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Wellness Energy Bars

Katie WellsSep 22, 2021
Reading Time: 4 min

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Breakfast Recipes » Wellness Energy Bars
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Why Make an Energy Bar, You Ask?
  • Making a Wellness Energy Bar
  • Prefer to Buy It Rather Than Make It?
  • Wellness Energy Bars Recipe

When I created this recipe, I was more excited about it than I had been about almost any other post. I played around with recipes to make an easy, homemade, kid-approved, all-natural, raw, gluten-free, dairy-free, portable energy bar that wasn’t too messy.

After months of trial and error (mainly error) and a messy kitchen, I stumbled upon a recipe that is not only easy to make but tastes great and meets all of my other requirements. And they cost less to make than conventional energy bars too.

Since creating my original Wellness Bar, I’ve also come up with a couple of other varieties. I sometimes make chia seed energy bars or chocolate coconut energy bars instead. Both are tasty, simple, and packed with nutrients.

Why Make an Energy Bar, You Ask?

I know, there are already so many out there to choose from. The problem is, I’m not really a fan of the ingredients in most of them. There are several problems really. Many of them contain fillers, chemicals, and artificial flavorings. Also, since they have to be shipped and stored on a shelf, they usually contain preservatives.

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Don’t believe me? Here is the list of ingredients from Clif Bar’s own website for their Chocolate Almond Fudge Bar:

Ingredients: Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Rolled Oats, ClifPro® (Soy Rice Crisps [Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Barley Malt Extract], Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour), Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Chocolate Chips (Evaporated Cane Juice, Unsweetened Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavors), Almond Butter, Dry Roasted Almonds, Organic Fig Paste, Cocoa, ClifCrunch® (Apple Fiber, Organic Oat Fiber, Organic Milled Flaxseed, Inulin [Chicory Extract], Psyllium), Sea Salt, Natural Flavors.

Besides the fact that the word “soy” (an ingredient I avoid) appears on that label five times, the first ingredient is brown rice syrup. On a food label, ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. If the first ingredient is a concentrated, high-carbohydrate syrup that is made from a grain, that’s a problem!

I looked for better options, but most bars have a similar ingredient list to this one. Check your favorite bar and see what is in it! I did find one bar that was pretty good; the Larabar. Unfortunately, Larabars are rather expensive. And being a do-it-yourselfer, I wanted to figure out a homemade version anyway. The end result is an improvement on Larabar, in my opinion.

Making a Wellness Energy Bar

This recipe is incredibly easy to make, takes very little time, can be customized easily, and has few ingredients. Kids love it and it can be a great alternative to the snacks they usually get!

To make the bars just chop some almonds, then use a food processor (a mini one works best) to puree some dates and raisins, and mix it all together with a dash of cinnamon. Roll it out and cut it into bars or roll it into balls for energy bites.

While the original recipe calls for almonds, dates, and raisins, you can change up the fruit and nut combination to better suit your tastes.

Ways to enjoy the Wellness Bar:

  • Fast on-the-go meal
  • Delicious snack for kids
  • Easy dessert
  • Camping or hiking food
  • Energy bar for sustained workouts
  • Non-messy food for road trips.

I recently saw a recipe for energy bites rolled in shredded coconut, which would make them a little less sticky and easier to transport. Maybe I’ll give it a try with my recipe…

Prefer to Buy It Rather Than Make It?

I know that life is busy. Sometimes I just don’t have time to make everything. When that happens, it’s nice to know where I can buy ready-made products that are still healthy and tasty. Here are a few sources for packaged energy bars that use great, real-food ingredients:

  • Kion – cocoa nibs, coconut, and baby quinoa — mmmm!
  • Paleo Valley (their meat sticks are also delicious)
  • Steve’s – dark chocolate espresso bars — need I say more?

Wellness Energy Bars Recipe

Katie Wells
A simple and healthy meal-on-the-go bar that is similar to a Cashew Lara Bar.
4.27 from 19 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Total Time 10 mins
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 6
Calories 77 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • ⅓ cup almonds (or cashews or other nut of choice)
  • 4 large dates (pits removed)
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor, chop the nuts into fine pieces.
  • Remove and put in bowl.
  • In the food processor, puree the dates and raisins (or any combination of the two that equals ½ cup total) until they become the consistency of playdough. It will start to clump together when it is done.
  • Add the fruit paste and cinnamon to the chopped nuts and mix them by hand.
  • Roll the mixture between two sheets of wax paper to ½ inch thickness.
  • Cut into bars. Or make it really easy and just roll into energy balls!
  • Wrap in wax paper, plastic wrap, or snack size ziploc bags (or glass containers if you aren't giving to kids) and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

You can swap out the almonds for another type of nuts if you prefer (or seeds if you have a nut allergy) and the raisins for a different dried fruit.

Nutrition

Serving: 1barCalories: 77kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 2gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 2mgPotassium: 137mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 25mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Ever made your own energy bars? Let me know what you think of these below!

These healthy wellness energy bars are a mix of dates and nuts with any customizable flavor combinations for a delicious grain free snack.

Category: Breakfast Recipes, Recipes, Snack Recipes

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About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a wife and mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

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Reader Interactions

Discussion (59 Comments)

  1. Laura

    April 24, 2012 at 2:22 PM

    I’m looking forward to eating these after making them… but I have a question first.  The dates, are they the dried pitted dates?  or fresh dates?  I bought dried ones that are still soft..  thoughts?

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      April 24, 2012 at 2:39 PM

      Either will work, you just want them soft enough to blend and pitted. I’ve made them with soft dried dates before

      Reply
  2. Shasta

    April 17, 2012 at 2:29 PM

    I made these, very good. A different departure from my usual ones made with peanut butter. Only made about 12 and I doubled the recipe. Is this right? Thanks for the idea! I added chia seeds and coconut oil.

    Reply
  3. JennasliKer

    April 12, 2012 at 5:46 PM

    I just read that cashews are a legume. Is this true?

    Reply
  4. Ginny

    April 2, 2012 at 10:45 AM

    I used a few dried dates and that worked pretty well too. AlsoI used almonds and walnuts and the cinnamon makes it super yummy. I didn’t soak the nuts either, not sure why you would need to.

    Reply
    • Catie Meyer Schamel

      October 22, 2012 at 9:44 AM

      To remove some of the phytic acid anti-nutrients in the nuts, I assume.

      Reply
  5. Jenna

    January 16, 2012 at 11:25 AM

    Tried it with dried apricots and walnuts. Delicious! Thank you so much- you are right, even better than Larabars!

    Reply
  6. Tammy Carroll

    January 2, 2012 at 4:29 PM

    These are fabulous!! I made them as power balls this morning….my 4 year old and 20 month old loved these! I used macadamian nuts instead of almonds (we make macadamian butter…..ahhhh….delist!) and added non sweetened coconut…thank you, thank you for this awesome recipe!

    Reply
  7. Mazaltaj

    November 30, 2011 at 9:43 AM

    I also just discovered your site and can’t wait to get to more of it.  (I started with the link to toothpaste.)  I eat a VERY low carb diet at the moment (am pregnant, and it’s the only way I keep from feeling sick), and I’m fine with it, but figuring out ways to get my children to eat this way is more of a challenge.  Anyway, I naturally went to the bar recipe first hoping to help with the latter.  My first thought was that all that dried fruit seemed extremely high sugar to me.  And given all the “yummy” comments, it seems that is probably what people are reacting to and probably what would make it hard to ear these sparingly, as “a sometimes food.”

    Reply
  8. Dana Carreiro

    November 23, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    I think dates are high on the GI scale – is this going to raise blood sugar?

    Reply
  9. Toni

    November 13, 2011 at 6:49 PM

    I love Larabars and have made some of my own before, but aren’t dates a high G. I. food and spike your blood sugar?  Or are these Ok to eat sometimes? 

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      November 13, 2011 at 8:43 PM

      a sometimes food, and kids need more carbs overall, so ok more often for kids

      Reply
      • Bethany Nash

        June 23, 2013 at 9:55 AM

        Even though it has a high fiber content which slows sugar processing down, it may not be good for someone managing their diabetes with pills, in reference to sugar spikes. My solution to that is eating smaller amounts at a time so your body doesn’t have as much to process. So if you are worried about sugar spikes, eat smaller amounts and you are not ingesting as much sugar. If your body processes sugar properly, the fiber content should help even out the natural sugars, unlike a processed candy bar.

        Reply
  10. Kimberly

    November 8, 2011 at 4:49 PM

    Just made these- they are really good!  I used some coconut flour to make them a bit dryer on the outside.  Added a another delicious smell and taste!

    Reply
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