Friday, November 25, 2011

Home Grown Energy Bars


OK... for all those folks I know that keep raving about the oat based energy bars we make (and I share on-trail), here is the recipe.

1 C Brown Sugar (Splenda brown as option)
2/3 C peanut butter (your choice here...organic,,,JIFF...whatever)
1/2 C honey.  We are lucky enough to have a honey house nearby
1/2 C low fat butter
2 tsp vanilla
3 C quick cooking oats
1/2 C coconut (shredded)
1/2 C sunflower nuts (I like the salted ones)
1/2 C raisins or craisins.  I like the cranberries better.
1/2 C flax meal
1 C semi sweet chocolate chips or carob chips if you like.

Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease 13x9 pan.  In large bowl, combine brown sugar, peanut butter, honey, butter, and vanilla.  Blend well.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Press mixture evenly into pan.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool completely, cut into bars.  Ride.  Eat.  Be happy.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

i've made this recipe a couple of times and it turns out wonderfully. some mods: half the amount of chocolate chips and double up on the pb. adding 2 ripe mashed bananas. 1/2 c. of wheat germ. combination unsweetened and sweetened flaked coconut. any chopped dried fruit, dates, figs, prunes, blueberries, strawberries. any combination of chopped nuts. always comes out super moist. would like to find something to add to make it a bit firmer, not hard like most bars, just firmer. (maybe unflavored gelatin?) i make a batch, let it cool overnight then cut into pieces, wrapping in wax paper, taping the ends and storing in fridge until needed. i've sprayed some pam type spray onto a paper towel to put down a thin layer of oil on the wax paper to keep it from sticking. going out for a 50 mile gravel grinder on tuesday so i'll test them then. i've only used as a mid morning/afternoon snack at work. very satisfying and super healthy.

grannygear said...

Yes! This is just a base to work from. I LOVE them with chopped/dried apricots. Oh man!

I have found them to work very well for stoking the fire on long rides. It seems to be decently calorie dense and I do not feel any sugar effects.

I have a couple of decent sized squares for breakfast with coffee or green tea and honey. Always good.

I struggle with the consistency as well. Sometimes it is too dry and crumbly.

grannygear

Anonymous said...

you may not believe this but while sleeping last night, i came up with other mods. you could add some grated carrots with some cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg to give it a carrot cake flavor. if yours are coming out dry, try the mashed bananas or possibly some coconut cream coconut milk. i've not had a dryness issue, in fact just the opposite. so moist they hardly stay together. when putting in the pan to bake, i press the mixture down firmly with a spatula the rap the pan on the kitchen counter a few times to compact the whole thing and make it denser. maybe you're baking it too long and it dries out. try less time or a bit lower temp. from your photo, the edge looks a bit overbrowned so that could be a cause of the dryness. also, i use a glass baking pan, a bit more even heat distribution. a metal pan, especially with a dark surface will tend to cook stuff faster with an easier chance for overbrowning.
thanks so much for the recipe. i don't think i'll ever be able to go back to those commerical brands. this recipe rocks!