These bars have such incredible flavor, you’d never guess they don’t have any sugar and only a smidge of natural sweeteners. Gluten free and with four Super Foods, they pack a nutritional punch, and really fill you up between meals. It’s hard to say whether they’re a dessert or a breakfast food! Great for the lunchbox, like my other healthy lunch packing ideas.
NOTE: You’ll love the recipe updates and formatted, printable version of this and 30 other “Healthy Snacks to Go” recipes now available as an eBook. Click here to buy Healthy Snacks to Go!
Ingredients
2 cups almonds (raw or crispy nuts)
½ cup flax meal (flax seeds ground in a blender)
½ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
½ cup unsalted almond butter (like peanut butter, made from almonds instead)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup coconut oil (unrefined is best; could probably sub butter here)
1-2 Tbs honey
1 Tbs maple syrup
2-3 teaspoons homemade vanilla extract (or at least real)
a few squares dark chocolate, less than half a bar needed for thin layer (optional)
Method
- Place almonds, flax meal, shredded coconut, almond butter and salt in a food processor
- Pulse briefly, about 10 seconds
- In a small sauce pan, melt coconut oil over very low heat,
- Remove coconut oil from stove, stir sweeteners and vanilla into oil
- Add coconut oil mixture to food processor and pulse until ingredients form a coarse paste
- Press mixture into an 8 x 8 glass baking dish
- Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour, until mixture hardens
- In a small saucepan, melt chocolate over very low heat, stirring continuously
- Spread melted chocolate over bars; return to refrigerator for 30 minutes, until chocolate hardens
- Remove from refrigerator, cut into bars and serve
Makes 20 bars
Adapted from Elana’s Pantry
UPDATE: I tried this recipe again, absolutely thinking I needed the dark chocolate to make it taste good, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they’re delicious without it!
Be sure to check out the Walnut-Oat Pie crust too, a healthy alternative to graham cracker crusts.
Check out the “Bean and Veggie Meal Plan Analysis“. I’ll help you find ways to include healthy beans and veggies in the foods you and your family already serve and enjoy!
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Other Healthy Recipes you may enjoy:
- Homemade Refried Beans
- Jamaican Meat Marinade
- Homemade dressings with Olive Oil
- Banana Flax Muffins
- Salmon Patties
- Homemade Granola and Granola bars
Num!! I’m always looking for a good snack bar recipe. I’ll have to give this a try. Although I’ll have to sub out organic peanut butter for almond butter and butter for coconut oil. And sadly – no chocolate in the house! geez – maybe I should just wait it out till I have the proper ingredients!
Tara’s last blog post.."omelets" ~ fast food style
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:54 am
I did have to complete the 1/2 cup almond butter with a bit of peanut butter, and I bet butter instead of c.oil would be just fine – go for it! The chocolate definitely helped, though, you may want to wait for that. Good luck! I visited your blog, too — good stuff!
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Ooh this is good. Healthy snacks are key. Thanks for sharing!
Michelle @ Find Your Balance’s last blog post..You. Need. Fat.
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I also made Elana’s power bars and loved them! They are so great!
Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet’s last blog post..“Raw” Berry Freezer Jam (Honey Sweetened)
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These bars are really incredibly delicious. I didn’t have any coconut oil so I used Crisco (no trans-fats, but still not ideal). After reading up on the health benefits of coconut oil, and being generally skeptical of soybean oil, I’m planning on buying coconut oil for the next batch, which will surely be soon.
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Katie Reply:
August 21st, 2009 at 10:46 am
Nice. Crisco no trans fats? I dunno about that. I think Crisco is kind of the epitome of trans fats…let’s look into this. What do the ingredients list? I would always default to butter as the sub for coconut oil if I didn’t have any. Check here for my best price on a gallon of c. oil: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/08/13/a-good-deal-on-top-fats/
[Reply to this comment]
Nourishing Protein Bars – A Great Whole Foods Snack – Passionate Homemaking // Nov 10, 2009 at 5:02 am
[...] my version of a good protein bar that we totally love thanks to Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship for her tweaked almond bar! Let me say that again…it is awesome! A great source of protein and a fun way to get those [...]
Homemade Protein Bars « Catholic Mommy Brain // Nov 18, 2009 at 8:40 pm
[...] a Comment I combined two homemade protein bar recipes shared at Passionate Homemaking and Kitchen Stewardship. Where choices were given, I used flax meal, prunes, peanut butter, and honey. Note that they [...]
We just made these and my husband’s response was, “you have to make these like every day!!”
.-= Anjanette´s last blog ..Disclosure Policy =-.
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Recipe for Gluten Free, Sugar Free Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free: Guiltless Pleasures March 2010 // Mar 31, 2010 at 12:36 am
[...] of Kitchen Stewardship has a healthier, gluten-free Almond Power Bar. And she’s not even a gluten-free blogger – gotta’ love our Katie! She embraces [...]
What a fantastic recipe, Katie! It’s going on my list right now.
Shirley
.-= gfe–gluten free easily´s last blog ..Eating My Words with Honey-Sweetened Corn Muffins (March Muffin Madness) =-.
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How did it go, substituting peanut butter for almond butter and butter for coconut oil? Anyone? That’s where I am with ingredients right now …
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
April 13th, 2010 at 9:38 am
Carolyn,
Katie
The PB for almond butter works great, and I believe Carrie told me the butter was fine as well. Should be a go!
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Used unsalted butter and they were great! DS (2 1/2) ate them like they were going out of style! Think I’ll cut and wrap them individually and get them into the freezer so I can space them out a bit…they’d be gone in a day if my boys had their druthers! AWESOME! And we didn’t even add the chocolate…
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wow–this recipe looks healthy AND yummy!
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My Go-to Recipes From Around The Web | Delighting in the Days // Jul 26, 2010 at 1:52 am
[...] Almond Power Bars – from Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship. I make this almost weekly now. Everyone loves it. [...]
Hi Katie,
I found your blog through Heavenly Homemakers, and I just made your power bars, which are so good! Two of my sons have nut allergies, so I substituted raw sunflower seeds for the almonds, and sunflower seed butter for the almond butter, so they’re still classified as protein bars and they turned out great! Thanks for the great, easy recipe!
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
August 4th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Jen,
Katie
It’s great to know about viable allergy-friendly alternatives!
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These are the best bars. I make them every Sunday now. I used peanut butter and butter before and they taste great also. I don’t use the chocolate either. This time I incorporated pecans with the almonds. I think it is going to be good. I love this recipe!!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
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Anyone have an idea what the calorie/fat content is to these? They look amazing!!
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
January 6th, 2011 at 12:55 am
Shari,
Katie
Honestly, with wholesome ingredients like these and practically no sweetener, I wouldn’t worry a whit about calories or fat! These are all good, healthy fats, and I’m sure a calorie count would look terrible because nuts have a high fat/high cal content. But healthy is healthy, no matter what the “numbers” say!
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These bars are awesome! I brought these in to work for people to try and they loved them! I really LOVE your website…I could spend all day looking at-up things. I have made several of your recipes and really just love everything you have here. Wanted to let you know Katie.
Donna
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Katie Reply:
January 24th, 2011 at 8:59 am
Thanks, Donna! I love to hear from readers!
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Is a vitamix a food processor? I just tried making these in mine, and was a big failure! It wouldn`t mix, I had to add water to get it to halfway go! Any tips for me??! Thanks! They sound really yummy…
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
March 8th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Kara,
Katie
Do you mean you have and used a Vitamix? I can only imagine that should do a great job with the bars. ??? I make them in my normal food processor, but yes, a Vitamix is supposed to be a super powerful food processor. The coconut oil really gets them to stick together. I hope you can make them worK!
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Stephanie M Reply:
April 16th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
I would make sure your liquid ingredients are at the bottom and use your tamper to push everything down.
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I made these bars the other day and they are “FABULOUS”. I gave them to all my non health food eating friends and family and they too loved them. I added some goji berries for a little extra nutritional kick and it was a great contrast. Thanks!!
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Oh this looks positively divine! I just finished making a variation of your regular granola bars (peanut butter and chocolate) and I must give these a go next time I get some almonds! This sounds so good!
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After School Snackage | Fix Me A Snack // Aug 17, 2011 at 3:17 pm
[...] Almond Power Bars from Kitchen Stewardship [...]
Absolutely delicious, but mine are all crumbly. Don’t hold together. Any ideas? Which ingredient should I add more of?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:29 am
KP,
katie
did you refrigerate them? That makes a world of difference. If they’re still crumbly, I’m sure a bit more coconut oil or almond butter would do the trick. You can see in the photo that mine are pretty gooey in the food processor but harden up nicely in the fridge. They shouldn’t be crumbly for sure – I’m sure you’ll be able to get them to stick!
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Weekend Shenanigans « Wild, Not Wise // Aug 22, 2011 at 1:07 pm
[...] again to make lunch, make almond power bars, and do my yoga. I worked through the whole Primary series, which was fun. Still not doing any [...]
I don’t have a food processor? Is it still possible to make this? (I am a complete newbie to this whole homemade thing, so sorry if this is a silly question!!
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
August 27th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Amarea,
Katie
A good blender might do the trick, or a mini food chopper *maybe*…you would need something to get the almonds chopped really, really finely (you can tell in the picture that a knife, for example, probably wouldn’t be enough). No silly questions! Good for you to start down the path to making more of your own!
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Hi Katie,
I really want to try this and the granola bar recipes but my problem is this – I really, really don’t like coconut. I can manage coconut oil in things, but not the actual shredded coconut, both texture and flavour do weird things to me. Can you suggest a reasonable substitute for the shredded coconut?
Many thanks,
Louise
[Reply to this comment]
Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship Reply:
September 2nd, 2011 at 1:54 am
Louise,
First, because everything is chopped in the food processor, I’m not sure if you could pick out the texture of the coconut (not my fav either). I’m thinking you could always try simply omitting it, or add extra flax or maybe ground nuts to compensate.
I don’t actually call for coconut in the granola bars, though.
Katie
[Reply to this comment]
Louise Reply:
September 2nd, 2011 at 7:57 am
Right you are, I was thinking the actual granola rather than the granola bars. I will definitely try substituting, I have lots of ground flax available or could grind up some nuts fairly easily. I just don’t want to risk making a whole batch of something and not wanting to eat it because I can taste the coconut. Thanks so much for the response! I’ve never been really confident when it comes to altering recipes, so it helps to have some experienced input.
[Reply to this comment]
Homemade Almond Power Bars | beyondthepeel.net // Dec 16, 2011 at 12:18 pm
[...] I saw this power bar recipe on Kitchen Stewardship, almost by fluke really. It’s been such a popular recipe that people have copied it and [...]
Do these need to be stored in the fridge to hold together? I’m wondering what your thoughts are as to whether they would hold up well enough to take backpacking or would they just crumble to pieces. Did anyone who is a backpacker make these and what do you think?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
Sandra,
If you’re backpacking in summer heat, I don’t think they would quite work great. They do fine at room temperature here in the winter though.
For backpacking, I highly recommend a homemade larabar-type dried-fruit-and-nut bar. They really hold together well (I make little balls out of them for ease of serving/eating), hold up in heat, and are SO yummy and energizing. I have 14 variations in my eBook, but you can also find recipes via Google searches.
Thanks! Katie
(ebook: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/04/26/healthy-snacks-to-go-ebook-now-on-sale/)
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Can wheat germ be substituted for the flax seed in this recipe? I just bought some raw almonds over the weekend and really want to try this recipe;)
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Kelly,
Probably (?) but I don’t usually recommend taking the germ out of the wheat… Maybe just skip the flax or add a bit more almonds? Katie
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Amazingly delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
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were a hit at class tonight!
)
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Made these for the first time this weekend. They’re good, and they hold together, but they’re kind of “wet”. Any advice? Thanks.
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 12:56 am
Lucy,
Katie
You can always add some almonds or adjust the almond butter, or whatever is making them too wet. Sometimes mine are denser than others, true…fiddle until they fit your tastes!
[Reply to this comment]
Found your site today and have been reading a few of your great posts!
Wanted to comment on this one as I’ve been trying to come up with recipes for my own energy bars.
These sound delicious but I don’t know if I’d call them “power bars”. Maybe a natural candy bar?
They don’t offer much in the way of either carbs or protein and almost 90% of the calories come from fat.
They sound great and will try them out as a nice treat but wouldn’t use them to replace protein or energy bars as I thought might be the case since you used “power bars” in the name.
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 12:57 am
True – but all those nuts have quite a bit of protein, wouldn’t you say? And mmm, fat, good source of energy!
Katie
[Reply to this comment]
Sproxno Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Katie,
You can go to http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php and analyze the recipe yourself.
I got 16.3g of fat, 6.3g carbs and 3.7g protein per serving.
Compare that to an energy bar like a Clif bar that has 7g fat, 41g carbs, 10g protein.
Or a PowerBar wich has 5g fat, 38g carbs, 23g protein.
Fat takes longer to convert to energy (up to 6 hours) than carbs or proteins do. Apparently fats can be good if you’re doing something long like running a marathon.
I’m just being nit-picky about the naming since power bar makes me think of PowerBar which is a protein bar.
These are tasty treats that I would enjoy
just not something I would grab for some quick energy before I go out for a run. I’m about to do that just now. It’s been a few hours since I last ate and I scarfed down a homemade energy bar I made for a boost.
I will be trying these too because they look so good
[Reply to this comment]
Lucy Reply:
March 15th, 2012 at 10:56 am
At least you admit that you’re being nit-picky. That’s the first step, right?
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Thanks for the recipe- excellent combination or ingredients and a great platform to modify or add things to. I used chis seeds instead of flax (allergic to flax), turned out great and have added antioxidants. Keep up the inspiring work!
[Reply to this comment]
Raw Almond Peanut Butter Bars The Healthy Family and Home // Apr 12, 2012 at 4:43 pm
[...] felt like making a dessert snack today and came across this one at http://www.kitchenstewardship.com. While I am infamous for altering recipes, this one had quite the [...]
Nutty for Nutty Bars « Smithspirations // May 1, 2012 at 9:47 pm
[...] to have developed this recipe, I’m not and I didn’t, but I’m very glad that Kitchen Stewardship was smart enough to concoct these, and that Passionate Homemaking shared the recipe so I could [...]