Homemade Energy Bars

Homemade energy bars are simple and easy to make with just a couple of natural ingredients. Most pre-packaged snack bars, granola bars and power bars are full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, soy, dairy, glycerin and other refined ingredients.

Why is Homemade Better?

A couple of brands are sugar free and use all natural ingredients, like LARABAR. So those are a great option in a pinch. But they are often not organic and can be very expensive. By using your own organic ingredients, you can make a fresher, organic bar that saves you money!

By making your own bars, you can also adjust the nutrition and flavor. For example, you can choose between raw and roasted nuts. Raw nuts retain their digestive enzymes and wholesome, earthy taste while lightly roasted nuts have an enhanced nutty flavor that some people prefer. You can also adapt the ingredients in these bars to create your own delicious flavors of fruit, nut and spices.

Dates Sweet Dates!

Dates are the primary fruit in homemade energy bars because they are nutrient dense, naturally sweet, and sticky for holding the bar together. With only 23 calories per date, this sweet nugget is packed with more potassium than bananas and full of B Vitamins, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, minerals including iron, and fiber. They are great for regulating blood sugar and satisfy even the biggest sweet tooth. Use whole dates - not the diced kind.

Here are our favorite recipes for homemade energy bars – use these variations and tips to come up with your own flavors. For a very quick treat, just take your pitted dates and stuff each with an almond!

Recipes

Chocolate Coconut Energy Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup dates, pitted, whole
½ cup raw almonds
¼ cup raw walnuts
2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
2 Tablespoons raw cacao powder

Directions:

Put the dates into a food processor and blend into a coarse, chunky paste.
Add the nuts and blend until coarse – you should still see nut pieces.
Transfer to a bowl and mix in the shredded coconut and cacao powder.
Take a handful of the mix and press it very tightly in your palm, squeeze it together in a ball until it sticks, then begin to form it into a 2 inch roll.
Press the roll onto a baking sheet and form into a bar. Lightly dropping it onto the sheet and turning will help to form a flat surface on each side of the bar. Press the ends gently with the palms of your hands.
If you choose, roll the bar in coconut to keep them from sticking together when stacked. Or simply cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to pop into a lunch box, purse or back pack!

Makes 6 bars

You can use the basic ratio of 1 cup of unsweetened dried fruit (dates, raisins, apricots, cherries, etc.) to ¾ cup of nuts or seeds (almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds) to create your own flavor base.

When using fresh fruit, like kiwis and bananas, increase the ratio of nuts to dried fruit making it 1 cup to 1 cup. These bars are stickier, so put them in a “warm” oven for 1 hour to dry them.

For the following recipes, use the basic directions given above for the Chocolate Coconut homemade energy bars.

Cinnamon Raisin Bars

3/4 cup dates, pitted, whole
¼ cup raisins
½ cup almonds
¼ cup cashews
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Ginger Spice Bars

1 cup dates, pitted, whole
1/2 cup raw almonds
¼ cup raw pecans
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Kiwi Lime Bars

1 cup dates, pitted, whole
½ cup raw cashews
½ cup raw almonds
2 Kiwis, peeled (add last to the food processor)
2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
3 teaspoons fresh lime juice (can also use grated lime zest)
*dry in warm oven for 1 hour

Banana Bars

1 cup dates, pitted, whole
1 cup raw almonds
2 bananas
*dry in warm oven for 1 hour

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