Homemade Energy Bar

Hubby and I have been looking for ways to cut down our weight for the past few weeks. We've changed our diet based on our blood type and have begun taking steps to committing to working out. What other ways can we inject into our lifestyle to achieve our goals?

When I attended an iYoga session last Saturday, the owner of a power bar brand gave us a sample of her products. I brought it home for Hubby to try and he liked it. This inspired me to create our own version at home.

I'd like to share with you a recipe that I whipped out based on some energy bar recipes I've seen in the net. I had to tweak them since most of the ingredients are imported and relatively expensive. It's an experiment I did so please bear with me.

There are three ingredients that I have found to be common in energy bars - whole grains, nuts/seeds, and dried fruit. Knowing these made me think, "It sounds like a regular classic oatmeal cookies to me. I can do this."

Here goes.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. almond flour

3/4 c. rolled oats

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/8 c. brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. raisins

1/2 c. chopped peanuts

1/8 c. sunflower seeds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Grease an 8x8 square pan.

3. Combine almond flour, rolled oats, and ground cinnamon in a bowl.

4. Stir in butter, white and brown sugars, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix well.

5. Stir in raisins, peanuts, and sunflower seeds.

6. Press mixture firmly onto greased pan. (I don't have a square pan at home so I used a 7x11 pan). 

7. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned

Most of the ingredients I used were stashed in my pantry and ready for use.

Almond flour can be a bit expensive, you can substitute it with all-purpose flour, and just add a half teaspoon of baking powder.

If you'd like it to be less sweet, forego the white sugar. I prefer using brown sugar on my food. 

For nuts, you can substitute them with almonds or pistachio, depending on your budget.

My first attempt was a bit crumbly. I'm looking for ways for it to be less crumbly, perhaps an additional egg as a binding ingredient would work. I don't know. We'll see in my next attempt. :)

If you try this one, let me know the results. I would love to hear about them. Or if you have your own recipe, I'd like to learn from it.

Cheers!