Almost every teen has stayed up long enough to hit the midnight mark, whether due to a late-night study session or the all-consuming nature of social media. Being one of those teens, I can safely say that a midnight craving is inevitable. But often I find myself unsure of what exactly I want; seeing as my brain is half asleep. So, I have a few delicious yet easy-to-make midnight snacks in this article.

1: Mug Dessert

Everyone, not just teens, ends up craving sugar. More specifically, the classics: cookies, cakes, etc. However, baking cookies at midnight is not the most practical choice, especially for a teen who needs to get up for school the next morning.

Still, who's to say you can't enjoy a classic chocolate chip cookie? Mug desserts are the perfect solution. These quick and easy bites can be made in just a few minutes. All you need is the basic ingredients for a preferred dessert, a mug, and a microwave.

My personal favorite is a mug cake. They are easy, efficient, and delicious. My go-to recipe is Lauren Allen's Chocolate Mug Cake recipe, which can be found on tastesbetterfromscratch.com.

The recipe calls for:

• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• A dash of salt
• 3 Tbsp preferred milk
• 1 Tbsp canola oil or melted butter
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tsp chocolate chips

Throw that all together and pop it into the microwave for a minute and you've already got yourself a delicious mug cake. You can always add your own supplements to make it your own. Some options could be whipped cream or fresh berries. Altogether this is a great option to quench your late-night sugar cravings.

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2: Waffle Bites

Keeping up with sugar cravings, I have another sugary snack that is quick and easy. Waffles are a staple for breakfast, but who's to say they are strictly for those eight a.m. meals? You can easily make crispy waffle bites with some biscuit dough and a waffle maker. I like to just use the Pillsbury Doughboy dough.

Simply cut small circles of dough and place them in the waffle maker. Let it sit until the edges are crispy, then roll it in some sugar. If you want, you can add cinnamon to make cinnamon sugar waffles. Overall, these bites are perfect for a late-night snack.

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3: Tanghulu

Last on the sugary list is Tanghulu. This Asian dessert is a delicious and surprisingly easy treat to make. Tanghulu is fruit dipped in sugar syrup. Now if you wanted to, you could pretty much “tanghulu” anything, but I tend to like to stick to fruit. (Typically, grapes and strawberries are used.)

To make tanghulu, you should start by washing and cutting your fruit to the size of your choosing. Then set aside and prepare the sugar mixture. To do this you would add two parts sugar - and one part water in a microwave-safe bowl.

Pop that in and microwave for thirty-second increments. While you wait for the mixture to boil prepare an ice bath. Once the mixture has a slight amber tint and is boiling, carefully dip a fork in the mixture and immediately place it in the ice bath. If the sugar is hardened and crunchy then you know it's time to dip.

For this next step carefully dip each fruit skewer in the mixture and then place it in the ice bath. Repeat until you have finished all of your skewers. After about ten seconds or so feel free to take the fruit out of the ice bath and take a bite.

The crunchy sugar combined with the freshness of the fruit is just the thing to quench your cravings. Place the bowl with the sugar mixture in the sink and soak for when you do dishes later. Then sit and enjoy your tanghulu!

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4: Popcorn

Not all midnight snacks have to be sweet and sugary. Sometimes a salty crunch is just what we need. What better salty snack than popcorn?

This is a basic yet essential snack to have on hand. Popcorn can also be modified in several ways to add something extra. For example, you could create your very own homemade caramel corn. This could work with microwaved popcorn or just a bag of Skinny Pop. You could also mix in some M&M's to give it that movie theater feel. Or perhaps you want to stick strictly to savory and decide to add seasonings such as cayenne pepper or paprika. Whatever you choose to do, popcorn will always be a timeless snack.

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5: Granola

Just because they should be quick and easy doesn’t mean midnight snacks have to be unhealthy. Homemade granola is the perfect healthy and nutritious snack. Like popcorn, Granola can be customized to whatever you’re craving that night.

Typically this snack takes thirty minutes in the oven to make; however, I have the perfect way to shorten that long wait. My staple recipe is Food Networks 5-Minute Granola, which can be found on foodnetwork.com.

The recipe calls for:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3 Tbsp salted butter
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• Splash of vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

After you toss all of these ingredients together and roast them on the stove, you’ve created your base. Now here’s where you can get creative. As I mentioned earlier, granola can be customized.

The fun part is you can add pretty much anything you’d like to it. This can range from almonds to fresh fruit or raisins. You could even add chocolate chips or coconut flakes. Whatever you have lying around could be added to granola. That’s what makes this last snack so great.

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Conclusion

These 5 delicious snacks are the perfect way to fight your midnight cravings. From sugary to salty and nutritional granola, there is something for everyone. These recipes being quick and easy will help shorten your cooking time so you can spend more time eating and less time making. So next time you stay up past midnight, be sure to try out one of these treats!