Homemade energy bars

nutzzz123

Hi guys,
Just wondering does anybody here make their own energy bars. I would be interested in trying it out. Ive been scouring the net and im unsure which to try. If anyone has their own recipes i would love to try it. Getting sick of paying silly money for gels and bars.
Cheers

RoyMcC

An opportune time to reprise the Gilly Bars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIp5toNNCw4

BeepBeep67

Get some flapjacks into you - you can make them 100's of ways.

LavaLamp

OMG they sound divine! Definitely making some of those this week

tunguska

nutzzz123 wrote: »

Hi guys,
Just wondering does anybody here make their own energy bars. I would be interested in trying it out. Ive been scouring the net and im unsure which to try. If anyone has their own recipes i would love to try it. Getting sick of paying silly money for gels and bars.
Cheers

I make my own........well I robbed the recipe from this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrive-Nutrition-Optimal-Performance-Healthy/dp/0738212547/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280776055&sr=1-3

He has several recipes for energy bars, but the one I stick to is:
Chocolate Blueberry Energy Bars

• 1 cup fresh or soaked dried dates
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup roasted carob powder (or cacao to make 100% raw)**
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed**
• 1/4 cup hemp protein**
• 1/4 cup unhulled sesame seeds**
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• Sea salt to taste
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

These actually taste great and go down easy, no digestive problems. Very very simple to make. You literally throw all the ingrediants into a food processor, take the lump of mix out after a minute or two of mixing and cut it up into bar shapes. Then throw the bars into small freezer bags and store them in the freezer. They dont freeze solid so you can take them out and eat them at any time.

nutzzz123

thanks guys
tunguska I might try that recipe, cheers

Krusty_Clown

This recipe sounds interesting (haven't tried it):

Cereal Bars

*175g (6oz) oats
*85g (3oz) no added sugar muesli
*150g (5oz) dried fruit mixture
*3 tbsp (45ml) honey, clear or set
*2 egg whites
*175 (6fl oz) apple juice
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/ Gas mark 4
2. Combine the oats, muesli and dried fruit in a bowl.
3. Warm the honey in a small saucepan until it is runny. Add to the bowl.
4. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
5. Press the mixture into a lightly oiled 18x28cm (7x11in) baking tin. Bake for 20-25minutes until golden. When cool cut into bars.

TFBubendorfer

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

This recipe sounds interesting (haven't tried it):

Cereal Bars

*175g (6oz) oats
*85g (3oz) no added sugar muesli
*150g (5oz) dried fruit mixture
*3 tbsp (45ml) honey, clear or set
*2 egg whites
*175 (6fl oz) apple juice
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/ Gas mark 4
2. Combine the oats, muesli and dried fruit in a bowl.
3. Warm the honey in a small saucepan until it is runny. Add to the bowl.
4. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
5. Press the mixture into a lightly oiled 18x28cm (7x11in) baking tin. Bake for 20-25minutes until golden. When cool cut into bars.

It's certainly a lot cheaper than the one with loads of carob, blueberries, hemp protein, dates ...

Krusty_Clown

Yeah, my only concern would be the two egg whites, which I would imagine would affect the shelf-life and storage. Presumably you could replace them with something equally stabilizing, like golden syrup, or more honey.

Is there any difference between 'oats' and 'porridge oats'? Might stop by LIDL on the way home, and give these a go later (without the eggs). We should have a food 'sticky' (pun intended).

2nd Row Donkey

tunguska wrote: »

He has several recipes for energy bars, but the one I stick to is:
Chocolate Blueberry Energy Bars

• 1 cup fresh or soaked dried dates
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup roasted carob powder (or cacao to make 100% raw)**
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed**
• 1/4 cup hemp protein**
• 1/4 cup unhulled sesame seeds**
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• Sea salt to taste
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Where's the chocolate?

Is that roasted carob powder suppose to be it?

2nd Row Donkey

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Is there any difference between 'oats' and 'porridge oats'?

Depends, ask Mrs Clown if you can 'have your oats' or if you can 'have porridg oats' and see which energy bar tastes sweeter!:D

jedistev

http://www.triathlonireland.com/article.php?story=2010062814260330

Triathlon Ireland elite athlete Aileen Morrison shares her Kinetica Protein Cookie receipe...

"I stole this recepie from fellow TI elite athlete Kerry Spearing and adapted it a little. Originally it was a healthy oat cookie, but I've added some protein and you can pick and choose some of the other ingredients to your taste, but its still super healthy

nutzzz123

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Yeah, my only concern would be the two egg whites, which I would imagine would affect the shelf-life and storage. Presumably you could replace them with something equally stabilizing, like golden syrup, or more honey.

Is there any difference between 'oats' and 'porridge oats'? Might stop by LIDL on the way home, and give these a go later (without the eggs). We should have a food 'sticky' (pun intended).

+1 on the food sticky.

cheers for the idea folks. Must try out those recipes. I suppose its all trial and error with the mixes. Its just to get the right recipes into the bar and what is needed in the bar.

Aimman

Good thread! Need a few ideas for Dingle and should start to experiment with bars for along the way. Think I'll try out a few recipies over the next couple of weeks.

Krusty_Clown

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

This recipe sounds interesting (haven't tried it):

Cereal Bars

*175g (6oz) oats
*85g (3oz) no added sugar muesli
*150g (5oz) dried fruit mixture
*3 tbsp (45ml) honey, clear or set
*2 egg whites
*175 (6fl oz) apple juice
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/ Gas mark 4
2. Combine the oats, muesli and dried fruit in a bowl.
3. Warm the honey in a small saucepan until it is runny. Add to the bowl.
4. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
5. Press the mixture into a lightly oiled 18x28cm (7x11in) baking tin. Bake for 20-25minutes until golden. When cool cut into bars.

I tried this last night. To be honest, the results are a bit bland. I had hoped the bar would be quite crunchy, but instead the bars are a little soggy, mushy and tasteless. Sure, I'll eat them, and they're dead handy and packed with pre-running goodness, but I won't enjoy them much!

Aimman

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I tried this last night. To be honest, the results are a bit bland. I had hoped the bar would be quite crunchy, but instead the bars are a little soggy, mushy and tasteless. Sure, I'll eat them, and they're dead handy and packed with pre-running goodness, but I won't enjoy them much!

Did you cook them with or without the egg whites? I was planning on making a batch tonight. Might ease off on the apple juice and add a little melted butter & cinnimon to see if it makes it a bit crunchier. Ups the fat content, but on the long runs, wont worry me but might add a bit more taste.

Krusty_Clown

No egg whites. I went to LIDL and bought:
A Bag of oats
A bag of muesli (posh? luxury mix)
Bag of assorted dried fruits
Bag of almonds
Jar of set honey
Cloudy apple juice

I also added:
Seeds: Chia, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame

I now have a couple of months worth of energy bars(eek!), some of which are frozen. Next time I'll go the molasses route and do flap-jack style. Nutrition wise, these things are perfect. They're..... just... not..... very.... nice.....

misty floyd

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

No egg whites. I went to LIDL and bought:
A Bag of oats
A bag of muesli (posh? luxury mix)
Bag of assorted dried fruits
Bag of almonds
Jar of set honey
Cloudy apple juice

They're..... just... not..... very.... nice.....

needs more honey and/or raisons to sweeten them up?

Krusty_Clown

Actually, I just had one for lunch, and they're not that bad (this variation had peanut-butter!). They're plenty sweet enough with all the dried chopped fruit, honey and apple juice. Maybe a little less apple juice. The texture and consistency is more like a barm-brack.

You can call me Nigella_Clown.

nutzzz123

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

No egg whites. I went to LIDL and bought:
A Bag of oats
A bag of muesli (posh? luxury mix)
Bag of assorted dried fruits
Bag of almonds
Jar of set honey
Cloudy apple juice

I also added:
Seeds: Chia, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame

I now have a couple of months worth of energy bars(eek!), some of which are frozen. Next time I'll go the molasses route and do flap-jack style. Nutrition wise, these things are perfect. They're..... just... not..... very.... nice.....

how about leaving out the apple juice, and maybe putting in orange juice???

Aimman

I made a batch of them tonight with the following

*175g (6oz) oats
*85g (3oz) no added sugar muesli (found a box in Lidl)
*150g (5oz) dried fruit mixture, crushed seeds and chia
*3 tbsp (45ml) honey, clear
*2 egg whites
*175 (6fl oz) apple juice
Cinnamon and drinking chocolate powder for taste.

I beat the egg whites with a little bit of sugar to make a meringue / mallow mixture and folded it into the dry stuff with the melted honey and a little bit of butter to help it set a bit better.

It did have a bit of a barm brack texture to it too Krusty, but was missing the sweet taste. Maybe splenda or canderal might have worked.

I'll take some with me for a run tomorrow evening and see how they agree with me on the go.

TFBubendorfer

Aimman wrote: »

...
*85g (3oz) no added sugar muesli (found a box in Lidl)
...
was missing the sweet taste. Maybe splenda or canderal might have worked.
...

Maybe using a sweetened muesli would work.

nutzzz123

Aimman wrote: »

I made a batch of them tonight with the following

*175g (6oz) oats
*85g (3oz) no added sugar muesli (found a box in Lidl)
*150g (5oz) dried fruit mixture, crushed seeds and chia
*3 tbsp (45ml) honey, clear
*2 egg whites
*175 (6fl oz) apple juice
Cinnamon and drinking chocolate powder for taste.

I beat the egg whites with a little bit of sugar to make a meringue / mallow mixture and folded it into the dry stuff with the melted honey and a little bit of butter to help it set a bit better.

It did have a bit of a barm brack texture to it too Krusty, but was missing the sweet taste. Maybe splenda or canderal might have worked.

I'll take some with me for a run tomorrow evening and see how they agree with me on the go.

how did you get on

Aimman

nutzzz123 wrote: »

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how did you get on

Havent tried them yet, I'll be out for a run this evening, go I'll have one before I head out.

When I made them last night, I had one to taste it. Didnt get to sleep last night till after 4am, lol. Not putting it down to the bar, but I'm completely wrecked today, So if I get some energy tonight to finish the run, it will have done it's job.

nutzzz123

Aimman wrote: »

Havent tried them yet, I'll be out for a run this evening, go I'll have one before I head out.

When I made them last night, I had one to taste it. Didnt get to sleep last night till after 4am, lol. Not putting it down to the bar, but I'm completely wrecked today, So if I get some energy tonight to finish the run, it will have done it's job.

you should have eaten one this morning, you would be flying around today

Krusty_Clown

Aimman wrote: »

Havent tried them yet, I'll be out for a run this evening, go I'll have one before I head out.

When I made them last night, I had one to taste it. Didnt get to sleep last night till after 4am, lol. Not putting it down to the bar, but I'm completely wrecked today, So if I get some energy tonight to finish the run, it will have done it's job.

If you bought the same bag of dried fruit that I did from LIDL (that includes large prunes) you might want to leave an hour or two before going for your run... Oh and bring some paper...

Aimman

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

If you bought the same bag of dried fruit that I did from LIDL (that includes large prunes) you might want to leave an hour or two before going for your run... Oh and bring some paper...

Haha, thankfully, it was a bag I found in the press with all the baking stuff. usual Christmas pud mixed fruit & raisins. No prunes, I'm not that desperate to increase my speed for the second half of the run dashing back to the house. :eek:

daymobrew

I use flapjacks during long cycles, based on a recipe I got from my copy of "Learnabout Cooking" (Ladybird Books, 1977, 30p) that I have since I was a kid.

150g sugar
150g butter
150g Golden Syrup
100g raisins, roughly chopped
50g pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped
50 g sunflower seeds, roughly chopped
300g oats

Melt all ingredients, except oats, in saucepan. When melted mix in oats.
Put in baking tin and bake for 20 mins at 160C.

Aimman

Tried out one of the bars tonight. did a 15M run and held off till mile 8 to take it. Difficult to eat it on the run, because its a bit spongy and definitely not something you could chew and swallow in a hurry. Had to stop and finish it before nuts or seeds got caught in the old windpipe. But with a swig of water it filled me up quite comfortable, I didnt feel bloated or any niggling tummy cramps etc. I felt better running the last 7 miles the the first 8, but then, might have been a placebo effect. I've plenty of them, so I'll try a few more before Dingle.