Homemade Energy Bars

I love a good bar.  Since I made the big switch to exercising more and eating less I've looked for a good mid morning snack option. I tried several different bars, some I liked, some I didn’t. So we decided to make our own. 

Here is a recipe that you can as a base and experiment from there. The possibilities are endless.

Preheat oven to 325 F or 160 C 

Wet Ingredients:

1-1/2 bananas, or pumpkin, mashed 

3/4 cup light syrup, or honey, or agave nectar, or any combination you like.  

1/4 cup juice– I use orange/banana/pineapple juice; orange juice is fine

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 egg whites

Dry Ingredients:

3-1/2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup protein powder– we used vanilla flavor

1-1/2 cups nonfat dry milk

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup assorted nuts– we have used almonds, pecans, soy nuts, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds. 

1/2 cup dried fruit– we have used a number of combinations of cranberries, dates, and golden raisins, use what you like! 

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips– these are not necessarily a healthful option, but we like them, a lot. 

In separate bowls mix the wet and dry ingredients. Pour the wet bowl into the dry bowl and mix thoroughly. Really mix it. You don’t want any protein powder bits not mixed up. 

After it is mixed well, drop portions onto a pre-greased cookie sheet. Depending on the size you make the amount of calories will vary. I use a 1/4 cup and this makes around 20-22. I shape them into a bar shape with a couple of butter knives and bake them for 15-18 minutes, or until the edges turn a nice brown color. 

Take the bars out of the oven and place on a cooling rack. They will be soft, but as they cool they will firm up. We put a batch in tupperware before they cooled all the way and this was a mistake. Wait till they are cool! 

Delicious! tastes even better around 10:30 a.m. when your belly is empty! 

Depending on what you put in them and how you portion them, they have a calorie count of around 200, with almost 9 grams of protein. (using the 1/4 cup)

Enjoy. 

Ryan