(Family Features) — The early morning chaos and activity-packed evenings of the back-to-school season can make finding time to connect challenging. Throughout the day, there can be small windows of time that your family can make the most of – even if only for a few moments that matter.

You can make the most of snack time with simple, fun recipe ideas like Harvest Fruit and Oat Energy Bites, which are a quick way to fuel up. Pairing these with an 8-ounce glass of real milk provides protein and essential nutrients kids need to power through after-school home-work or activities.

Snacking recipes are not only easy to make, but also easy to plan. For more tasty on-the-go recipe ideas to try this back-to-school season, and to shop for ingredients, visit milklife.com.

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Harvest Fruit and Oat Energy Bites

Recipe courtesy of Emily Caruso of Jelly Toast, on behalf of “Milk. Love What’s Real.”

Servings: 10, 2 bites per serving
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups rolled oats, divided
2 tablespoons almond nut butter
2/3 cup dried apple rings, chopped (soft variety)
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried tart cherries
2 tablespoons chopped pecans or almonds
1 glass milk (8 ounces each) per serving

In bowl of food processor or high-speed blender, combine milk, 1 cup rolled oats, nut butter, dried apple rings, apple pie spice and salt. Pulse until mixture becomes fairly smooth and holds together when rolled. Transfer mixture to medium size bowl.

Stir in remaining oats, dried cranberries and chopped nuts. Roll mixture into tablespoon-sized balls and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Chill 1 hour, or until firm. Keep bites covered and refrigerated up to 3 days.

Pair each serving with 8-ounce glass milk.