Last weekend Dionne and I took our nephew out to the Rockies for a beautiful day hike. One of the things we needed was a couple of power bars for our trek, so we stopped by the local grocery store to grab a couple different versions.
Overall they were pretty decent, containing mostly ingredients that we could pronounce. The only problem was how expensive they were.
$3-4 / bar.
That adds up if you want to have something to snack on during the week.
So, we set out to make our own homemade power bar.
The benefits of making your own homemade power bar are you know exactly what goes into it AND you can customize or change it up as you see fit.
The recipe below is just what we ended up grabbing in the bulk section of the store, feel free to add in or substitute different nuts, nut butter, protein powders or dried fruits to your taste.
Oh and the best part about these, all you do is mix them up and throw ’em in the fridge for a half-hour. No need for a stove or oven, they’re the perfect snack for on the go.
Nuttn' Better Bars
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Ingredients
- 1/4 Turkish Apricots
- 1/4 Cup Dried Cranberries
- 1/2 Cup Almonds
- 1/4 Cup Coconut Flakes
- 1/4 Cup Almond Flour
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
- 3 Tablespoons Peanut Butter
- 2 Scoops Protein Powder
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Instructions
Mix It Up
If you have a food processor, awesome. It will mix up these ingredients no problem. If you’re like me and perhaps broke off the tiny little piece that tells your food processor it can turn on and now you can’t use it….. then I feel your pain. So you can do what I do and just use a blender.
It’ll mix it up still but it will make a chunkier type bar. Still delicious. Still easy, just a little more intact.
- Add the coconut oil, peanut butter, dried apricots and cranberries in the food processor (or blender). Turn it on and mix that up.
- If it’s sticking too much add in a 1/4 of water.
- Next add in the protein powder, almond flour, almonds, cinnamon, salt, coconut flakes and remaining water. Blend that all up until it has the consistency of a cookie dough.
- Grab a small baking dish (8×8 is ideal) line that with parchment paper.
- Scoop the mixture into the baking dish and smooth it out evenly until it is covered.
- Put into the fridge for 30 minutes
- Take them out and cut into bars.
Just like that, you’re done! Feel free to make these bars your own. Use different dried fruits instead of the cranberries or apricots throw in some goji berries and raisins. Instead of the almonds maybe use some pecans and instead of almond flour use a flaxseed meal.
That’s the beauty of this recipe, plenty of ways to change things up and keep it interesting.
Let us know what you think, or whatever variations you’ve tried, we’d love to know!
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