I am thankful for all the input that I received on my recent twitter request for yummy and nutritious larabar and granola bar recipes. Thanks for all the recipes! I wanted to share a collection of the recipes received here today with you all. My purpose in finding a good recipe was to have a good snack bar to have on hand. The hubby in particular was requesting something to give him a little boost occasionally during his long work hours. Here is my version of a good protein bar that we totally love thanks to Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship for her tweaked almond bar! Let me say that again…it is awesome! A great source of protein and a fun way to get those nutritious nuts, seeds and dried fruit into your diet. Great for pregnant mommies too! I simply threw all the ingredients into my Blendtec Blender (my favorite kitchen appliance and functioning food processor at our home) and pulsed it for a few seconds and it turned out beautifully, but you can also use a food processor as described below.
2 cups almonds
1/4 cup flax seeds, chia seeds or pumpkin seeds (ground in a coffee grinder or blender)
1/2 cup dried prunes, dates or raisins (we used prunes!)
½ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
½ cup peanut or almond butter
½ cup coconut oil or butter (melted)
1/4 cup honey
2-3 teaspoons vanilla extract
a few squares dark chocolate, less than half a bar needed for thin layer
(optional) – I melted about 1/4 bag of chocolate chips in a small saucepan for the topping
Place almonds, flax meal/seeds, dried fruit, shredded coconut, almond/peanut butter in a food processor. Pulse briefly for about 10 seconds.In a small sauce pan, melt coconut oil over very low heat. Remove coconut oil from stove, stir sweeteners and vanilla into oil. Add coconut oil mixture to food processor and pulse until ingredients form a coarse paste. Press mixture into an 8 x 8 glass baking dish. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour, until mixture hardens. In a small saucepan, melt chocolate over very low heat, stirring continuously. Spread melted chocolate over bars; return to refrigerator for 30 minutes, until chocolate hardens. Remove from refrigerator, cut into bars and serve. Makes about 12-15 bars. Store in refrigerator or freeze for later enjoyment!
Other Snack Bar Recipes
Granola Bars – (Danielle @ Naturally Knocked Up)
Larabar Recipe – (Clean Eating Online)
Granola Bars (Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship)
Hi,
I tried doing this in my Vitamix and it realized it was too sticky and it made my machine shut off as a overheating precaution. I think it would have worked if I had the dry attachment for doughs. Needless to say it scared me to death since my machine is only 3 months old.
I did end up transferring everything to my food processor in the end, I guess my food processor isn’t strong enough either (old, handmedown).
For anyone looking at add protein, I added a couple scoops of chocolate whey protein and a splash of water to account for the extra dry ingredient.
Thanks,
Rachel
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I have been making your recipe for a number of months now, and everyone who tries them loves them and wants the recipe. I have sent tons of people your link and would also copy the recipe that I had printed out especially for the people my husband works with, but it got annoying pulling out of my recipe book all the time, so I came back to your website to make another copy and save it so I could more easily print it out. I noticed that you changed it, why did you change it?
I noticed that you omitted the salt and increased the honey to 1/4 cup instead of the 1 T and changed some of the choices. I made them again, this time with the changed recipe and I, surprisingly, missed the salt. I would usually cut down a little on the salt anyways, only because I use Himalayan crystal salt and sometimes I would get a stronger taste of salt in some bites, but it helped bring out some of the other flavors that I didn’t taste with the salt completely cut out. I was just curious of why you changed it?
Thank you Lindsay and all of you repliers for the good ideas!
If I have almond flour on hand (which is really just ground almonds) how much should I use? I assume 2 cups of unground almonds is less once ground… Can’t wait to try this!
That’s a good question as I really don’t know. I’ll try measuring it next time.
I love these!! I’ve made them about 5 times already. I went through and figured out the nutritional info (quickly so it’s an approximation) of the bars if they are made exactly as the recipe is and cut into 25 bars. Also, I usually use 4 squares of bakers semi-sweet chocolate (too much I know…).
(per bar when cut into 25):
Calories – 233.8
Fat – 17.8g
Sodium – 29.35mg
Sugar – 7.78g
Protein – 4.69g
Carbs – 13.67
I would like to try to cut back on the sodium and increase the protein content. I’m going to try a batch with less flax, less shredded coconut and less peanut butter as those are the main sources of sodium..I will see what I can get away with. I’m also going to try including some whey isolate for more protein. I will post if it’s successful!!
Thankyou so much for the nutritional breakdown. I also would like to get a higher protein count and am interested in how yours turned out with the whey protein. Thanks!
I made these yesterday and they are awesome! We’ve been cutting grains, dairy and refined sugars out of our diet and that’s been challenging. These will be perfect to take camping and hiking this weekend! Thanks!
Any chance you know the nutritional info for the bars (or approx.)? Fats, Protein, Sugar, etc.
Do you soak your’ nuts before making these?
Sometimes…
Just for your website. Love it! Love your mission. Can’t wait to spend more time here. I just started a blog, http://www.MommieCan.com. It’s purpose is to encourage Christian moms toward the abundant life Jesus gives. Thanks for being an inspiration and great example of intentional living for Jesus!
And, of course, can’t wait to try these bars:)
I loved this recipe so much, linked back to this recipe in my blog, http://www.dotlessis.blogspot.com Thanks!!
I loved the flavor but my first batch didn’t want to stay together. I doubled the dates and covered them with a thin layer of chocolate chips. We LOVE them! Thanks for the recipe! It’s a keeper!
Hi,
I was wondering if you measure the 1/4 cup of flax seeds before you grind them or the 1/4 cup is the ground flax seed? I just don’t want to put too much in. My Dad once ate too many flaxseeds at one time and had a severe gallbladder attack. My kids will be eating these scrumptious bars, so I want to make sure the measurement is right. Thanks!
I usually measure the whole flax seed before putting it into the processor.
Has anyone priced out how much they spend per batch to make these wonderful bars? I would love to make them weekly!
Can someone provide the nutritional content on these bars, if cut 12-15 bars per batch?
Thank you.
It would depend on your own variations. I use cashews, add rice protein powder and double the coconut oil, and I get 19g protein per bar, depending on how evenly I spread and cut them.
I made this recipe with my homemade almond butter instead of peanut butter, skipped the coconut and chocolate, and used raisins. For 15 bars, my NI for one bar came out to be:
Calories: 231
Carbs: 10
Fat: 19
Protein: 6
Sugar: 5
Sodium: 4
In the future I will cut out the salt since I salt my almond butter a bit. I am also going to try it with less oil to cut back on the fat content as mine seemed very oily. However, these taste amazing!!! I limit myself to one bar a day.
Lorena – how do you make homemade almond butter?
So my brand new blender died on the second batch. Lesson learned. What food processor do you use? (or anyone that makes these on a regular basis).
I use a Blentec total blender for this recipe and it works great!
Oh wow…. way out of my budget! I picked up a Hamilton Beach food processor, and I’m going to test that out once the baby wakes up. Thank goodness the batter is fine!
Have my first batch in the fridge now, and I can’t wait to try them! I used dates, had cashews, so tried that, and added 12 servings of protein powder (followed by another 1/2 cup or so of coconut oil to get it to blend). Thanks for posting this!
Will definitely try this recipe. I love the fact that you are using whole natural foods (with the exception of the chocolate chips). I would experiment with using Cacao powder, coconut oil, and honey for a healthier chocolate topping. As a holistic health coach, I’m always looking for healthy whole food options to recommend to my clients. This recipe is a definite keeper. Thanks so much for sharing!
What about trying this? http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/15/three-ingredient-chocolate-bars-1/
I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks like a processed chocolate alternative. I’d love your opinion!
Hello there, You’ve done a great job. I will certainly digg it and in my view suggest to my friends. I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this site.
These sound amazing, except that I’m allergic to coconut….it there any substitue for that???
I have been looking for a recipe like this and I have finally found the perfect one. I melted a little bit of coconut oil in to my chocolate too, it gives the chocolate a nice texture. They are delicious, thank you!
These are way too good. Shame on you!!
Okay, so I’m joking, but they did turn out spectacular! Just what I needed as a quick protein snack for nursing. And my little busy bodies love them too.
These are SO delicious!! Only 1 problem….they are VERY high fat/calorie. My sister was kind enough to burst my bubble after I made my 3rd batch and was wondering why my scale seemed to be off, lol. According to the calorie counter on myfitnesspal.com, if you cut the bars into 25 pieces, each bar has 189 cal, 16 g fat and 4 g protein. Ands thats a small piece – I would eat few pieces in a day. Just a warning
I am now feeding them mainly to my skinny boys!
Yes, but this is good fat! Coconut oil is so incredibly nutritious for you. Read more about it on the westonaprice.org site. There is a big difference. I would not worry about it.
I agree that good fats are way better, but those of us that have struggled with our weight our whole life know that a calorie is still a calorie. It sucks but when I cut out natural sugars and tracked my calories the weight really fell off. Even with tracking my calories and eating these yummy treats I couldn’t loose a pound. Everyone is different but I think we can’t say a higher calorie/whole food treat is going to be just fine because it is whole foods. I say this with love and mercy, but if you haven’t ever struggled with weight issues (and are under 30 because age is a big factor) you can’t begin to understand how difficult the process really is.
I would like to try these, but would have to make a couple of substitutions. My daughter is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. So, I would use Sunbutter instead of peanut butter, but I’m not sure what I would use instead of the almonds. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Linda
You could probably use cashews. I recently substituted them for almonds in a homemade granola recipe, and it worked out great! Sending you blessings in your quest for homemade yumminess!
Linda, it might not be as rich in protein, but you’d really just need 2 cups of bulk. I’d maybe double the Sunbutter, throw in a bunch of pumpkin seeds and maybe even puffed amaranth or rice (I know that’s more processed) just for fun. Adding some sesame seeds are nutritious, hulled ones might work well too… but, maybe don’t pulse as long in the processor.
I didn’t have enough almonds on hand so I used oatmeal for filler, they turned out really good, and probably cut down a little on the fat and calories.
Oats!
This is definitely one of the better posts I have come across on this topic. Have you looked into the opposite side of the argument of natural health? Personally, I think a good argument could be made either way, but please let me know if you know of more sites or articles on the Internet to verify what you are proposing.
I’m sooo glad you have this recipe. I’m alergic to almonds, so I used 1 cup peanut flour instead of almonds and after blending all the ingredients together, in a large bowl I added about 1 cup Trader Joes brand rice crispies and mixed those in gently. Ohhhhh yummy, they are my cure for a candy bar and my family who is gluten free can eat them and be healthy.
These are absolutely wonderful!!! (and so healthy!)
I have made them so many times. They are wonderful as a snack….for breakfast…..
Thank you for sharing the recipe! I am thrilled with them, and a friend wants the recipe, too!
~Allison
These look great! I’ve always soaked my chia seeds in water. Are you grinding soaked chia seeds and then adding them or just plain chia seeds?????? Thanks!!
You could do it either way. I normally just throw whole chia or flax seeds into the blender with the other ingredients.
i just made these and i’m going to share it with my friends who read my blog! I added an entire bad of chocolate chips so that my husband will eat them!! Hehehe he likes chocolate alot so i had to make it with a thick layer of chocolate on top! But i found that my food processor was too small and i had quite a time trying to get it to blend all the way! Had a spoon fall in and break off plastic then had to fish out the plastic pieces =( Im soooo getting a blendtec!
Well written, unique take on this subject.
I made these and they were AWESOME. They’ll be a great addition to my daughter’s lunch boxes! The best part is that they’re filling, so small bar can fix me for awhile and the pan goes a long away.
I used my KitchenAid food grinder attachment and then mixed everything else in the bowl with the mixer, and they turned out fine. I don’t know how many people have one of those lying around, but they totally work in place of the blender or food processor for this recipe if you do!
These are so yummy. Took a batch on a vacation with another family and all the kids just gobbled them up. So good and nutritious also helps when I have a sweet tooth and want a candy bar!
oh my goodness, I just made these this morning, SO delicious!
For the ingredients which can change I used almond butter, gold flaxseed, maple syrup and dates. The chocolate on top is Ghiradelli 100% unsweetened chocolate. I have to stop myself from eating the whole pan!
I forgot to add…I’ve passed this recipe onto about 10 friends already.
These bars are great! Instead of spreading chocolate over the top of the bars, I mixed in mini chocolate chips. I put about half of the nut mixture in the pan, sprinkled the chocolate chips and pressed them into the mixture and repeated. I waited a little bit for the oil to cool so the chips wouldn’t melt.
Thanks for the great recipe! I can't wait to try it out!
I look forward to trying this. Thanks for the recipe.
Just made these tonight. I haven’t tried them but my husband said they are delicious!
I feel that Nutrition Bars are an essential part to a good diet. It’s hard to find good tasting health food. nutritional bars bring great taste to a healthy type of food. I found this great website that offers many options that offers various types bars. http://www.n101.com/nutritionalbars
My family is allergic to coconut. What can be used in place of the coconut oil? I have the oil, but obviously can’t use it in cooking.
Melted butter would be your best alternative.
oh yum! I make my own vanilla by placing several whole vanilla beans (slice lengthwise) and add to a bottle of Vodka. Choose a brand with a screw on lid. Let it sit for about 4-6 months and then you will have some very delicious homemade vanilla!
Do you find it is a lot cheaper than buying your own real vanilla? where do you buy the vanilla beans? If I buy a lot of vanilla beans, it is cheaper per bean. The ones you don’t use right away for vanilla, can you store/some how so they don’t dry out?
Thanks so much for posting this! I tried them with Sally Fallon’s carob topping and they were outstanding:
http://thenourishingapron.blogspot.com/2010/02/protein-bars.html
What a great snack option!
Lindsay, thank you SO much for posting this recipe! I’m due with baby #3 in a few days, and I was looking for some healthy, traditional foods-friendly, one-handed snacks for those post-partum days where I’ll be doing nothing but nursing a baby on the couch all day!
I made a batch of these last night, and they were SO good! I have almonds soaking for two more batches as we speak (hopefully they’re done before the baby is!). I’m excited to have some of these to eat before the baby comes, and LOTS to have afterward.
I decided to soak my almonds after reading about soaking nuts on The Nourishing Gourmet (http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/07/soaking-nuts.html). I tend to have weird reactions to almonds (similar to those described in that blog post), and I’ve been totally fine with the soaked almonds. Yay!
I dont have coconut oil can you recommend a substitute?
Butter would be the best substitute.
Delicious!!!! And very rich – I won’t have seconds of these again. ha! My toddler loved them also and I am hoping they will help him gain a little weight. Next time I will probably substitute pecans or walnuts for some of the almonds since I have an excess of them from friends.
made these today for a friend.
I added some extra items we had in the pantry, a few apricots, dried cranberries, sesame seeds and substituted LSA because we had no flax.
I drizzled the chocolate so there is not so much on each bar.
does anyone have a recipe for the hard yoghurt topping that is often on top of store bought bars?
thanks for the recipe idea!
I made your recipe this morning! It turned out so delicious plus they are so healthy. Thank you for sharing!
the flavor of these was terrific. I had a problem though! Mine fell apart and were hard to get out of the pan! Any solutions to my trouble? Also, when I went to cut them, the chocolate cracked and then the whole bare fell apart! lol!! If you have any tips on this I would greatly appreciate it, because other than that, they were awesome!!
I just made these for my pregnant self b/c ants on a log are getting a little boring
Oh my! I only tasted a little bit left in the blender and wow, I can’t wait for them to be ready! Thank you so much for this recipe, I’ve really been struggling trying to make healthy choices when all this baby seems to want is junk. I am very happy with this recipe and I’m sure baby and midwife will be too!
I made these bars over the weekend. They turned out great! Thanks for the great recipe. And I just requested the Blendtec for Christmas this year!! Can’t wait!
Ooh, yum! These look delish!
Wow! These are SO good! It was my first time using coconut oil!! Yum!
I also made sloppy lentils today in my crockpot… Yummm!
Thank you for such an awesome website!
A FUNNY TRIBUTE to this recipe’s tastiness… my brother (who is not by any means into “healthy stuff”) came over today while we were out and perused the kitchen as he normally does. As he was making something for himself to eat he decided to have some of our protein bars thinking it was dessert. He ended up getting too full to eat what he made after eating a bar and a half. He had no idea it was “healthy.”
Could we use molasses rather than honey~~ I make cornmeal waffles and I use molasses for the sweetener~ We joke that I have burnt the batter since it turns a dark brown from using molasses~~
This looks like my family would so enjoy it~~
Blessings~
tamela
I am sure you can…if you don’t mind that stronger molasses flavor.
I have tried it. It was fast to make and it is very good. However, I don’t have the feedback yet from my boys, but I think they are going to like it.
Thank you very much for this recipe!
I made this and it tastes great! Even my husband who’s not into protein bars liked it. I usually have little to add to these great recipes and posts, but for those interested I calculated out the calories, fat, fiber and protein content of these bars since personally I am losing weight (loooong way to go to the finish line but coming along quite nicely;-) )
As for the optional ingredients I used flax seed, PB, raisins, honey, and 1/2 cup chocolate chips and this is the nutritional content for it if cut into 15 bars:
Calories: 303
Fat: 24
Fiber: 4
Protein: 6
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS: 7 (I do Weight Watchers BUT doing it with real foods.)
Thanks for the recipe Lindsay!
Deanna.
I just finished putting mine in the fridge and noticed that I didn’t add my prunes in! The directions don’t mention when to add the raisons/prunes. Boo! Hopefully it’ll still taste alright.
Sorry about that! I made the update. I am sure they will taste fine, as the original recipe didn’t even have the dried fruit. That was my addition! You can also remove it from the refrigerator, soften, and then add the dried fruit if desired. Otherwise, save them for next time!
They turned out fine. Thanks for the recipe! I cut up a few dates and ate them along with the bars. Yum! Made the Sloppy Lentils slow cooker recipe today too. It turned out great. We put cheese on it and put it on some rice. That was my first time eating lentils.
Thanks for this!
Just curious – would you recommend getting a Blendtec or a Bosch mixer with blender if you could only get one.
It depends upon what you are desiring to use it for and the size of your family. If you have a small family, you can definitely get away completely with the Blendtec because you can knead up a loaf of bread in it really easy. If you want to make a lot of frozen fruit smoothies, go with the blentec as it is a far more powerful blender and will withstand the challenge. Overall, for its many multi-purposing, I would recommend the Blendtec, because you can grind grain, make a loaf of bread, make ice cream, basic food processing, homemade peanut butter, mix muffins & sweet breads, etc. The list is almost endless! I am definitely using it more now then my bosch. The bosch is great for making big batches of bread, making butter, mixing various pastry recipes, etc. I hope that helps!
Thank you Lindsey. It helps a lot!
I didn’t know I could use my Bosch to make butter. I do love it for making bread. I have a grain mill so, I haven’t tried the Blendtec for grain into flour.
If I had to do over, I would have gotten the Bosch w/o blender.
We are a family of 8 so, no matter which blender we use, we have to make more than 1 batch of drinks (shakes/smoothies/etc.)…be it the Bosch or the Blendtec (which does hold more than my Bosch).
Are you familiar with Cathe Olson’s recent cookbook, The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook? It is WONDERFUL. Many quick, nourishing, and healthy recipes, and especially great for pregnant and nursing mothers. Anyway, she has a great recipe that I think tastes better than Larabars…
Energy Bars
By Cathe Olson
This is a delicious, raw snack.
* 1/4 cup sesame seeds
* 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 1/2 cup dried figs (I used dates)
* 1/2 cup peanut butter, almond butter, or tahini (I used walnuts, and combined all ingredients in my food processor at the same time)
Place sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, and figs in food processor with metal blade. Chop until everything is ground together. Add nut or seed butter and mix until combined. Roll mixture into balls or press into 8-inch round cake pan and cut into 1-inch squares. Keep refrigerated.
Makes about 3 dozen (For me, it made about 2 dozen).
Note: Nuts can be substituted for seeds and other dried fruit can be substituted for raisins and figs.
Variation Coconut Energy Bars: Add 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut to mixture. Add a little coconut milk if necessary to help balls hold together.
Enjoy!
Wow – think I want to try these asap. With the exception of the choc. they’re scd and GAPS legal, yippie!
If you were to use pumkin seeds, would you hull them and sprout or not?
I just dried out some pumpkin seeds, but I’ve never hulled them before.
God bless
I just use regular raw pumpkin seeds. You can sprout them as you desire, but I did not.
We are always in need of a snack like this, so perhaps I’ll try that soon! Thanks for sharing!
I have a friend who can only eat Gluten Free, would this recipe apply with that diet? I’m still learning a lot about that diet and she loves protein bars but only eats the store bought kind. I would love to share this recipe with her if it is Gluten Free. I’m sure she would love it.
As far as I understand, yes, these would be gluten free.
Those look amazing, and with CHOCOLATE on top? Oh my! thanks for the recipe!
Do you think I could use a magic bullet to make these? I don’t have a food processor. They sound wonderful! Also, I only have sweetened coconut-not the best, I know
; Do you think I could just cut back on the honey to a tsp or 2? Thanks!!
I have never used a magic bullet. It would be worth a try. I would definitely half or quarter the recipe in order to fit in your machine. I definitely think you can use sweetened coconut and just eliminate the other sweetener. It is optional!
I just made these this morning and I don’t have a food processor either. I’m not familiar with a magic bullet but I used my mini food chopper and just put in small amounts at a time and it turned out well. Thanks so much for this recipe it is really delicious and a keeper. I didn’t have chocolate squares or chocolate chips so I made my own chocolate out of cocoa, honey and coconut oil. It turned out great!
I halved the recipe with my magic bullet and they turned out great! Thank you for both of your suggestions-I added the almonds first to grind, then the rest of the ingredients. I also used salted almond butter, so I didn’t add the salt, and sweetened coconut, so I didn’t add the honey. Topped them with just a couple squares of melted super dark chocolate. Wow, so yummy!
Okay, you’ve officially made me hungry. I agree these are a great alternative to commerical protein bars (who wants all those soy products and preservatives and sugar alcohols?). And they look super delicious, too! I am going to have to save this recipe for sure!
Looks great!!!! Can you leave out the seeds if you can not eat them?
Erin H.
Sure thing! This recipe is very easy to adjust to your needs and preferences. It works great!
Thanks!!!!
You just have the best website. I absolutely love coming here and seeing all your great ideas..and those of others! You are truly helping me take better care of my family of 6! Thank you so very much and may God bless you and your loved ones always.
Thank you for sharing this!! I love that it uses almond butter instead of peanut butter since I’m allergic to it. =) Yay! I can’t wait to try these!
These look great – and I just happen to have everything I need. (What luck!)
I’ve been looking for a simple replacement for Cascadian Farm granola bars – gonna try these today!
Thanks!
This looks great! As soon as we replenish our honey & coconut oil supplies and I get some almonds, I’m going to make these. They will be the perfect snack for my pregnant self!
What’s the consistency of these when they’re ready to eat? Are they soft? Chewy? Crunchy? We’re camping out this weekend for my husband’s b-day, and this would be a great snack to make and take along… but I’m wondering if my 2 and 3 year-olds can eat them?
They sound delicious! I’m definitely going to try them for the hubby and me. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Oh yes, my two year old Karis loves these! They are chewy and delicious!
Thanks for this recipe. I think I have all of the ingredients to give it a try. My daughter has cheer practice after school 2 days a week and I need to pack something that will give her stamina yet taste good. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again for all of your great posts.
Oooh – this looks delicious! Definitely something my husband would love, too!