Make Your Own Energy Bars! 5 Healthy, Natural Snack Recipes

Protein bars are an ideal snack before workouts, on the plane or any time you start to feel your eyelids drooping and your attention waning. Too bad most of the packaged energy bars sold in stores are either loaded with unnecessary sugar, overly processed, expensive or shipped from the other side of the world (as is the case with delicious KIND bars, which are from Australia.) The solution? Make your own! It’s much easier than you might think. These 5 bars and bites are filled with healthy ingredients, and most of them don’t require any cooking.

Almond Butter and Carob Energy Bars

Almond butter, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, pumpkin seed protein flour and flax flour pack a nutritional punch in these high-protein bars from Vegetarian with Benefits (pictured top). Crispy rice gives them a little crunch, and they’re sweetened with brown rice syrup. All it takes to make these simple bars is a bit of pulsing in the food processor, and an hour of chilling in the refrigerator.

Raw Chocolate Nut Truffle Bites with Chia Seeds

Dates, cacao butter, coconut oil and honey make these little bites by Chef Kate truly taste as if you’re eating something sinful. Those ingredients are mixed with coconut, nuts, almond meal and chia seeds for lots of omega fatty acids and protein. You simply mix most of the ingredients together into little balls, and then roll them in chia seeds, which keeps them from sticking together.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Oat Energy Bites

These healthy bites by Gimme Some Oven taste a bit like no-bake oatmeal peanut butter cookies. Dry oats, coconut flakes and peanut butter are mixed with flaxseed, honey, vanilla, chia seeds and chocolate chips, rolled into balls and chilled. You could experiment with this recipe and substitute dried fruit, nuts or other types of grains.

Coconut Banana Hemp Protein Bars

Hemp powder adds even more protein to these natural bars by Polka Dot Tree made with bananas, coconut oil, oats, dried fruit, nuts and peanut butter. Just throw it all into the blender, spread it out on a pan, freeze it for a few hours and then cut it into single servings.

Crunchy Granola Bars with Dried Fruit

Prefer a more conventional granola bar? You’ll get that satisfying crunch, chewiness and nutty sweetness from Eliza Domestica’s recipe for all-natural energy bars. Open to your personal interpretation, this recipe combines lots of nuts with dried fruit and even a touch of espresso for a little more pick-me-up.