The 7 Quickest No-Bake Treats for School Events

We've all been there. It is nine p.m. and your child nonchalantly alerts you to the fact that it is their turn to take something for school bakers day, the very next day! Or perhaps you know it is your turn but you are simply too swamped with... well... life to create a Pinterest-perfect culinary artwork.

At this point, between two kids, it feels like I have to send eats to school every second week between bakers days, school cake sales, end of term parties, birthdays and even extra-mural functions. There is no way I am able to break out the Martha Steward bells and whistles every single time I am required to make something, so I have acquired an extensive artillery of quick and easy options for such eventualities. 

Here are some of my quick and easy favourites:

POPCORN:

This one is cheap and anyone can do it. I have a great popcorn machine but microwaving popcorn seeds in a sealed brown paper bag works just as well. You can add any colour or flavour you want, or even mix with sprinkles or other sweets and serve in individuals bags or popcorn buckets.

RICE CRISPY TREATS:

Melt rice crispies and marshmallows together and shape into anything under the sun. Decorate as desired. A super cute and easy idea is to stick the treats on ice-cream sticks so that they look like ice-creams and then decorate.

MARIE BISCUIT TREATS:

If you are in a hurry, this is an easy cheat. All you need is some Marie biscuits, icing and sweets of your choice to decorate. I make a simple glace icing using icing sugar and adding a few drops of water at the time until I have a firm but pliable icing. Then I add food colouring (it is normally best to split your icing into smaller bowls so you can create individual colours) and perhaps some flavoured essence. Then you can decorate, either using a spatula or piping the icing, depending on how much time you have. Your decorations can be very simple (just flod with sprinkles and sweets) or incredibly intricate. I have successfully created ladybugs, Minions, spiderman designs, Mickey Mouses (using one large Marie biscuit and two miniature ones for ears) and flowers. You can individually wrap each one if you want to look like you put some effort into it.

FUDGE:

This one is great as it can be made quite far in advance (so working moms can make it over the weekend to be served later in the week). Mix 125g melted butter, 2 cups castor sugar, 1 tin of condense milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence. (You can also add in chocolate, nuts or cherries). Microwave on high for ten minutes, stopping to stir after every thirty seconds. Allow to cool slightly (be careful, it is really hot!) and then pour into a greased square tin. Cut into squares once set. You should get about two dozen pieces from this recipe.

MARSHMALLOW POPS:

Stick two or three marshmallows on a skewer, dip in melted chocolate and decorate as desired. (Find a more detailed recipe here.)

MILK AND COOKIES:

I have seen one mom send a package with a few Oreos, coupled with a small carton of milk for each child. Genius- no effort at all! She presented each one in a cute little box so it looked very appealing. Find out if there are any lactose intolerant kids first though! 

TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC:

Take one Barni cake bear and decorate using melted chocolate or icing and sweets to highlight the bear's features. (You will need to buy enough bears for each child so this might not be the most cost effective option but it is an easy one).

What are your favourite bake cheats? Please let us know!