Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Easy Homemade Energy Bars That Actually Taste Great

Energy bars are a great way to replenish the calories and nutrients you burn through during exercise. They are also a great way to keep yourself fueled up and ready to go during a long commute, a busy day at the office, or while you ride a boxcar across the rolling plains.

But aren’t you tired of choking down store-bought energy bars with names like Macadamia Coffee Butternut Waffle or Apple Maple Cranberry Fish Flake? Or maybe you’re fed up with paying $36.95 for each bar you consume? If so, then you need to seriously reevaluate your eating and shopping practices, because no one should be eating bars with a fruit and fish blend, and that price tag is wildly inflated.

Recommended Videos

Anyway, whether you’re looking for an alternative to mass market energy bars for taste, cost, or dietary purposes, or if you’re just looking for a fun culinary project that can give you fuel to burn on your next adventure, it’s not that hard to make energy bars at home. And the best thing about homemade energy bars? You don’t have to give them some name dripping with pretension like The Chocolate Marshmallow Journey Bar or Peter’s Pure & Pompous Peanut Protein Punch. On the other hand, maybe that’s the best part of the process …

The Classic Granola Bar

granola bar
d

There’s plenty to be said for the good ol’ granola bar — you know, the one with dried fruit, chocolate, oats, and more. Right, that one. A good granola bar has plenty of carbohydrates for a lasting energy supply, simple sugars for a quick boost, and a tantalizing taste that people of all ages enjoy. This homemade take on the granola bar can be played around with as you’d see fit: swap the cranberries for dried blueberries or dried cherries, for example, or add chia seeds for a dose of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cup rolled oats
  • 0.5 cup nuts, choped (almonds and hazelnuts FTW)
  • 0.5 cup dried cranberries, chopped
  • 0.3 cup honey
  • 0.25 cup butter
  • 0.25 cup brown sugar
  • 0.25 cup chocolate bits
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • Dash of vanilla extract

Method:

  1. Heat that oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and coat the inside of a pan with cooking spray (coconut cooking spray works great here).
  2. Bake the nuts and oats on a separate tray for 10 minutes, then set aside.
  3. Mix butter, honey, vanilla, and sugar in a sauce pan over moderate heat. Cook and stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
  4. Mix together all of the ingredients except for the chocolate and mix. Then let everything cool for a while (maybe 20 minutes).
  5. Add the chocolate and mix again. Mix well, dammit!
  6. Spread the mixture out into a pan, creating a uniform layer of granola bar. Chill it all in the fridge for several hours.
  7. Cut the sheet into bars and start enjoying homemade granola goodness.

The Two-Ingredient Energy Bar

Two-Ingredient Energy Bar
Image used with permission by copyright holder

You read that right — this tasty, energy-rich snack bar is made with just two ingredients. Sort of. See, you could make it with two ingredients, but in fact you’ll probably want to use more like four. Or seven or eight depending on how you look at things. On its face, this bar is made with nothing more than dried fruit and nuts, and you could absolutely choose just dried cherries and pecans, for example, thus cleaving faithfully to the two-ingredient thing. But a better idea is to use a range of nuts including walnuts, almonds, and more, and to opt for a blend of dried fruits like cranberries and raisins and such. Also you should add a pinch of salt and, if you need to change up the flavor, some cinnamon or cocoa powder. These easy bars will keep in the fridge for at least two weeks and in the freezer for at least two months. Hooray.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup nuts (mixed)
  • 1.5 cup dried fruit (also ideally mixed)
  • Spices and flavors, if you want ’em

Method:

  1. Grind the nuts in a food processor until they have broken down into crumbs.
  2. Add the dried fruit and keep on processing.
  3. Once the fruit and nut blend sticks together when squeezed, dump it out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Place more plastic over the top and press it down into a sheet of uniform thickness.
  4. Refrigerate the concoction for about two hours, then cut it into bars. You’re done!

The DIY PB&J Bar

pbj energy bar
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Anyone who says they don’t like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can go home right now. If they want to. He or she is also welcome to stay here or to go anywhere else as well. In fact, I have to admit that given the choice between a PB&J sandwich and a sandwich made with just peanut butter, I’d take the latter.

Oh, but these bars? These bars are a different story. The “jam” flavor here comes from dried fruit and the blend of flavors is divine. Eat these for breakfast, a snack, or for fuel when you’re on the go.

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 cup dates (pitted and soaked in warm water for 10 minutes prior to use)
  • 0.5 cup dried cranberries
  • 0.5 cup oats (cooked)
  • 0.25 cup peanut butter (unsweetened and organic, ideally)
  • 0.25 cup peanuts

Method:

  1. Put everything in a food processor and grind it all together.
  2. Put that mixture in a pan and flatten it out.
  3. Chill it for about an hour, then cut your PB&J slab into bars.
  4. Keep the bars in the fridge until shortly before you enjoy them which, FYI, you will.

My Wife’s Seed and Nut and Oat Bars

seeds nut oat bars
Image used with permission by copyright holder

In my house, food is a pretty big deal. We eat it basically every day, and I find it really helps to keep us alive. While I do most of the cooking when it comes to meals, my wife and our son do most of the baking. And they bake batches of these homemade seed and nut energy bars quite often. These bars, which are actually energy discs as they are baked in a muffin tray, are tasty and filling and have plenty of carbs and protein. And once you have all your ingredients gathered, they’re pretty simple to make. Especially when “making” them usually involves getting out of the way while the other members of the family do the work …

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 cup oats
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • .5 cup pumpkin seeds
  • .5 cup roasted sunflower seeds
  • .3 cup brown rice syrup
  • .25 cup hemp seeds
  • .25 cup flax
  •  4 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
  • .5 tsp cardamon
  • .25 tsp salt

Method:

  1. Blend the walnuts, oats, and coconut flakes in a blender. Or a food processor. Give ’em 15 or 20 seconds.
  2. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
  3. Dump all the wet ingredients into the bowl (make sure the coconut oil is fully melted and in fluid form).
  4. Stir all that stuff together vigorously, mixing it well.
  5. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray, ideally with a coconut oil spray, and then fill each cup in the pan with the mixture.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes (less bake time means a more chewy center).
Steven John
Steven John is a writer and journalist living just outside New York City, by way of 12 years in Los Angeles, by way of…
North Spore launches its first-ever mushroom coffee — here’s why it matters
Should you switch to mushroom coffee?
Wine cap mushroom spore

Leading mushroom supplier North Spore has launched its first-ever mushroom coffee product. To create this delicious concoction, the team has paired antioxidant-rich coffee with 100% organic fruiting body extracts from five adaptogenic mushrooms: Lion’s Mane, Chaga, Reishi, Cordyceps, and Turkey Tail. For coffee drinkers, this new mushroom coffee pairing offers all the benefits of caffeine, plus stress reduction, immunity support, mood enhancement, and mental clarity.
To learn more about this exciting new medium roast mushroom coffee release, I interviewed Matt McInnis, co-founder of North Spore. McInnis is passionate about the new launch, sharing that the North Spore team believes in the power of mushroom fruiting body extracts and thinks what it has to offer is a great alternative to many mushroom coffee products on the market right now. With a mission to offer mushroom coffee that's good for you and tastes good, too, here's what sparked the launch of North Spore's new mushroom coffee.

The story behind North Spore mushroom coffee

Read more
Lime lagers are having a moment—here’s why they’re perfect for summer
Lime lagers are nothing new, but they're trending
Troegs

The lime lager is nothing new. This style has been around for a number of years. While there’s no official “first lime lager”, Bud Light Lime was launched less than two decades ago in 2006 (and drinkers have been adding lime to Mexican lagers for as long as they've been brewed). And, while the style has been available to drinkers in the US for around twenty years, it’s having a bit of a moment this spring.

While many brands have been around for years, like Stone Buenaveza, Half Acre Green Torch, Founders On Cloud Nine, and Great Lakes Mexican Lager w/ Lime, there are a few new offerings this spring. These include the zesty, fresh, and refreshing Brooklyn Playa de Brooklyn and Tröegs Let The Sunshine In.

Read more
From sangiovese to syrah: the ultimate guide to dry red wines
Some of the greatest wines ever made
Cut of grilled steak with glass of red wine

Chances are your favorite red wine is dry. I know that not because I have a crystal ball, but because pretty much every popular red wine is dry. (I urge you to discover the many delights of sweet red wine, but not right now.) Before we get into types, let’s address the big question: What makes a wine dry?

Wines are called dry when they have comparatively low amounts of residual sugars, meaning they taste less sweet (technically below 1%, or nine grams of sugar per liter). All wines would be dry if fermentation weren’t halted or they were back-sweetened. Yeast will “ferment until dry,” meaning it will gobble up all the sugar there is, no crumbs left. This dry descriptor applies to all types of wine – sparkling, white, red, and rosé. The first time dry appears in writing referring to wine was in Richard Ames’s 1691 poem “The Last Search After Claret, &C.” in which the narrator is looking for a red Bordeaux but is offered sweet port instead:

Read more