Our best lunchbox fillers

"We’ve pulled some great lunchbox fillers together that tick all the boxes, easy to make, low in sugar and you know it will keep your children going all day long."

If you are searching to fill lunch boxes (for the kids or for yourself) with something tasty, full of fruit or vege and fibre, search no more. We’ve pulled some great lunchbox fillers together that tick all the boxes, easy to make, low in sugar and you know it will keep your children going all day long. With the option of changing out different ingredients, you can find your favourite combination or mix things up to keep it interesting.

The wonderful Kearin from Wellington Bakehouse has shared some of her favourite lunchbox recipes with us for you to enjoy too (head over to her site for some delicious inspiration).

Kearins’s Nacho Muffins

Ingredients:
280 grams (2 cups) flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
100 grams tasty cheese, grated
half a small capsicum, diced
1/2 cup corn kernels (straight out of the freezer is fine)
1/3 cup black beans (I used rinsed canned ones)
1 small chorizo sausage, diced (approx. 1/3 cup of dice)
50 grams butter, melted
1 large egg
250 mls (1 cup) milk

Method:

Mix the flour, baking powder and spices in a large bowl. Give them a whisk to make sure there are no flour lumps. Add the cheese, veges and chorizo and stir to mix.

Melt the butter in a bowl or jug that will hold at least 2 cups. Whisk the egg into the butter with a fork followed by the milk. Mixing the egg and butter first makes it less likely to split.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold until just combined. Divide the mixture into a regular (12 cup) muffin pan. Use it all up even if they seem overfull.

Bake for approx. 20 minutes until risen and golden brown on top. The muffins should spring back when pressed in the centre.

Use any veges you have, add a few herbs if you like them - even swap the chorizo for shredded leftover roast chicken.

Recipe from Wellington Bakehouse.

Savoury Pinwheels

Ingredients:

Flavour options:
Cheese & Bacon/Ham
¾ cup bacon or ham, diced
½ cup Tasty cheese, grated

Spinach & Feta
2 cups spinach chopped
1 cup feta crumbled
½ cup Tasty cheese, grated

Pesto, tomato & olive
2 tablespoons basil pesto (this will replace the tomato relish/sauce from the base ingredietns below).
½ cup olives – finely chopped or sliced
¾ cup chopped tomatoes – fresh or sundried

Base ingredients:

50g Westgold butter
3 cups flour (self-raising)
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cup milk (keep ¼ cup aside for glazing)
½ cup relish or tomato sauce (swap this out if using the pesto variation).
1 cup grated cheese
2 tablespoons herbs (such as mixed herbs or parsley)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220ºC and line a baking tray with baking paper.
In a large bowl sift the flour and salt together.
While butter is cold, grate it into dry ingredients mixture. Then rub the butter into the mixture.
Make a well in the centre and add the grated cheese and herbs. Then pour 1 cup of the milk in (keeping 1/ 4 cup aside).

Using rounded edged knife, quickly mix together just until a soft dough forms. Don’t overwork the mixture.

Place the mixture onto a lightly floured surface or board and bring together into a rectangle – about 35 x 25cm and 1 cm thick. Make sure you don’t over-handle the dough as it will become tough.
Brush the edges with milk.
With the back of a spoon, spread the relish/sauce over the dough. Scatter over your selected toppings.
From the long edge, roll the dough up into a tight roll. Cut into 2cm slices and place on the baking tray.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden and risen.

Muesli Bars

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, chopped apricots or dates)
1 cup cereal (any combination of crushed weetbix, cornflakes, rice bubbles, muesli)
150g Westgold butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon golden syrup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°c. Line a baking tin (approx 20 x 27cm) with baking paper.

Place all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add the egg, melted butter and golden syrup to the dry ingredients and mix well. If the mixture appears dry, you can add a little more Golden Syrup (or honey) to help the mixture bind together to prevent it crumbling after baking.

Press into a prepared baking tin and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden.

Leave to cool in the tin, then slice. Keep in an airtight container.

Cheese & Bacon Scones

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
80g Westgold butter – chopped/grated
1.5 cups milk
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup finely chopped bacon

Method:

Preheat oven to 220°c.

Mix dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, then cut in grated butter until it has the consistency of bread crumbs. Once completed, stir in the cheese and bacon.

Add milk and mix into dough. Knead dough and spread on baking tray.

Cut dough into equal sized pieces and space on tray.

Bake for 10 minutes until golden.

Kearin’s Pumpkin, Honey & Cinnamon Bread

Full of sneaky vegetables – this one will become a household favourite for sure.

Head over to Wellington Bakehouse for the recipe.