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When it comes to homemade snacks, we've agreed to three criteria in our house: They need to taste just as good as store-bought (or better!); they need to be made with ingredients we can pronounce; and they need to be easy to make. Oh, and it helps if our homemade versions cost less, too.

Impossible? You might be surprised!

We started making our own versions of favorite snack foods as something of an experiment. Given the rising cost and increasingly complicated ingredient list for most of these items, we thought we could certainly come up with homemade adaptations that were just as good. We played around with different recipes until we finally landed on some munchies we could be happy with.

Our three favorite snacks — potato chips, chewy granola bars and cheesy cracker sandwiches — can be made almost entirely from ingredients that we normally keep stocked in our kitchen. Turning pantry staples like oatmeal and brown sugar into kid-approved snacks can be done with minimal fuss in less than an hour. Throw them in a backpack (or a briefcase) on the way out the door, and have them on-hand when hungry kids get home from school. The granola bars and crackers also keep for several weeks, so we found that making a double batch saves time down the road.

These recipes can also be adapted to adult tastes and whims. Want to fancy-up some potato chips? Try shaking on some herb salts or adding a sprinkle of chili powder. If the granola bars are a little sweet for your taste, some toasted nuts and dried fruit make a great addition.

Hip, cool and pretty darn healthy to boot, these are some snacks you can feel good about giving your family.

Crispy Microwave

Potato Chips

Serves 1

1 medium-sized waxy red-skinned potato, scrubbed clean with the peel left on

Table salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Layer three paper towels on a microwavable plate. Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut the potato into slices 1/8 to 1/4 inches thick. Arrange the slices on the plate in a single layer so that no slices overlap. If the slices don't all fit, do two batches. Brush each potato slice with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt.

With your microwave set to its highest power, cook the potatoes for three minutes. Flip the slices over. Reset your microwave to medium power and cook for another three minutes. Flip the slices again and continue microwaving at medium power for one-minute intervals until the chips are dry and snap in half when bent.

Let the chips cool for one minute before serving. They keep in an airtight container for up to one week.

Chewy Chocolate Chip

Granola Bars

Makes 12 bars

1 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)

1 cup puffed rice cereal

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips, divided

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F. Spray an 8- by 8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Spread the oats on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Pour toasted oats into a large mixing bowl and add the rice cereal. (Note: If supplementing with other ingredients, make sure total "granola" ingredients equal about 3 cups so the proportion to the sugar mixture stays the same.)

Reduce oven to 300 F.

In a medium saucepan off the heat, stir together the brown sugar, honey, vanilla, butter and salt into a thick paste. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook without stirring until the sugar has dissolved, about two minutes. Pour the sugar mixture over the oats and rice cereal, and stir with wooden or metal spoon until the grains are completely coated. Add 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and stir until the chips have just barely melted.

Turn the mixture into the baking dish and pat flat with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top and gently press them into the bars with your palms. For soft granola bars, bake for 5 minutes. For bars that are firmer, bake for 10 minutes. Allow bars to cool completely in the baking dish before slicing.

Chewy granola bars can be kept in an airtight container for up to three weeks.

Cheesy Cracker Sandwiches with Peanut Butter

Makes approximately 75 cracker sandwiches

8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

4-6 tablespoons water, if necessary

3/4 cup peanut butter

In the bowl of a food processor, mix the cheese, flour and salt together in brief pulses until the cheese is crumbled and coated with flour, about 10 1-second pulses. Add the butter and pulse until a dry dough has formed, about another 10 pulses.

Turn the dough out onto a clean countertop. If it's not holding together, sprinkle the dough with two tablespoons of water and squeeze it between your hands until it comes together into a ball. Try not to overwork the dough. Sprinkle with additional water as necessary.

Divide the dough into four pieces and shape each one into a thick log. Wrap the logs individually in plastic wrap or wax paper and freeze for a half hour. (At this point, the logs can also be frozen for up to one month and then thawed in the refrigerator before baking.)

Pre-heat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Working with one log at a time, roll the log in its wrapping against the counter until it lengthens into a 9-inch rope about 1 inch in diameter. Remove wrapping. Slice the log into 1/4-inch coins and place them on the baking sheet with about an inch between each coin.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden and darkened in spots. Let the crackers cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining logs.

Once completely cool, make sandwiches with two crackers and 1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter.

Cracker sandwiches can be kept in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Emma Christensen is a writer for The Kitchn at the Web site Apartmenttherapy.com. She lives in Jamaica Plain, Mass.