Apple Boats with Peanut Butter and Crunch

Ingredients

• 2 Apples
• 1 tbsp juice Lemon
• 4 tbsp Natural peanut butter
• ¼ cup Old-fashioned rolled oats, toasted
• 2 tbsp Raisins
• 2 tbsp Sunflower seeds
• ¼ tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp Dark chocolate chips (optional)
• 1 tbsp Unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Method

1. Cut each apple into six thick wedges and take out the core edge. Toss the wedges with the lemon juice so they do not go brown — this matters if they are going in a lunchbox.
2. Spread peanut butter along the cut side of each wedge. A butter knife or the back of a spoon works.
3. Put the oats, raisins, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and anything else out in small bowls.
4. Everybody loads their own. The peanut butter is the glue and the toppings are the decision.
5. Eat straight away, or pack them cut-side up in a container with a paper towel underneath.

Notes

✨ The restaurant touch

Toast the oats in a dry pan for three minutes first. Raw rolled oats on peanut butter are chewy; toasted ones are a crunch, and it takes no time at all.

🧒 For the kids

The whole thing is the kid tweak. The only adult job is cutting the apple, and after eight or so most children can do that with a table knife on a soft apple.

🌿 From the garden

Ohio apples come in from late August through October, and the tart ones are much better here than the sweet ones.

🥡 Leftovers

Best fresh. Lemon juice buys a lunchbox a few hours.

Per serving

Computed from USDA FoodData Central values. A planning tool, not medical advice.