Delicious, Healthy Nutritional Bar Recipes

I spent the morning in my test kitchen, whirling up concoctions of seeds and nuts and dried fruit, peanut butter, protein powder and even a few chocolate chips for good measure, in my whirl-it-up machine.

My kitchen table is now full of various pans of bars and individually hand-crafted nutrition bars, each having been lovingly taste-tested by a handful of intrepid clients and friends.

Each of following recipes takes just a few minutes to make, providing a week’s worth of healthy afternoon or bedtime snacks. In my humble opinion, and that of my taste-testers, these bars beat the commercial competition hands down – they are a fraction of the cost of commercial bars and are, for the most part, made from whole foods. And, really, whether you have kids in your household or not…they are just plain old fun to make.

Here are the winning recipes, in no particular order, and as of yet, untitled. I have attempted to guesstimate the total calories, amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat in a “serving”. All of the recipes are gluten free.

Recipe #1: Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Bars
1 cup organic peanut butter (almond butter would be a great alternative)
½ cup honey
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 cups puffed brown rice cereal
1-1/4 cups whey protein powder
1 cup chocolate chips

In a double boiler, mix the peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil. Take off the heat and mix in the brown rice cereal. When well blended, mix in the protein powder (protein powder won’t do well if the mixture is still really hot). Finally, add the chocolate chips and mix. Press into a 9×13 inch pan lined with parchment paper. Put in the fridge until they set up. See if you can wait until these are cool enough to enjoy!

Makes 24 servings.

Estimated nutrient content per serving:
Calories: 178; Carbohydrates: 14; Protein: 14g; Fat: 8.5g

Recipe #2: Seeds and Figs
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup raisons
½ cup dried figs
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
½ cup whey protein powder

Makes 12 servings.

Estimated nutrient content per serving:
Calories: 177; Carbohydrates: 14g; Protein: 13g; Fat: 9g

The last series of experiments were my attempt to imitate a Lara Bar. Because I wanted to try so many different ingredients, I just made one bar in the Cuisinart at a time and put the ball of mixed stuff on parchment paper and slowly and painstakingly (read: lovingly) molded it into the shape of an individual bar. I used dates as my base and threw in what I had on hand.

I tried three different variations:

1) 2 dates and 3 tablespoons cashews
2) 1 dates, 2 tablespoons cranberries, 1 tablespoon unsweetened dried coconut, shredded
3) 1 date, 2 almonds, 1 tablespoon unsweetened dried coconut, shredded

The nutrient content will vary depending on what you choose to put in your bars, but to give you a sense, the estimated nutrient content per serving for the dates and cashew bar: Calories: 209; Carbohydrates: 20g; Protein: 5g; Fat: 14g

I always started with one date and added nuts or fruit or coconut. If it didn’t look like it was holding together, I threw in another date. Just spoon it out onto parchment paper and work your magic.

By this point in the morning, I was ready to be done creating and enjoy the fruits of my labor. However, I am looking forward to trying the individual bars with figs, raisins, macadamia nuts…oh goodness, the possibilities are endless. Each recipe has the potential for a myriad of variations. Use whatever you have on hand.

Be creative!

And let me know what you come up with so I can share it with the rest of the readers!

Salud-
Jess