10 Easy Apple Treats for Lunch Boxes and After-School Snacks

Fresh apple season hits right when the kids are going back to school. To celebrate these two momentous events, these 10 easy recipes take one of our favorite fall fruits and turn them into easy apple treats your kids will love. We'll share some of our best recipes for apple treats, plus tips on packing these goodies in lunch boxes and for after-school snacks.

Tips for Packing Easy Apple Treats

All of the apple baked goods here can be sliced and frozen for easy storage. Cut and wrap the bars, cookies, and apple breads into kid-friendly portions before freezing so you can simply grab and go in the morning when packing lunches. The individual apple pies are already in single-serving size (so convenient). Frozen treats can act as edible cold packs to keep lunches fresh, too.

If kids have after-school activities, they'll appreciate an extra snack slipped into backpacks to tide them over until dinnertime.

More: 6 Easy Homemade Energy Snacks for After-School Sports

10 Easy Apple Treats for Lunch Boxes and After-School Snacks

These recipes are kid-friendly, delicious, and easy as apple pie to put together.

1. Air Fryer Apple Pies

Everything you love about apple pie but in easy-to-pack-and-eat size. Ready-made refrigerator pie dough makes these fall treats simple to put together.

2. Apple Brownies

Recipe submitter BakerJim shares his mom's recipe with us, saying, "Easy and quick to make. Apples and walnuts are packed into a cinnamon spiced blonde brownie. Always a hit when I bring it to parties. Very moist and great to make in the fall when apples are plentiful." The recipe uses a baking pan, but you can follow Cindy's lead and bake them in muffin tins: "Instead of putting them into one large pan I put them into a muffin pan and they turned out great. I just modified the baking time to 25 minutes."

3. Apple Ladybug Treats

Rope the kids in to help you assemble these impossibly cute ladybug lookalikes, made with apples, raisins, peanut butter and pretzel sticks. If you want to pack these in a lunch box, take a tip from Sarah Jo, who says she soaked her halved apples in a combination of lemon juice and water to keep them from turning brown. Dolphin Panda gives this one high ratings, saying "easy to make, quick and healthy and yummy. A perfect after-school snack!"

4. Apple Toast

You can't go wrong with toasted apples, cinnamon, butter, and a little sugar. Take a tip from Toni, who made this as an after-school treat for her daughter: "What a wonderful and healthy after-school snack. The broiler gently toasted the bread, while the apples were "oh, so tender." I would suggest using an apple peeler/corer/slicer to achieve the very thin slices needed for this recipe." Some reviewers added a little honey over the top, but that might get a little sticky if you're packing it as a lunchtime treat.

5. Apple Squares

Packed with apples and walnuts, these apple snack squares make a perfect treat for a lunch box . Allrecipes reviewer RMRPBUTT raves, "Moist and chewy just like brownies! So yummy and easy to make that I baked these two days in a row for both daughters' school apple festivals. Used 1 whole apple (1 cup diced). Before serving, dusted with powdered sugar to make it look more attractive. Brought home empty plates both nights!"

6. Apple Pie Muffins

If your kids love spiced apples, they'll go nuts for these apple pie muffins, which come together in 15 minutes and are ready in 40. They're a perfect treat for after school or to tuck into a lunch box. Reviewer Jillian concurs, saying "Wow, these are awesome! It's like eating apple pie in a muffin!"

7. Apple Butter Bars

Moist and decadent, these bars feature apple butter and apple pie spice for a fun, seasonal treat. Make your own apple butter if you like, or do as Allrecipes home cook ELIZZIE suggests when she notes, "These are great! I used a chopped Granny Smith apple instead of raisins and made the glaze with apple juice instead of the milk and vanilla. Very moist and apple-y. I also used muffin pans and reduced the baking time."

8. Apple Roll-Ups

Egg roll wrappers are the genius shortcut for these baked roll-ups stuffed with apple-cinnamon goodness. SCDENCHAR says, "This is an easy recipe to do. My whole family loves it, though, my husband likes them fried. This is a good after school snack or appetizer at a cook out."

9. Apple Walnut Bread

A double dose of applesauce and chopped apples makes this whole wheat bread extra moist. Laurita changed things up a bit, saying, "This bread is moist, apply, nutty, and yummy. It improved a lot after a day or two. I followed the suggestions to use half whole wheat and half white flour, and half oil and half applesauce. My cooking time was 60 minutes at 300 degrees. A recipe worth saving, thanks!"

10. Aunt Hazel's Apple Oatmeal Cookies

As if apples weren't treat enough, this old family favorite recipe even includes a drizzle of icing on top. And if you don't feel like peeling your apples first, it's OK—Allrecipes home cook XANXAN didn't either, and says, "Quick and easy, not too sweet. I didn't bother peeling the apples—extra fiber, you know! I also added chocolate chips to half the batch—never a bad idea. A nice way to use cooking apples without the trouble of a pie."