If you are like me, you try to always make snacks as healthy as possible, I know that some of that thinking has become Yale’s thinking too. Yale is studying for exams and she came up with this super energy snack. These little snacks are jammed with oats, almond butter, honey and chia. Today’s post is by Yale.
Guest Post by: Yale Hertzman
Here is her article as it appears in the The independent student newspaper of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Ultravires.
Step aside, Nature Valley. There’s a new bar in town. Chocolate Dipped Chewy Bars, Nutrigrains, and Lara Bars pale in comparison to these home-made energy bars. While store-bought bars are undoubtedly convenient and delicious, they have their downsides:
- Expensive. $2.99 for an energy bar, really? Unless you have direct access to Costco or an account in the Cayman Islands, buying energy bars daily are likely to suck the energy out of your wallet.
- That KIND bar may not so kind after all. Purportedly healthy energy bars can be riddled with processed and unnatural ingredients. Soy isolate protein, what are you? If you need to chemical engineering degree to understand the ingredients in your food, you probably should not be eating it.
- Deceiving. The package will say something like “chocolate-flavored” but inside is something that looks like and tastes like an actual brick.
Treat yourself right with one of these home-made, no-bake energy bars. You read it correctly: there is no baking required. Even if you are the worst cook alive – you burn toast, you use your oven as a storage space, and you don’t know how to make a pate en croute – you will be able to make these energy bars. Is time an issue? Of course it is – you’re a law student! From start to finish, these bars take 20 minutes to make. Meaning your precious Tort readings will not have to wait for long.
Raw Energy Bars
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of quick-cook oats, uncooked
- 2/3 cups of dates (can also substitute for dried cherries or raisins)
- 1 cup all-natural peanut or almond butter
- ¼ cup of maple syrup or honey
- 1 tbsp of chia seeds
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 2 tsp vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Directions:
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Spread the mixture into a pan and freeze for at least 2 hours.
- Slice into bars and enjoy!
- Store in fridge or freezer.
I had to make these too. This is my version. I added a 1/4 cup of cacao nibs and 1/4 cup of coconut flakes.
