Gluten free baked homemade “Uncrustables” (aka Quick Crusts). Real food fuel, easy to make, healthy, and great for meals/snacks on the go! Kid friendly and vegan Friendly!
I thought about titling this post. .. “How to save money on gas and food.” Or “How start riding your bike more.” Or “How to use real food to fuel your long rides, runs, training.” The fact is, they all fit! Now, I guess I better explain why.
Over the holiday weekend our car died again. And when I say again, I mean for the 4th time. I laughed and even videoed it on snapchat. It’s always better to lighten the mood, right? But then after towing our truck and figuring out how much it was going to cost (again) to fix it, we cried. Okay, not really, but we did have that “oh crap!” moment.
That was until we figured we out a plan!
You see, here’s the thing, my husband (aka the kiwi) is pretty darn good at staying positive and he’s pretty darn good at being able to ride a bike. Praise the Lord!
And if there’s one thing that I’m good at, it’s being able to budget food but still make it good and healthy for us/you. My God given talent here ya’ll!
That being said, my husband has been up at 4:45 to ride his bike to coach swimming then to his other job. He’s getting fitter by the day! I, on the other hand, have been supplying the snacks and fuel. Frugal fuel that is.
Hence this recipe! Homemade “Uncrustables.” The gluten free baked version! Which we also like to call “quick crusts.”
It’s budget friendly. It’s gluten free, but you don’t have to make it gluten free. It’s pretty darn tasty. It’s kid friendly and great for school lunches. It makes great real food fuel for long rides, snacks between meals, lunch and/or breakfast on the go, and even post workout refuel.
Oh, and it put Smuckers Uncrustables to shame. Well… in my not so humble opinion. Nothing against Smuckers, but I just prefer simple wholesome ingredients and homemade. Now, let’s get to the easy peasy homemade recipe.
Before you bake, you will need soft gluten free bread (or other soft bread of choice) and a wine glass to cut our your crusts. Note: Paleo bread will work too (I tried it) but you need to bake it longer.
Homemade Baked Gluten Free “Uncrustables”
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Homemade Baked Gluten Free “Uncrustables”
Ingredients
- 4 pieces soft gluten free bread
- 2 tbsp strawberry jam/preserves or fresh sliced strawberries
- 2 tbsp cream cheese or vegan cream cheese
- Cinnamon
- Butter or coconut oil
(See post for customizable filling ideas)
Instructions
- First layout your bread and place a glass top over each piece until you get pull out a nice circular piece.
- See pictures above for this demonstration.
- Coat one side of each piece with a ½ teaspoon or so with butter or coconut oil
- Place your filling in the middle and place other circular piece of bread on top.
- Wet your hands a little bit and then press the two pieces of bread together and pinch the edges together.
- Place on cookie sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes or so at 350F.
Notes
see vegan and other food combos below. You will need to find a soft bread for this. I used gluten free white bread. I’ve also tried it with paleo bread and it works well but had to bake longer.
Save the crusts for a casserole filling.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
Other healthy uncrustable sandwich fillings to try!
- Raspberry Or Strawberry Preserves with Cream Cheese or Dairy Free Cream Cheese – As seen above. This is great for breakfast, post workout fuel, lunches, etc.
- Nut Butter, Banana, Honey – Great for grab and go fuel. Long rides, runs, between activities/sports, lunches, etc. (Vegan friendly)
- Cheese and apple or fig – A sweet savory combo great for post workout, lunches, snacks, rides, etc.
- Black Bean and hummus – Definitely a great vegan snack/lunch option or post workout fuel. Great source of fiber and protein!
- Dates and Peanut butter – Great for fuel or breakfast on the go, in your pocket, snacks, vegan friendly, and kid friendly
So many more options! Be sure to always combine two or more REAL FOOD ingredients that will bind together well before baking.
Bonus points — The sweet versions of these uncrustables freeze well. Plus you can save the crusts to make Hatch Green Chili Bake! I’ve done that twice already. Never waste food, right?
So that’s my story. How gluten free homemade “Uncrustables” came about. All because our car broke down and we decided to make a plan!
Live, learn, adjust, eat, sleep, repeat. Or something like that, right?
Cheers to Weekend! And if you see my husband out there riding, hand him some lemonade.
Favorite sandwich filling?
But wait, there’s more! This recipe is part of our 10 BEST OF FOOD ALLERGY FRIENDLY LUNCH BOX IDEAS.
Head on over to the page to check out more recipes!
Cheers,
LC
Can you post a bread recipe that will work with these? I tried your other recipe and the pieces weren’t square enough…
which one did you use before? I found that Canyon house bread is larger and works great for a GF version.
I used this one:
https://www.cottercrunch.com/best-homemade-dairy-free-gluten-free-bread-recipe/
Trying to make my own bread…
just emailed you! let me know if you got it.
I love this recipe! I always enjoyed uncrustables but this one looks even more delicious. The cream cheese instead of the pb is a fun twist too. I am all about healthy meals on the cheap 🙂
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!
I love how simple and delicious these are. And I love how they don’t include any crust because… ain’t no one got time for that nonsense. The cream cheese and jam combo is my… err… jam 😉 And banana/nut/honey is just perfection. So much love.
This reminds me of when my kids were little and I used cookie cutter shapes to make their sandwiches. They were probably teens before they ate a square sandwich haha
And now my wine glasses can be duel purpose.
you know it!
What a bummer about the car 🙁 car troubles are the worst!! We try to be mentally and financially prepared for them, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
I’ll take any excuse to have more PB&Js in my life. Esp if there is no crust involved 😉
Aww friend SO sorry about the car, that totally sucks 🙁 So glad the Kiwi is good at keeping positive and riding his bike – genius short term fix yes?! and these are the perfect fuel and snack. Brings me back to childhood! I want to try it with fig and honey or cream cheese and raspberry jam!
Love this! So creative and these look so much yummier than regular uncrustables
not gonna lie, they are way better. haha. And chemical free! WOO!
Chicken and avocado OR banana and nut butter ! Ps I love when you write a story with the recipe!
You do? haha i love you for that.
You know what Lindsay? I read your story about your car breaking down (again!) and how you laughed then cried (not really!) then how you are taking all the positives out of it with your husband having to ride to swim coaching then his other job…and how you make fuel snacks for him…
You guys have such a great attitude to life. You’re totally “my kind” of people. 🙂 Good things happen to good people – that’s my mantra!!
Love these snacks, doing some major sharing, people need to see these! N x
you are too good to me! Love your kindness! <3 and thank you for sharing
what a fab idea, Lindsay! I’ve never seen anything like this before, but I love it. They’re like toast macarons. My favourite-sounding filling is the dates and pb … mmmm!
P.S. Really hope you get your car fixed (again!) Although it sounds like you’re keeping fit!
Oh yes! great comparison. Love macaroons!
I love sandwiches….You can never go wrong with peanut butter and jelly! It is so simple and so darn good. These sandwiches are so stinking cute! XOXO
Legit I bought the packaged ones and ate the whole box- They were tiny! I want these please- Extra PB!
totally! you’d like these better anyway.
I love this! We’re perpetually on a tight budget because my car died this year. Biking wasn’t an option bc of my job, so hello car payment, and hello tighter budget. My 4 year old will be all over these. I’m also loving your more adult filling combination!
every cloud a silver lining – no car = fitness reigns supreme! In reality I am sure having no car would be a total nightmare. This is a great portable snack!
PB&J is definitely my favorite! I love this idea and will be using it for my boys! 🙂
Can’t go wrong with this classic combo! Love the use of the wine glass! 😉
By far the best part about this recipe is using the wine glass…a girl after my own heart 😉
um, yes. you know it! Mwah! and cheers!
Good for you for taking a bad situation and creating a delicious solution! I have never had the store bought uncrustables. I don’t think I’m missing much; your version looks MUCH better.
And I’m with Meghan about giving that wine glass double duty.
Yum! I love pb&js and these would be perfectly packable for some hikes or quick fuel after a long run.
I’m sorry to hear about your car! Good thing you’re resourceful – and biking to work is so good for the environment as well! I love your positive attitude!
Im so sorry you guys are having so much car trouble! But on the brighter side, THIS RECIPE MADE MY DAY. Uncrustables were my jam, and I will definitely be whipping these up very soon!
and you just made my weekend! <3
What an adorable idea! I am so in love with PB&J (always have been!) so these look amazing to me.
Love love love. These sound amazing. And yay for the Kiwi getting in his bike riding! The Hubs and I were just talking about how we need to get back on it. And speaking of Hubs, he would love these. However, I’m sure he would eat like 5-6 at time – he usually eats at least 2 pb+j in 1 sitting! Oy, feeding men!
I’ll take one PBJ and one pickle and peanut butter on rye.
Wait… do they make gluten free rye?
So I’m sending up prayers for God to bring something together on the car situation, you know he can weave for good. Are you going to fix it or try and work something out? 4 times? Sheesh.
um, i’m trying to be a supportive wife and letting James decide on the car. He has a hard time letting go of that truck.but i think it’s bad luck. LOL!
p.s. pb and pickles is on my list yea!! and did you try Udis new rye bread? IT IS AMAZING!! thanks for prayers. love you
Right after I read this one, I read your pear on rye toast, LOL. Doh!
I don’t always read blogs, but when I do I read a whole week’s worth at a time.
And PS that toast looks delicious.
Oh man these look delicious. I am so hungry!
Now if only store-bought GF bread was actually normal size 😛
Canyon bakehouse is the one that I found worked really well. It’s soft and has bigger pieces. Oh and Udis is now at Costco and has the large pieces. So that works too. Now I just need other brands to get on board ha ha
Must have been a bad week for cars. Dan’s died too. And mine is stuck in our driveway already dead. lol (luckily I am in a rental for my leg anyways because my car is shift). SO we feel your pain! luckily his car is back in business and we’re praying I won’t cry when we get my car to the mechanic! If we could bike to work, totally would!
The joys of adulthood! lol. I think we need some uncrustables and then flip the wine glass over for a fill up!
Let’s catch up soon!
you know it. Wine and dine me! haha.
The Uncrustables used to be my favorite lunch in junior high- this recipe takes me back- classic!
flashback friday!
uncrustables bring back so many good memories for me! I need to make them myself now since I won’t touch those ingredients now! These are so cute 🙂
i know, right? memories are the best with food! haha
Oh man, Lindsay. That stinks about your car! Kudos for staying positive. 😉 And of course, these little uncrustables look so cute, and delicious. I bet they are such a fun snack!
thanks friend! the sandwiches help my mood. haha
Oh man so sorry about the car.So glad the hubs is pretty amazing at bike riding though, he’s a trooper. I never had the commercial version, but I’m kind of a fan of the crust. However, that fig and cheese option, I would eat that all day long. This looks like such a fun snack for kiddos too!
Cheese and jam are such a magnificent combination, so I have not doubt these taste amazing.
Sorry to hear about your car! But I am delighted that you chose to use a wine glass to cut out each circular piece of bread. The wine glass must have been just to hand when you were having a little glass for recovery after the car incident? 😉
you read my mind! cheers!
These are so much fun! I know my kids would love them.
Sorry about the car–you are definitely resourceful!
I’m so sorry about your car! I finally bought a new one last month after a lot of trouble with mine. Love these little sandwiches and the fact that you baked them is perfection!
I have seen those at stores but never tried it..this is clearly a better version 🙂 Hope the car situation gets figured out soon 🙁
I love the idea of using the crusts for your Hatch Chili Casserole. Homemade croutons would be another awesome use.
Also, I feel like so long as the wine glass is out, we should put it to work too, maybe with a drink. 🙂
you know me so well. 😉
Send me your crusts! that is my favorite part!!
but i must use them for my casserole! how about you come here and i share?
PB sandwiches on my long rides/post ride/any time are my favorite. But I actually like the crust… so I may just make these crust intact.
you so can! they stay more fresh when baked so it’s great for riding
So perfect Lindsay! I’ll definitely bring this along to afterschool activities 🙂 my kids prefer peanut or almond butter but actually they might like cream cheese with this too. Besides, crusts are always handed to me anyway, this works out for everyone!
i love the cream cheese one. I bet your apples would be great in there too!