Breakfast on the Go Energy Bars

As I mentioned in my last post, life is getting hectic. These bars are a great way for Manatee and I to have a quick on the go snack or breakfast as we run out of the house or are stuck in meetings all day along.

I cannot take any credit for the recipe. Mama Pea from the cooking blog AND New York Times best selling cookbook, Peas and Thank You, created these yummy, wholesome bars. If you haven’t already checked out her website, you should. Lots of healthy and easy recipes made with whole food ingredients, all shared with a great sense of humor. Her book was probably one of the first cookbooks that I had to set down because I was laughing so hard.

Back to the energy bars, these are essentially a stand in for your typical granola bar or energy bar. They are really easy to stir together and the ingredients are probably already in your pantry (nut butter, oatmeal, maple syrup, raisins, chocolate chips). The only ingredient you may need to buy is ground flaxseed. This is a great thing to have on hand and you can find it in the bulk or organic section of the grocery store.

You can play with the add-ins and the type of nut butter for your bars. For mine, I chose dried cranberries, peanut butter and dark chocolate chips.

They stir together really quickly and only need to bake for 15 minutes. The only tricky part is removing from the pan. You want to let them cool enough to set but if you let them cool too long then they will be rock hard. I suggest letting them cool for ten or fifteen minutes and then trying to remove one. Worst case scenario? It is a little crumbly and you will have to eat it. Trust me, that will not be a hardship!