6 late-night snacks you know shouldn't eat

I don't want to turn this into a "we've all been there" cliche but that's what it is. We have indeed all been there, late night, you just got home, you're tired but want a snack and you definitely don't feel like cooking.

So what I thought I'd do is list 7 fast and/or simple foods, although if I were being honest I'd just call it junk food (which is what it is), you can indulge into after midnight very, very occasionally.

Potato chips

Photo by Ryan Quintal on Unsplash

Photo by Ryan Quintal on Unsplash

This is bad. A bad, bad idea. Potato chips, or any other sort of bagged chips, is basically the definition of empty calories. Nothing good comes from eating chips except that they're very good, by which I mean tasty.

Sea salt and vinegar are my favourite, by a country mile, but you also might wanna try paprika, cheese and/or cheese and onion. Or sea salt and vinegar. Please send help.

Buy all the chips. All of them.

Peanuts, almonds and cashews

Photo by Juan José Valencia Antía on Unsplash

Photo by Juan José Valencia Antía on Unsplash

Cashews, almonds and peanuts aren't actually that bad for you. It's basically sugar, salt and good fats. You can't exactly thrive or survive on a diet of cashews but you can definitely have some from time to time. And you should. Not.

If you're back home after midnight and in the mood for a quick snack, you either go to sleep and have breakfast in the morning, as you probably should, or eat almonds, cashews and peanuts. Which is the next best thing, I guess. Sort of.

Go nuts for nuts.

Chocolate

Photo by Caglar Araz on Unsplash

Photo by Caglar Araz on Unsplash

Ah here we go. This is the epitome, the essence of "not after midnight" food. Chocolate can be good for you, for example a couple of hours before a workout, especially dark chocolate (so I've heard) but this is on a different level.

This is all about coming home after dark and helping yourself to a chocolate bar with weird and intriguing elements like orange or pepper or truffles. Or coconut or liquor or licorice. Or stevia or basil. Is that even a thing? Apparently it is.

Get your cocoa fix.

Peanut butter

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I feel like most Europeans swear they don't like peanut butter, but they do. I personally like peanut butter (in small doses) because it combines salty with sugary and sweet. It's soft and swirly, works with toasts or cookies. Or your fingers.

Watch out because peanut butter is basically all fat, providing your body with a week worth's of calories. So take it easy, eh.

Who needs six jars of peanut butter? You need six jars of peanut butter.

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

So yeah, ice cream might not be the healthiest food for you, but it's a damn sight better than most junk food / fast food you can eat after midnight, and definitely a lot better than most other things I've mentioned here.

There is actually a world of difference between quality ice cream and cheap commercial ice cream. And there is also a galaxy of difference between, for example, chocolate or whipped cream ice cream, and strawberry or lemon ice cream. I should know. I come from the place that invented it.

Panettone

Photo by Massimo Adami on Unsplash

Photo by Massimo Adami on Unsplash

Well, it's that time of the year after all. Christmas is only a couple of weeks away so perhaps it's time to start shopping for Panettone. Panettone (Italian for "big bread") was invented in the early 1900s in Milan and it's a type of sweet bread loaf traditionally popular around Christmas time.

The original recipe included flour, candied fruits and raisins. For some reason, a lot of people seem to have a personal "beef" with candied fruits which is why other variants with chocolate, cream, cream + liquor or just raisins (without those damn candied fruits, yo) are becoming more and more popular.

Munch through a classic 1kg Panettone.