The Best Road Trip Snack: Grain-Free Blondies Kids Can Pass Back Easily

With all the time spent in the car, we are always looking for something guilt-free to snack on. I’m also a bit picky about what foods are allowed in my car.

I need to make sure it’s easy to pass back to children. It should be something that won’t make a mess of the car, and it should be somewhat healthy.

While I understand how easy fish crackers can be, I’ve been trying to stay away from some of those convenience foods. I’m so happy we stumbled upon these blondies. They are a recipe from Becky Winkler at A Calculated Whisk (olive oil blondies).

Ok, so they probably are not the healthiest option considering they contain sugar, but they are grain-free and dairy-free, which works for us.

We got the whole family involved in baking this morning. They were easy to make. Everything mixed with a fork in one bowl. After combining the wet ingredients, I let my son help with the mixing. They do require a bit of planning before your trip.

It takes about 50 minutes to make and bake, and you will want to leave another hour for them to cool before cutting. You can easily make them the night before. We did crack the top of the blondies trying to get them out of the pan to cool. I thought I had ruined them, but they came back together and held their shape quite well.

We packaged them in a reusable plastic storage container and headed out on our adventure. They stacked nicely and didn’t crumble. We did not need to wrap them individually. The bars worked really well in the car too. We had no problems passing them to the back seat. If you don’t want to use plastic, wrap them individually in beeswax or parchment. When you’re traveling, plan for the least amount of garbage.

We found they were not messy on hands or faces. My two-year-old did need a napkin, but he does with most food. Everyone else was fine. What I loved was how moist they were. You didn’t need milk or water afterward.

I will make these again. They are easy to make and simple to transport. My children asked for seconds, a bonus. But when they’re basically a dessert on the road, who can blame them. For the recipe, see A Calculated Whisk: Olive Oil Blondies. In case you’re wondering, I’m still munching on them as I write this. I can’t get enough.

My Rating (updated 2025-10-09):