Rise & Shine Energy Bars

Rethink your morning routine of peeling back the ol' energy bar wrapper and dig into your own homemade bars instead! Homemade energy bars not only taste better, they are completely customizable to your own personal preferences, and they will inevitably save you quite a bit of money down the road.  You cannot loose! 

{{Blog post originally published 2/20/2013, images, video, and content updated 9/1/2020. Don' t worry, the recipe is still the same!}}

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There is nothing romantic or even remotely exciting about peeling the plastic wrapper off of my energy bar in the mornings before I devour it! I recently realized that I have been investing so much time and energy into my morning cup of coffee that I have become pretty blasé about the food that goes with it. On a typical weekday I save the "real" food for a few hours or so after the kids head off to school. It's pretty pathetic, but it is the truth.

I honestly think a lot of people live their lives this way. We are so on the go, even from the moment that we awaken, that we have even lost the desire to sit and enjoy a hearty breakfast. While I wish I could say with all honestly that I am going to change this routine I have set for myself I actually know that I'm probably just going to sink right back into my old ways. ( Which will in turn make me really feel horrible and guilt trip myself for those energy bars. It's a horrible chain reaction, I know!) At any rate, instead of trying to reinvent my morning routine I decided to offer myself a better option. Homemade energy bars!!! 

Here are my top 3 reasons for loving these homemade energy bars so much! 

• At a whopping $1 - $3 on average for store bought energy bars the savings allen his my #1 reason for loving these so much. If I actually pay what it costs to buy a bar that I actually think tastes good for every day of the week that I typically eat one we're looking at a $12 per week/$48 per month habit. Considering Todd and I both have a habit of starting our days this way, we're spending about $100 a month on something we don't even REALLY enjoy that much. Considering I can make a batch of 14 bars for a little over $5 a pop we're saving about $90 a month! 
• TASTE IS EVERYTHING!!! Honestly, store bought bars are weird right? They have strange aftertastes, weird textures, and sometimes they look pretty questionable too. Homemade energy bars are completely customizable to your own tastes. Like citrus and cranberry? Great! Peanut butter chocolate chip? No problem! Start with the basic bar recipe which I am including below then mix in the add ins until they taste exactly like you want for them too. 

Basic Bar ingredient list for easy customization 
1 ⅓ cup nuts chopped (Try all one type of nut or a mixture of a few of your favorites)
1 cup gluten-free oats
¼ cup seeds (flax, chia, and sunflower are all great options!)
⅔ cup light brown sugar
½ cup honey
4 tablespoons salted  butter or vegan butter substitute
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons any extract OR 1 teaspoon citrus zest
2 cups puffed brown rice cereal
½ cup dried fruit (no need to chop cranberries, but if using a larger fruit like apricots chop them into pieces similar in size to the nuts in your recipe.)
Follow the instructions listed below in our recipe card to see how it all comes together! 

• No more wrapper. Well, I do secure a small piece of parchment paper around them so they don't stick together while I'm storing them, but it doesn't feel as lack-lustre when I peel this wrapper back. Excitement and anticipation for your daily energy bar IS possible my friend! 

If you’ve tried my Rise & Shine Energy Bars recipe I would be so grateful if you would rate the recipe and let me know what you think in the comments below, I just love hearing from you and your reviews and comments really help others that visit This Mess is Ours! 

Rise and Shine Energy Bars

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Don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know what you think about these Rise and Shine Energy Bars in the comments below, I just love hearing from you and your reviews/comments really help other people that visit This Mess is Ours! 

• Author: This Mess Is Ours
• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 18 min
• Total Time: 28 minutes
• Yield: 14 bars 1x
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: Gluten Free

Ingredients

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1 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup gluten-free oats

⅓ cup pine nuts

¼ cup flax seeds

⅔ cup light brown sugar

½ cup honey

4 tablespoons salted  butter  or vegan butter substitute

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups puffed brown rice cereal

½ cup dried cranberries

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the pecans, oats, pine nuts, and flax seeds on the sheet and bake about 8 minutes or until fragrant. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
2. In a saucepan, bring the sugar, honey, butter, and salt to a boil over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar dissolves and a light brown caramel forms, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
3. Pour the caramel over the nut and oat mixture. Stir in the brown rice cereal and the cranberries until evenly coated.
4. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, extend the paper over the sides of the pan to use as a handle later. Pour the cereal mixture into the baking dish and spread out into an even layer. Cover the pan with a second piece of parchment and press down to compress the bars. Let the mixture stand for about 2 hours until firm.
5. Discard the top piece of parchment and use the "handles" from the second piece of parchment to gently remove the cereal square from the pan then cut the squares into 12 equal size bars and serve.

Notes

*I have been making a batch of these at the beginning of the week and wrapping them individually in plastic wrap. I keep them in the refrigerator so we can pull out as many as we want each morning. Just be sure to let them come to room temp before you eat them because they really harden up in the fridge, but they will soften back to a crispy, chewy granola bar in a few minutes.

Inspired by Lara Ferroni's Real Snacks

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 bar
• Calories: 214
• Sugar: 21.4 g
• Sodium: 139.1 mg
• Fat: 9.8 g
• Carbohydrates: 30.8 g
• Protein: 2.3 g
• Cholesterol: 8.7 mg

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