Most snacks that you can buy at the store can be made at home, with better quality ingredients, and they almost always taste better, too! These recipes are all a part of our viral social media series, "Better Than Store-Bought", where we share homemade versions of our favorite store-bought snacks, restaurant meals and more.
We do our best to recreate these recipes as closely as possible when it comes to taste, but we leave out the artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.
Homemade Cheez-Its
Cheesy, crispy, and salty, these homemade Cheez-Its taste just like the real thing. They're super easy to make with just 5 ingredients and a super simple process.
Homemade Freeze Pops
Whether you called them Otter pops or freeze pops, nothing screamed summer like opening up your freezer and seeing packs of those multicolored ice pops! These homemade freeze pops bring back that nostalgia, but they leave out artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.
Homemade Sprite (Lemon Lime Soda)
You only need 4 ingredients to make your own homemade Sprite (lemon lime soda) that's packed with fresh citrus flavor! It's super refreshing, bubbly, delicious and easy to make. When it's this easy to make your own soda with fresh ingredients, that trip to the store seems unnecessary!
Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts
These homemade strawberry pop tarts are SO much better than store bought. They're made with a real fruit filling and have a delicious buttery and crispy crust.
Homemade Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts
These homemade brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts are SO much better than store-bought! With a flaky, buttery crust, a delicious brown sugar cinnamon filling and a glaze that sets up perfectly, you'll never want to buy them from the store again.
Homemade Fruit Snacks (Gummies)
With fresh fruit and just 3 other ingredients, you can make homemade fruit snacks that are chewy, delicious, and packed with real fruit flavor. This recipe also works for homemade gummy worms, gummy hearts or gummy bears!
Strawberry Fruit Leather (like fruit roll ups)
This homemade strawberry fruit leather looks just like the childhood snack you remember, and it's super easy to make with just 5 all-natural ingredients.
Homemade Fig Newtons
These homemade fig newtons are soft, chewy, and absolutely delicious. This recipe is super easy once you get the hang of it, and these cookies are so, so worth it. They're sophisticated, fruity, and the perfect treat for on-the-go snacking.
Homemade Goldfish
These homemade goldfish crackers are cheesy, crunchy, and amazingly addictive. They're also pretty simple and fun to make, so it's a fun activity to do with kids. You only need a few basic pantry ingredients, and you can cut them into any shape you'd like!
Gummy Peach Rings
With fresh peaches and just 4 other ingredients, you can make homemade gummy peach rings that are chewy, delicious, and packed with real peach flavor.
Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt Nut Bars (KIND bar copycat)
These homemade Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Nut Bars are crunchy, the perfect combination of salty/sweet, and delicious. They have fewer than 10 ingredients, and the recipe is super simple and easy to follow. If you love KIND bars, this is the recipe for you!
Homemade Gatorade
On a sweaty summer day or after a hard workout, nothing beats this homemade gatorade. Each flavor is packed with fresh fruit juice for flavor, coconut water for electrolytes, and a touch of salt for more electrolyte-boosting refreshment.
Homemade Grape Soda
You can make your own grape soda at home with just 5 ingredients and no expensive equipment. It has less sugar than store-bought, with no artificial sweeteners, colors, or additives!
Homemade Egg McMuffins
Skip the drive-through and make these homemade Egg McMuffins instead for a freezer-friendly breakfast that you can reheat as needed! They're made with homemade English muffins, eggs, cheese and sausage or bacon of your choice.
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Bars (Perfect Bar copycat)
It's so easy to make protein bars at home! Each of these Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Protein Bars has about 15g of protein, and they taste just like chocolate chip cookie dough!
Homemade Strawberry Nutrigrain Bars
With a lightly spiced strawberry date filling and a delicious, soft, subtly sweet whole grain dough, these homemade Strawberry Nutrigrain Bars are SO much better than store-bought! These are low in added sugar, but still super satisfying, and great for on-the-go snacking.
Homemade Nutella
This homemade Nutella is ready in 10 minutes and only requires 5 ingredients. It has half the sugar per serving when compared to store-bought Nutella and contains no added oil or dairy. Plus, it tastes just as delicious!
Homemade Ritz Cheese Cracker Sandwiches
These nostalgic copycat Ritz Cheese Cracker Sandwiches are delicious! With a buttery, crisp homemade cracker and an easy, 3-ingredient cheddar cheese filling, these are much easier than they look. These cracker sandwiches are mini, just like Ritz Bits!
Slice & Bake Sugar Cookies
Remember those slice and bake cookies from your childhood that came in a tube? These homemade slice and bake heart cookies are surprisingly easy to make, taste better than the original, and are free from preservatives and artificial coloring.
Homemade Butterfingers
These homemade vegan butterfingers are just like the candy you know and love – crispy, buttery, rich, and coated in chocolate. They're quick and easy to make and perfect as a kid and adult-friendly Halloween treat!
Homemade Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt
Fruit on the bottom yogurt is one of our favorite breakfasts: tangy yogurt swirled with fresh fruit is a great way to start your day. So why not make it at home? This Homemade Fruit on the Bottom yogurt is easier than you think, and tastier and cheaper than store-bought.
Homemade Graham Crackers
Learn how to make homemade graham crackers with simple ingredients and easy steps. Crisp, sweet, and infused with warm cinnamon flavor, this recipe tastes just like the store-bought versions you know and love - and might be even better!
Homemade Ritz Peanut Butter Cracker Sandwiches
With two crisp and buttery crackers sandwich crackers and a peanut butter filling, these copycat Ritz peanut butter cracker sandwiches look like the real thing and taste amazing.
Fancy Fruit & Nut Crackers
These gourmet fruit and nut crackers are packed with dried fruit and nuts, but are still super crispy and crunchy. They're the perfect addition to any charcuterie board or for snacking!
Homemade Orange Soda
If you love orange soda, you'll love this 3-ingredient homemade version even more! It's super refreshing, bubbly, delicious and easy to make.
Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch
You can make cinnamon toast crunch cereal at home, and it's way better than what you get in the box! This homemade cereal is crisp and crunchy (even when it's soaked in milk) and it has that trademark cinnamon sugar coating. Better yet, it's surprisingly easy to make, with fewer than 10 ingredients.
Homemade Blueberry Pop Tarts
Our homemade strawberry and brown sugar cinnamon pop tart recipes are some of the most popular on our website (for good reason!), so we knew we had to include these homemade blueberry pop tarts in our first cookbook, Crowded Kitchen! They're made with a flaky, easy 4-ingredient crust, a tart blueberry lemon filling and a beautiful, naturally colored icing. These are so much better than store-bought!
Homemade Frosted Animal Cookies
These adorable pink and white frosted mini animal cookies are made with just 11 ingredients and the pink frosting is naturally colored with strawberries. Even better, the dough is easy to make and they can be cut into any shape, but circus animals are extra cute! Kids and adults alike will love these.
Homemade Granola Bars
These homemade granola bars are sweetened with dates instead of regular sugar, but still have a satisfying chewy texture. We made four flavors: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Almond, Blueberry Cashew and Apple Cinnamon. It's so easy to customize these and they can be made vegan, gluten free and nut free!
Homemade Cottage Cheese
All you need is a half gallon of whole milk, a few tablespoons of white vinegar, a little salt and a splash of cream. No culturing, no special equipment, and no waiting overnight!
Casey says
Thank you for all of these phenomenal recipes - I really enjoy your content!
Mónica Magalhães says
Thank you so muck for share with the people who dont know cook 🙂 i like these ideas so muchhh
Fabri says
Veramente interessante con tante ricette sane!!!!
Arleen Mae Dyrud says
All this looks delicious and healthy. I am getting many great grands and I want them to grow up healthy. This is a start. Thank you.