Energy Bars

From the Bicycling magazine blog. My mixture didn't look like this;
mine are chocolaty! The chocolate chips melted after pouring
in the heated maple syrup and peanut butter mixture. Yum!

I typically do not like the name "energy bar," but in the case of these bars they definitely gave us energy (or helped us maintain our energy) during some hiking at 8000+ feet elevation.

I found this recipe in a friend's facebook group (Smoky Mountain Military Cycling), and it's actually from a Bicycling magazine blog. These are very tasty bars and I really appreciated the versatility and simplicity of the recipe.

View the recipe here. For my bars, I used oats, my son's favorite cereal (multi-grain and low-sugar flakes), finely chopped walnuts, chopped dried apricots, chia seeds, maple syrup, natural peanut butter and dark chocolate chips. I only made half a batch the first time. I wanted to make sure we liked them before using so much liquid gold (aka maple syrup.) My conclusion is that these are definitely easy to make and delicious to eat. The problem is that these have quite a few calories - I didn't even calculate the calories in ours - but at least I know that each ingredient in these bars is a good one! No hidden additives, artificial anything or preservatives. We all enjoyed these on the trail. These energy bars are a good idea for extended exercise such as long runs, hiking or cycling.


Action Item: Make your own energy bars or granola bars when you can. Homemade versions are healthier, cost less and prevent lots and lots of unnecessary packaging!

For Further Reading: Eating During Exercise. A reminder that each person has different needs during long-duration activities (over 60 minutes), and it usually takes trial and error with hydration and nutrition to learn what works best for you and your body.