Raspberry Almond Lunch Box Waffles + 5-day School Lunch Meal Plan

Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables is super important …and our kids should be no exception to this rule! So let’s start the school year off right by packing a wide variety of colorful produce in our children’s lunches – and I am not just talking about a rotation of apples, grapes and carrots.

Today we are talking about a fabulous (colorful) fruit option that holds up really well in the lunch box, and that’s berries! Not everything looks appealing after being tossed all around on the way to school, but I think berries hold up beautifully and they also work well in recipes, which is why I am excited to partner with Driscoll’s on this post. And let’s face it, berries by themselves are basically one of nature’s fast foods with no chopping or peeling required.

If you saw my recent post on “Thinking Outside the Sandwich,” you know that I’m all about coming up with some creative ideas other than just the predictable PB&J to keep your kids interested in trying and eating real food. So I think you’ll be excited about this new berry recipe below – Raspberry Almond Lunchbox Waffles! You can send it as-is with a yogurt or maple syrup dipping sauce, or spread some organic cream cheese on the waffles to make it into a sandwich. My daughters absolutely love this variation, and I love feeling like I am packing something fun and different instead of an old stand-by.

And I know you’ll especially be excited about this one …we added this new waffle recipe to a free 5-day school lunch meal plan that we developed just for Driscoll’s. It’s simple (no fancy skills required) with a super cute visual to help get your kids excited about their real food school lunches! Here’s a tease below – be sure to click on the image to download the full meal plan from the Driscoll’s website:

What is your favorite way to pack berries in your kids’ lunches?

Raspberry Almond Lunch Box Waffles

Course: Breakfast, Lunch

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 6 waffles

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Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 1 tablespoon butter melted
• 1 banana ripe
• ½ cup raspberries fresh, and halved
• ¼ cup almonds sliced
• pure maple syrup for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat the waffle iron.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Make a well (hole) in the center of the flour mixture and drop in the eggs, milk and melted butter. Stir to combine.
4. In a separate small bowl mash the banana with the back of a fork. Carefully fold the banana into the batter along with the raspberries and almonds.
5. Cook the waffles according to manufacturer directions and either serve warm with pure maple syrup or use the waffle pieces as “bread” to make a cream cheese sandwich for the lunchbox.

Recipe Notes

We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.