Energy bars, power bars, protein bars, granola bars. Whatever you call them, they’ve taken over entire aisles in supermarkets. When it comes to nutrition, some of them are little better for you than a store-bought cookie.
Their ubiquity might make you forget one salient fact: It’s so easy to make these things at home, where you can control the ingredients, mix and match to your liking and store them for a week, ready for whenever you have a hankering.
Just about every whole-foods-oriented cookbook I’ve seen in the past year or so has included a bar, so I’ve been trying recipes and returning to the best ones. In the process, I’ve settled on three standbys, each of which occupies a niche and satisfies a particular craving or need.
My favorite bars are variations on a common theme: grains, nuts and/or fruit bound together with something sticky, with minimal (if any) added sweetener. The most stripped-down of the ones I’ve loved are Susanna Booth’s peanut snack bars in her “Sensationally Sugar Free” (Hamlyn, 2016), which live up to the promise of the book’s title.
The chewy cranberry, millet and pistachio bars in Emma Galloway’s delightful “My Darling Lemon Thyme” (Roost Books, 2015) taste like an adult’s version of Rice Krispies treats.
Ella Woodward’s Banana Breakfast Bars are like a cross between a muffin and a granola bar, just the type of thing that you’d grab for a quick morning snack.
Banana breakfast bars
Coconut oil, for the baking dish (may substitute cooking oil spray)
2large or 3 small very ripe bananas, sliced (about 1 cup)
21/2cups old-fashioned rolled oats
Scant 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2tablespoons cashew butter
1tablespoon ground cinnamon
1tablespoon honey
1teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2teaspoon kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 9-by-6-inch baking dish with the oil.
Use a fork to mash the bananas in a mixing bowl until smooth. Stir in the rolled oats, almond milk, cashew butter, cinnamon, honey, vanilla extract and salt until well incorporated.
Spoon the mixture into the baking dish, flattening and smoothing the surface. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until evenly firm to the touch.
Cool in the baking dish completely before cutting into 10 bars of equal size.
Nutrition 5/8 Per bar: 130 calories, 3 g protein, 21 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 55 mg sodium, 3 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugar
Make ahead: The bars can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Adapted from “Deliciously Ella Every Day,” by Ella Woodward (Scribner, 2016).Chewy cranberry, millet and pistachio bars
Look for puffed millet in health-food stores or in the gluten-free aisle of supermarkets.
21/2 cups puffed millet (may substitute puffed rice)
1/2cup dried cranberries
1/4cup shelled raw, unsalted pistachios, chopped
1/2cup brown rice syrup or 1/3cup honey
1/2cup tahini
3tablespoons coconut oil
3/4teaspoon kosher salt
1teaspoon vanilla extract
Grease a 7-by-11-inch baking pan with cooking oil spray, then line it with parchment paper.
Combine the millet, cranberries and pistachios in a heatproof mixing bowl, stirring to incorporate.
Combine the brown rice syrup or honey, the tahini, coconut oil and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat; once the mixture starts to bubble around the edges, stir to prevent sticking. Cook for 45 seconds, remove from heat.
Quickly stir in the vanilla extract, then pour the syrup mixture over the millet mixture.
Mix well and then transfer to the pan, pressing down evenly with the back of an oiled spoon to compact the mixture. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or until set before using a lightly oiled knife to cut the slab into 14 equal bars.
Nutrition per bar (using brown rice syrup): 150 calories, 3 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 8 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium, 1 g dietary fiber, 10 g sugar
Make ahead: The bars can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Adapted from “My Darling Lemon Thyme,” by Emma Galloway (Roost Books, 2015).Peanut snack bars
7 ounces soft dried figs (about 1 cup packed)
Scant 1/2cup unsweetened crunchy peanut butter
1/4cup hulled, toasted or roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
1/3cup hulled, raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds
1/3cup whole-wheat flour
1/2teaspoon kosher salt
2tablespoons sunflower oil
2teaspoons water
Discard the tough stem at the top of each dried fig. Place the fruit in a food processor along with the peanut butter, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flour, salt, sunflower oil and water; pulse long enough to create a mixture that has the texture of fine crumbs, which should hold together when firmly pressed.
Press or roll the mixture on a counter, between layers of parchment paper, to a thickness of about 1/2 inch: A rectangle about 7-by-6-inches is perfect. If there are cracks, press the dough more firmly. Cut into 12 equal slices.
Nutrition per bar: 180 calories, 5 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 11 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 80 mg sodium, 3 g dietary fiber, 8 g sugar
Make ahead: The bars can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Adapted from “Sensationally Sugar Free,” by Susanna Booth (Hamlyn, 2016).
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