Delicious homemade energy bars filled with nuts, dried fruit, and oats.
When I walk through the “snack” aisle at the grocery store, there are tons of varieties of energy bars. I have tried several that I enjoy and a few that – well – I didn’t. I thought to myself, “These are such a basic food, why not make them myself?” These make great snacks as well as a grab-and-go breakfast!
My version uses the things that I love and is flexible enough that it can be made a few different ways. I’ll share some of those tips below.
To begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
On a baking sheet, spread out 2 cups of rolled oats.
Coarsely chop a cup of walnuts {or pecans or cashews – whichever you prefer}.
Sprinkle the chopped nuts as well as 2 tablespoons of flax seeds over the oats. Bake for 8 minutes.
Sprinkle three tablespoons of unsweetened coconut flakes over the top of the hot ingredients. Bake one minute longer.
Once they are done baking for the final minute, remove them from the oven and turn the heat down to 300 degrees.
While the ingredients are toasting, in a small saucepan combine 1/2 cup of honey and a third of a cup of fresh peanut butter. {You can also use cashew or almond butter in place of the peanut butter}
Add in a tablespoon of coconut oil.
Melt those together over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it is melted, turn off the heat and stir in a teaspoon and a half of vanilla.
Pour your toasted goodies into a mixing bowl.
Add in a half cup of dried cranberries and a half cup of golden raisins. {You can also use dried dates or regular raisins}
Add in 1/3 cup of sunflower seeds {or pumpkin seeds}.
{If you like, add in a half cup of chocolate chips}
Add in your honey mixture and stir it all together.
Pour the mixture into a 9×9 baking dish that is lined with parchment paper.
Press the mixture firmly into the pan. Really pack it down, you don’t want your bars to fall apart!
Bake for 20 minutes or until just golden. Cool the bars in the pan, until completely cooled. This is very important. If you take these out before they are 100% cool your bars will fall apart.
Once they are cooled, lift them out of the pan with the paper, and cut into bars or squares.
Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.
Enjoy!
