Grab ‘n Go Snacks: Make These Easy Bars at Home!

Make these easy bars to stay healthy on the go!

Energy bars, protein bars, sweet & salty bars are sometimes great, quick snacks and meal replacements.  However, they can get to be expensive if you eat them even 5-6 times a week, and some of the commercial varieties are about as healthy as a candy bar.

The good supplemental bars (if they are all-natural) contain cereals, nuts, protein, whole grains and dried fruit. That doesn’t sound very difficult to do at home! Save time and money with these delicious at-home recipes for energy/protein bars with all natural ingredients you can find here at SkinnyMs.

The most popular Skinny Ms. protein bar recipe is a must-have, Quinoa Protein Bars.

Here are our top 3 recipes for Do-it-Yourself bars:

Peanut Butter Fudge Protein Bars
These delicious no-bake bars are ready in 5 minutes!

What you’ll need:

To Prepare:
Mix the peanut butter and honey in a bowl, heat for 30 seconds. Add the rest of ingredients and mix together. Mixture should be crumbly and slightly moist.

Press hard into a 9×9 tray and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Cut into 12 yummy bars!

Yields: 12 | Serving Size: 1 bar  | Calories: 288 | Total Fat: 12.7 g | Saturated Fat: 3.1 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Cholesterol: 41 mg | Sodium: 167 mg | Carbohydrates:  17.2 g | Dietary Fiber: 3.0 g | Sugars:  7.7 g | Protein: 27.9 g | SmartPoints (Freestyle): 8 |

Peanut Energy Bars
Tasty no-bake granola bars fill of protein and essential nutrients!

What you’ll need:

  • ¾ cup Peanut Butter, smooth style
  • ¾ cup Liquid Honey
  • ¾ cup Brown Sugar,  packed
  • ½ cup Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened
  • ½ cup Quick-cooking oats
  • 1 ¼ cup Whole Grain Cereal (Kashi, Grape-Nuts)
  • 1 cup Dried Cranberries
  • 1 cup Peanuts, coarsely chopped, unsalted

To Prepare:
Spray 13 x 9 inch cake pan with cooking spray.

In saucepan, combine peanut butter, honey, brown sugar and cocoa. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes, stirring often, or until smooth.

Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in oatmeal, cereal,raisins and peanuts. Press batter firmly into prepared pan. Cool before cutting into 32 bars.

Yields: 32 bars | Serving Size: 1 bar | Calories: 123 | Total Fat: 5.7 g | Saturated Fat: 1.1 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Cholesterol: 0 mg | Sodium: 53 mg | Carbohydrates: 17.5  g | Dietary Fiber:  2.0 g | Sugars: 11.1 g | Protein: 3.6 g | SmartPoints (Freestyle): 5 |

Trail Mix Energy Bars

What you’ll need:

  • 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup flax seeds, ground
  • 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
  • 1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 cup dried apricots
  • 1/2 cup raw almonds
  • 1/2 cup dried cherries
  • 1/2 cup pitted dried dates
  • 1/2 cup powdered nonfat dry milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup raw honey
  • 1/2 cup egg whites

To Prepare:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or use a non-stick pan.

Place all ingredients except the honey and egg whites in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. Add honey and eggs and pulse until the mixture is well combined. It will resemble a coarse paste.

Transfer to the baking pan and spread evenly. Bake until just done, about 20 minutes. Cut into 20 squares.

Yields: 20 squares | Serving Size: 1 square | Calories: 239 | Total Fat: 11.7 g | Saturated Fat: 1.2 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Cholesterol: 0 mg | Sodium: 21 mg | Carbohydrates: 16.2 g | Dietary Fiber: 13.8 g | Sugars: 8.3 g | Protein: 12.1 g | SmartPoints (Freestyle): 7 |

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SkinnyMs.

The SkinnyMs. team believes that all people, regardless of age, size, and fitness level, have the power to transform their lives — they just need the resources to do so. The SkinnyMs. method promotes healthy living through a combination of clean eating and regular exercise. We offer everything you need to be successful.

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17 Comments

  1. Agree would like the nutrition facts for these bars would be VERY helpful! You have it for so many thing it is almost a let down not to have it for these.

  2. When you heat the raw honey, you destroy all of the healthy benefits. So you may as well buy regular honey. I wouldn't use any of the recipes if looking for health benefits of Raw Honey.

    1. Terry, I only purchase raw honey so that's what goes in the recipes. You can of couse use processed as well. Thanks for the info!

    1. Laura, It depends on the bar. The granola-style bars can sit on the countertop covered for a couple of weeks, like cookies would. Softer bars and those made with a lot of fruit should be stored covered in the fridge for a week and a half. These can also be frozen.

  3. I would luv to try these they sound scrumptious. Not very difficult either. I do have a ? What exactly does quinoa taste like…or does it even have a taste?

    1. Quinoa has a very mild taste, which makes it easily substituted into many types of recipes. It is most similar to couscous or a milder brown rice.

    1. Christina, It’s pretty the same. Flax meal, however is not flour. So, be sure to leave some texture if grinding the flax seeds.

  4. So, are we sure it’s supposed to be 4 cups of flax? It seems like WAY too much… It didn’t turn out as a paste and doesn’t look anything like the picture.

    1. Christina, I changed the amount to 1 cup ground flax. This recipe was the first one ever added to our site, January 2012. As you see,
      it’s not formatted like our other recipes. Things have changed a lot since that date back in 2012. We continue to add improvements
      and hope always create a “great” experience for our loyal audience. Thank you so much for being part of the SkinnyMs. family. 🙂

      BTW, we have lots of yummy and healthy bars on the site.

      1. Thanks so much for updating it! 4 cups of flax meal did not make a good bar! Haha! That first batch was no bueno, but I will be trying it again with the correct amount of flax! And I will check out the other bar recipes on here! Hoping to find a good pantry snack with decent shelf life outside of the fridge!

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