No Bake Nut Butter Energy Bars

Zach’s No-Bake Energy Bars - with macadamia nuts, hemp, chia, flax and the perfect amount of chocolate

I promise there is also some chocolate in there…

Tomorrow, Zach is heading to Moab for a few days of bike-packing with friends — mountain biking and backpacking, meaning everything they need (camping gear, water, food, etc.) is strapped to their backs while they ride. Part of his prep has involved making a few different batches of these no-bake energy bars.

Corona Arch, near Moab. Photo by Tom Gainor on Unsplash

They’re satisfyingly desnse, a little chewy, a little sweet, packed with protein and healthy fats, and they hold up surprisingly well in a backpack — even if that backpack is getting jostled down a red rock trail at 30 mph. I’m really trying my best not to eat them all before he leaves. They remind me a bit of those “Perfect Bars” you can find in the refrigerated section at the grocery store, but these are much, much better. The texture is SO GOOD.

They are endlessly adaptable, but this version is my favorite so far: peanut butter, macadamia nuts, chocolate chips, hemp and chia seeds, and a scoop of vanilla protein powder to make them a little more substantial. I use vanilla whey protein powder from Whole Foods. No dried fruit, although I left a spot in the recipe if you want to add some: cherries, apricots, dates, prunes, raisins, etc.. He did one batch with dried cherries which was also good.

Another REALLY GOOD batch had almond butter, pistachios, goji berries, coconut flakes and chocolate.

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Wrap them in parchment paper after you cut them and they’ll last in the fridge a few weeks (if you can keep away from them that long) - or they’ll last about 5-7 days at room temp. I wish my kids would eat these, but sadly they turned up their noses. I really do think they’d be great in a school lunch!

You could probably double the protein powder too if you want - I may try that for the next batch. It’s pretty perfect now, taste and texture wise, but this will definitely be a recipe I will come back to more to play around with just for fun.