I have a sister who is a Triathlete … I am very proud of her, as not only is she an incredible Athlete, she is also a breast cancer survivor. In her late 50’s she continuously places first or at the front of marathons and triathlons she is involved in. She is back into a junior size looks incredible.
She was interested in learning how to make an energy bar that she could make and pack ahead and take with her on the road. So for a while now I’ve been experimenting. There is an earlier post on this blog with a similar recipe, but the one here is what I consider to be the star. A video will follow soon with visuals, but the pics and recipe here will suffice.
This is an amazingly delicious and highly nutrient dense food. It could be a nutritious snack or a replacement for a meal if you are breaking your meals up into eating 5-6 times a day. I try to stay between 1200 to 1400 calories per day, so for me it’s perfect as a (small) meal replacement if that is how my day is going. For instance, I eat one bar at 8:00 a.m., and I’m not hungry at all until well past 11:00. It’s loaded with fiber, good carbs, enough fat to keep you from being hungry in another 1/2 hours, but low enough fat to be guilt free, and the fat are all good fats. It is truly delicious. I’m not just saying that. It really is delicious.
After it’s finished baking and cooled…. you cut it into 16 bars (for a meal replacement) or 32 bars (for a snack). Put it in the refrigerator (or even the freezer) and you have enough for two people for a week, or for one person for two weeks.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS and Nutritionl Information: and … below …
* Very large bowl
* Large spatula
* Measuring cups and spoons
* Small Strainer (or you can use a large on if you don’t have a small one)
* Nut Chopper (you can chop nuts with a heavy can or bottle if you don’t have a chopper, or of course you can chop them with a knife)
* Large fork to mash bananas
* Cookie Sheet Pan
* Parchment Paper (or canola oil to coat the pan)
Optional:
* Black Sesame Seeds/White Sesame Seeds
* Raw Sugar * Cinnamon
350 degree preheated oven for 45 minutes.
THE NIGHT BEFORE: 
Soak Walnuts (use filtered water … you’ll discard the water in the morning) and Line a large baking sheet (like a deep cookie sheet pictured to the right) with parchment paper. Don’t skip this step or your bars will stick. If you have a silpad….use it. If you have neither lightly grease your cookie pan, preferably with canola or olive oil.
Into a VERY large bowl pour 2 cups of the best filtered water you have. To the same bowl add the chia seeds, molasses, agave, raisins and applesauce. Be sure to stir the mixture three or 4 times over a 15 minute period to avoice clumping of the chia seeds together. Then just cover and leave il the morning. I keep mine in the microwave (no need to cover it then).
In the morning:
Rinse the walnuts and chop them
Grind the flax seed (I use a coffee grinder)
Add the walnuts and the ground flax seed to the bowl
Add the oatmeal to the bowl
Add the bananas last … just peel them, break them into pieces and them with a large fork mash them into the batter already in the bowl. Stir with a large spatula until well mixed.
Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. If you have a built in cook timer … set it to 45 minutes.
Spread your batter evening over the pan.
*optional ~ Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the top. I love to add the cinnamon because it makes the whole house smell like Christmas. It is absolutely optional. You can buy it already mixed by McCormick, or you can certainly make your own mixture…just mix 1 part cinnamon to 4 parts sugar.
You’re only going to use about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix the cinnamon and sugar (like we used to sprinkle on toast) and then with a small strainer sprinkle it all over the top. Use any strainer you have. The easiest way is to hold the strainer over the center of the spread out batch and then add a couple of teaspoons of the sugar/cinnamon mixture…then shake it over the batter.
*optional ~ After the sugar/cinnamon, sprinkle a mixture of white and black sesame seeds all over the surface of the batter.
Remember we eat with our eyes first. The combination of the sugar/cinnamon mixture and the seeds causes a wonderful browning effect and looks very appetizing.
If you don’t care for cinnamon, omit it.
This is truly a wonderful, delicious recipe that I have worked diligently to perfect. We love it. We look forward to eating it AND it stays with you for hours. Just a piece of fresh fruit perhaps about 3 hours after eating a bar and I’m good until lunch.
P.S. I like to toast mine now, (like bread) and it’s especially scrumptious (my sister’s favorite word) like that.
P.S. My sister recommended that athletes like a “recovery food” … so for that perfect 4-1 carb/protein combination…. add three ounces (or 84 grams) of your favorite protein powder to the batter, or make as is and drink one (1) ounce of milk. The last batch I made I added protein powder and it made it even more scrumptious.
I’ll add the protein next time and report on the taste. I’ll use Healthy ‘N Fit (Vitamin Shoppe). You could use whatever type of protein powder you like.
