Coffee snacks are food items that we commonly enjoy alongside our coffee. They can include pastries like croissants, muffins, cakes, scones, and doughnuts. Having your coffee with a complimentary snack satisfies hunger between meals and often enhances the overall taste experience of coffee.
On the other hand, we are more aware of our food choices nowadays, and healthy eating has become a lifestyle choice for many of us. Thus, pairing our coffee with healthy snacks like granola bars are options we can choose from.
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Why Healthy Coffee Snacks Are a Better Option
While traditional snacks are enjoyable when taken in moderation, incorporating healthy options into your coffee routine can promote better health and well-being in the long term.
Here are some great reasons to consider healthy coffee snacks over pastries and cakes.
Nutritional Value
Healthy snacks like nuts and fruits provide essential vitamins, protein, and dietary fiber, offering various health benefits. These include aiding digestion and providing antioxidants.
Additionally, foods like whole wheat have complex carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats that make you feel full for longer and prevent high blood sugar. You can find out more on healthy coffee sweetener on our blog.
Weight Management
If you are mindful of your weight or are in the process of shedding weight, healthy snacks make a better option for taking with your coffee. They typically have lower calories, unhealthy fats, and added sugars, helping you achieve your weight goals. You can find out more about healthy coffee syrup and healthy milk alternative on our blog.
Another way to maintain your weight is through portion control. Healthy snacks with high fiber, protein, and healthy fats can help you control your cravings and excessive snacking by providing satiety.
Long-Term Health Benefits
Consuming healthy snacks with your coffee can contribute to your overall well-being in the long run. A diet rich in whole grains, fiber, proteins, fruits, and veggies can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
Furthermore, nutritious snacks can enhance your physical health by increasing energy levels and improving your mood and mental well-being.
Healthy Snacks for Coffee Inspiration
Pairing your coffee with healthy snack options is a great way to nourish your body with nutritious ingredients while enjoying the beverage. Here are some popular snacks you can try out with your coffee.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds, such as almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, roasted pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds, make excellent companions for coffee as they offer many health benefits.
You can get raw nuts and prepare them yourself or buy them online from brands like Planters Deluxe Mixed Salted Nuts. It features five different nuts roasted in peanut oil and seasoned with sea salt.
Similarly, you can get packed ready-to-eat seeds from brands like Go Raw. The Go Raw Mixed Seeds features organic sunflower, pumpkin, and watermelon seeds, sprouted to increase nutrition and make them more digestible.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate is one of the most popular pairings for black coffee as it compliments the taste with sweetness and offers several health benefits. These include lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, and some types of cancer and helping prevent blood clots and high cholesterol.
On the other hand, chocolate has high calories, so we recommend consuming a small amount (one or two squares) with your coffee.
Also, opt for dark chocolate varieties with at least 70% cocoa content, such as Trader Joe’s 72% Belgian Dark Chocolate Bars, to enjoy its nutritional benefits.
Homemade Energy Balls
Energy balls are sweet, easy-to-make snacks with healthy ingredients, typically enjoyed with coffee or as a stand-alone treat. These treats often feature dates, nuts, oats, seeds, dried fruit, and other mix-ins like protein powder to boost energy and satiate your hunger between meals.
Moreover, energy balls are a low-calorie option for weight watchers and are full of nutrients from whole foods and superfoods to help build muscle mass. They are easy to make at home by blending the ingredients until they form a thick paste. Roll the paste into balls and firm them up in the fridge.
Plus, you can combine the ingredients in different variations to your preference.
Caffeinated Snacks
Caffeinated snacks are treats made with organic coffee along with other wholesome ingredients. Eat Your Coffee brand offers a variety of coffee-infused energy snacks made with natural ingredients, such as dates, oats, and nuts, flavored with chocolate, peanut butter, or salted caramel.
The bars are similar to energy balls and granola bars in their composition but contain the caffeine equivalent of one cup of coffee. Thus, you can get your caffeine fix without drinking coffee and satiate your hunger with these snacks.
Homemade Granola Bars
Granola bars are another popular healthy snack option for coffee lovers as they provide a convenient source of nutrition and energy.
Unlike energy balls which use dried fruits like dates as the primary ingredient, granola bars, like the Nature Valley Chewy Fruit and Nut Granola Bars, typically incorporate whole grains like oats as the base ingredient.
Other ingredients may include nuts, seeds, dried fruits, honey, maple or corn syrup, and flavorings such as chocolate chips and spices.
Granola bars are also easy to make at home, where you mix them in a blender, shape into bars and bake or refrigerate them, depending on the ingredients used.
In this Well-Plated video, Erin Clarke shows you a delicious and healthy homemade granola bar recipe:
Savory Coffee Snacks
Savory snacks are food items with a salty or spicy flavor, enjoyed as a stand-alone snack or part of a meal. While coffee often goes with sweet snacks, there are a couple of savory snacks that make delicious flavor combinations with coffee. They include:
Baked Savory Goods
These include savory muffins, scones, and pastries. Muffins and scones made with cheese, herbs, bacon, and veggies give an interesting flavor combination with coffee.
Quiche, empanadas, and puff pastries filled with savory ingredients like cheese, mushrooms, meat, or spinach also make excellent accompaniments to coffee.
Deep-fried pastries like samosas and spring rolls are popular snacks in various cuisines that pair well with coffee.
Savory Bitings
Cheese, whole grain crackers, nuts, and seeds are other tasty options for pairing with your coffee. Cheese and crackers have a rich and salty taste that contrasts with the bitterness of black coffee.
On the other hand, nuts and seeds prepared with spicy herbs like garlic, chili, rosemary, and tamari are great for boosting your energy and helping with weight management.
Savory Biscotti
Biscotti is an Italian cookie with a distinct oblong shape and a dry and crunchy texture, ideal for dunking in coffee and other hot beverages.
Classic Italian Biscotti, such as the La Dolce Vita brand, goes through a double baking process giving it a crispy taste and firm structure that doesn’t crumble when dipped in coffee.
It features sweet ingredients like almonds, chocolate, or dried fruits. However, it may also include savory flavorings like citrus zest and anise that make unique flavor combinations with coffee.
How to Pair Snacks With Coffee
You can pair your hot coffee with several coffee snack options, but you must balance flavors to enjoy the taste experience. Thus, one needs to consider the flavor profile of the coffee to determine the best choice of accompaniment.
For example, if your coffee is bold and robust, consider pairing it with subtle flavors from snacks like oatmeal cookies. Conversely, savory snacks will go well with nuanced flavored brews to create a harmonious balance of flavors.
On the other hand, you could also complement or contrast the flavors to make a delicious combination. A rich chocolate-flavored coffee will taste amazing with nutty-flavored snacks, while dark chocolate can minimize the bitterness of strong coffee.
Overall, the taste is subjective, and what works for one person may not be delicious for another. The goal of pairing is to have a balanced interplay of flavors between the coffee and snacks to enhance your eating experience. Therefore, experiment and try different combinations to see which you prefer.
Conclusion
Coffee snacks are food accompaniments enjoyed with coffee, usually between meals, for energy and to reduce hunger. They can vary widely depending on cuisine and taste preferences.
But, with health and fitness becoming the norm, most people now prefer healthy coffee snacks over traditional options like chocolate chip cookies to improve their nutrition and well-being.
While healthy eating has long-term benefits, we recommend balancing your treats according to your dietary requirements and taste preference.
