No one will argue that homemade food is best for you. Unfortunately, we all don’t always have the time or energy to whip up a delicious and nutritious breakfast, post-workout snack, or just something to satisfy the sweet tooth at the end of a long day. That’s where home-made bars come to the rescue.
Yes, you can buy ready-made energy bars, but they’re expensive and still pack preservatives and hidden sugars. Your best bet is grabbing a bag and filling it with a variety of nuts, dried fruit, and other nutritional powerhouses like chia seeds for a handful on the go. I’ll do you one better. Unless you hate variety, Nutsola offers ready-made nutritional mixes that will last you at least a week!
They only pack ingredients you can pronounce, meaning a typical bag’s ingredient list looks like: dates, almonds, cashews, apples, pumpkin seeds, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, sea salt. That’s it! You add water to the mix and form it into energy balls or bake them into bars. This is by far the easiest, healthiest option if you’d like a quick snack without committing your entire paycheck or half a day cooking.
Looking for more healthy brakfast ideas? Check out these protein packed pancakes!
I made both the pumpkin spice (my fave!) and peanut butter (my husband’s fave!) flavors in one evening. Unfortunately, the 28 bars were gone in a matter of 4 days as my family descended on the snacks.
How to Make DIY Home-made Bars
If you’re adamant about doing the entire process yourself, you can get similar ingredients and create the mixes in the kitchen yourself. Keep in mind you need to grind each component coarsely, so they’re fine enough to press into a bar.
Paleo Nut Energy Bars via Tastes of Lizzy T
Servings: 16 Calories: 227kcal
Ingredients
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped almonds
20 dates finely chopped
3/4 cup egg whites
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients.
To prepare the 9×13 pan, line it with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray. Press the nut mixture into the bottom of the pan.
Bake for 16-18 minutes. Allow the bars to cool for 5 minutes, then pull on the wax paper to remove them from the pan. Use a pizza cutter to slice the bars into rectangles of the size you’d like.
Nutrition
Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 19mg | Potassium: 231mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1.1mg
Creative Ways to Make Your Bars into A Healthy Dessert
If you’re craving a sweet snack at the end of the day, you can whip up a decadent dessert using bars as a base. It’s a great way to stay healthy while still indulging.
Make a fudge-cream sandwich
https://www.instagram.com/p/B056bI3gZ4i/
“I used a @nutsolaofficial cacao almond superfood bar as the base, then I added a huge smear of homemade chocolate frosting on top (which was BOMB).
Recipe from @recipes4health “super simple frosting”:
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup organic cacao powder
1/4 cup plant milk
1/2 scoop chocolate vegan protein powder
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Combine ingredients and smear on!
Dip it
Break up the chocolate into chunks and place into a microwave-safe glass bowl. Heat on medium power in 30-second intervals, stirring between each interval. Dip your home-made bars in the chocolate or drizzle over the top of your bars.
Make It Into a Topping
With the holiday season coming up, you can use the opportunity to use the healthy, nutty mix as your pie topping. Instead of an oat and butter apple crumble or pie mix. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter and combine with the fruit and nut mix. Crumble over your pie and bake as normal!
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