here are some fun facts about the new Love My Veggies products:

• Love My Veggies organic tot snacks are the first toddler pouch to contain one full serving of vegetables
• In addition to one full serving of vegetables, these pouches provide essential nutrients including Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron and Magnesium to help nourish toddlers’ growing bodies
• Love My Veggies pouches are available in three great-tasting varieties:
  1. Banana, beet, squash & blueberry
  2. Carrot, banana, mango & sweet potato
  3. Spinach, apple, sweet potato & kiwi

Ok back to the recipe. Now as you can see by the images in this post [and Instagram and Facebook—if you’ve been following me], Joey LOVES the new Love My Veggies pouches on their own. They are a staple in his diaper bag as they are perfect for on-the-go snacking. Last week we were on the road quite a bit [two-4 hour drives to be exact] so I wanted a snack that was hearty enough to keep his little belly full without having to make pitstops for food. The fruit and vegetable snack bars did just that!

Want to save this recipe for later? PIN it! Here’s another secret: Swap out any of the flavor pouches for a pouch you have on hand. Any flavor works great— think of the bars as a base!

See what I did there? I just don’t want you to miss out on this awesome recipe… WHICH can be made with any of the Happy Family Happy Tot pouches. Your toddler will thank me!