These Energy Bars are simple to whip up, they only take a handful of ingredients, and they are the perfect snack. Your kids are going to love these as well as all the adults.
With summer right around the corner, it is always a good thing to be armed with a bunch of easy no-bake dessert/snack recipes. I love baking and cooking as much as the next blogger/person, but when the weather is warm and sunny I like having time to go out and enjoy it.
I love to eat these as a quick breakfast in the morning or as a snack in the afternoon to tide over to dinner. Another nice thing about these you can change them up and add your favorite ingredients to make the perfect snack for you.
Helpful Tips:
- Add the peanut butter and the honey together in a microwave-safe bowl and heat the two, so they are just slightly warm. This takes about 20 seconds in the microwave. This will make it easier to combine the peanut, honey, and dry ingredients together.
- You can use old fashion oats or quick oats for this recipe.
- Line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
- The honey and peanut butter help to glue the energy bars together, but another thing is to press them into the pan until you can’t press anymore. You can use a spatula, back of a spoon, or whatever you have and press them together.
- These bars are best to store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 to 5 days.
- They can be frozen also. Just make sure that you put them in a freezer container and that it is airtight.
Steps for making Energy Bars
Step one
Line an 8-inch pan with parchment paper. Let some of the paper hang over the edge of the pan.
Step two
Place the peanut butter and the honey in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 20 seconds on high power in the microwave.
Step three
Stir the peanut butter together until the ingredients are combined and smooth.
Step four
Add the vanilla and mix it in.
Step five
Add the oats and mix until the ingredients are well combined.
Step six
Mix in the chocolate chips and chopped peanuts.
Step seven
Place the mixture in the prepared pan and press in the pan until the bars are firm.
Step eight
Place the pan in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. Remove the bars from the refrigerator and cut into desired size bars.
Looking for other snack ideas? Check out these recipes:
Stay in touch with me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Energy Bars
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 3/4 cups oats
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup peanuts chopped
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl add the peanut butter and honey, heat in the microwave for about 20 seconds, just to warm the ingredients so they blend together easily.
- Mix the peanut butter and honey until well blended and creamy. Add the vanilla and mix it in.
- Add the oats to the peanut butter mixture and mix until well combined.
- Stir in the peanuts and chocolate chips until well mixed.
- Place the mixture in the prepared pan. With a spatula or the back of a spoon press the energy bars into the pan. Press until the bars are firm.
- Cover the bars and place them the refrigerator to set.
- Remove the bars from the refrigerator and take the bars out of the pan and cut into desired size bars.
Notes
- Heat the peanut butter and honey for about 20 seconds in the microwave. This will help with mixing the peanut butter and honey together.
- Line the pan with parchment paper. Leave a little parchment paper hanging over the sides of the pan for easy removal of the bars.
- Store the energy bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator or a cool place.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on October 12, 2012. It has been updated with new content and pictures on April 23, 2020.
These look delicious, and I just bought a bag of craisins..now I have a plan 🙂
I’m glad you had a wonderful visit with your family. Sometimes seeing loved ones can be just like food for your soul 🙂
Delicious! I like pecans and peanut butter, together with those lovely seeds – Yum!
I have a feeling these would be gobbled right up in my house.
One of the interesting things about The Joy of Cooking is how it’s evolved over the years. When it was first published energy bars didn’t exist, now they include them! I keep several editions of the cookbook around, because they have dropped some of my favorite recipes over the years. Anyway, great recipe! I’ve never made my own energy bars – I should give it a try.
I like all the great ingredients you’ve packed into these bars! They look yummy!
We eat granola bars around here like they’re going out of style! Great idea to make your own version. I think I have all of the ingredients in the pantry, too! 🙂