Energy bars with lot of fiber, minimal sugar and high protein are a great snack. I grab and just go and I feel full for the time that I'm out and about and I need to get things done. I love a few brands of energy bars but I also love making my own-it's easy to choose what ingredients go in them and you can make a bunch and freeze These particular bars are without sugar by default since I ran out of maple syrup. They are still so delish!
I started typing up this recipe a few days ago so, of course, as of now, all these bars are gone. I tried not to eat two a day but sometimes I did. These would be considered high in fat so next time I'm going to work on making them with no added sugar and a little lower in fat. But healthy fat is good for you before a workout and in general-good fats don't negatively effect one's cholesterol and, when combined with exercise, can raise good cholesterol. How do I know this? My cholesterol and triglyceride numbers are amazing. They always have been ever since I went vegan.
What are healthy fats? Avocado, nut butters, seeds, nuts, olive oil. Bad fats? Processed trans fat, hydrogenated oil, processed foods in general. Just eat whole sources of good fat and you really can't go wrong.
1 cup of quick cook oats
2 tbsp of coconut oil
1/2 cup of peanut butter or any nut butter
1/3 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut shreds
Sunflower seeds
Combine all the ingredients except the sunflower seeds in a medium size bowl and mix everything until the mixture is sticky and bound together. Scoop the mixture into bar molds and then sprinkle some sunflower seeds on top, pressing them into each bar. I made about 7 bars. You can add more ingredients. Keep in your freezer. You can defrost them a little before you eat them-mere minutes-but I eat them right out of the freezer- they are like a chewy energy bar.
