Energy Bars – made from home with love

Energy bars are expensive and don’t contain all of the healthy goodies that I like packed into one bar, but these have it all (in my opinion)!  I have combined a few recipes and like the results of this combination.  By making these myself, I get all of the the stuff that I like, and it saves me a little money along the way PLUS I just prefer things homemade because I can add a touch of love which just makes things taste better.  This recipe made 30 bars and the batch probably cost about $10 (give or take) to make.

Here are some of the healthy ingredients:

Here’s what you do:

In your food processor, combine:

1 c.dried fruit (I use half crannies and half raisins)

½ c. almonds (maybe a bit more)

½ c. flax seeds

2/3 c. sunflower seeds

See all the good stuff here?

Chop this to a course consistency, then add:

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

3 c. oatmeal (I use the old fashioned cook kind, not instant)

½ c. wheat germ

Give this another whirl to combine like this:

In a large bowl, mix together:

1&1/2 c. natural peanut butter

1 c. honey

(This picture turned out weird.  I mixed it in a big white bowl.)

Dump your dry ingredients into the peanut butter/honey mixture along with:

½ c. mini chocolate chips (of course, chocolate makes everything better!)

Mix all of this together with a wooden spoon or your (clean) hands.

Pack the mixture together, and shape into about 30 bars (depending on the size you prefer).  Do you notice that my energy bars look like my kitchen counter?  Trust me, they really tast better thatn my counter though. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.  I bake everything on a Silpat baking sheet so that nothing ever sticks.  Without a Silpat, I would spray my baking sheet first.  These do not puff-up or expand so you can cram a bunch on your baking sheet.

Bake, cool, and package into individual little treats.  I put them in a freezer bag in my freezer for later.  YUM!!

Although these are made from “good fats,” they still contain about 275 calories and 17g fat each.  This translates to about 2.5 miles of running at a 10 minute mile pace to burn off, so eat accordingly.  They obviously contain a substantial amount of protein and carbohydrates as well, but I’ll let you figure that part out for yourself because I forgot to. :) Last summer, I ate one or two of these for my breakfast before my Sunday long runs.  They sat very well in my tummy and gave me sustained energy.  (FYI: I never tested these past a 10 mile run, so cannot make any claims beyond 10 miles.  On a side note, running 10 miles burns over 1,000 calories!  I think it’s fun seeing the calorie counter on my watch hit 4 digits; I’m a number geek like that.) 

Happy, healthy, and homeade eating!