For someone who has been exercise conscious for over a decade and regularly spend time at the gym, I didn’t care too much about the gym nutrition. I was least bothered about adding good fat into my diet and most of the days went with the flow without any proper planning. Thankfully, Indian cuisine (South Indian at that) provides an opportunity to make a balanced meal easily and that’s how I got through. Being a vegetarian by birth, I realized the importance of protein and started adding eggs or paneer in my diet at least once a week. All this said, I was left with low energy and hunger pangs post a workout session in the gym. I was never a fan of bottled drinks or store-bought gym goodies. While I munched on some almonds, I thought why should I not think about making homemade energy bars and that’s how these got made.
Each of this homemade energy bar is healthy – I used zero added sugar, no artificial sweeteners or flavors. I used dates as the base of my dry fruit energy bar and added a whole lot of nutrient rich roasted nuts along with some dried fruits like cranberries and raisins. These nuts range from almonds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and amaranth seeds. Yes, you read that right. I popped my own amaranth seeds and used them as a filler in my nut mixture. In the detailed recipe below, you can learn how to pop amaranth seeds at home easily. Now, this nut mixture is not a fixed one. Based on the availability and preference, one can add any nuts into the mix. For those of you who are fans of oats, that could be a single great filler too.
I was thinking of making a no cook or no bake version of the homemade energy bars but then I was planning on storing them for a longer duration and hence cooked the dates as well as the nuts mixture. The natural sugars in the ground dates act as a good binder and help in bringing the nuts together. I set the mixture for cooling down a bit, cut them into bars and froze them in ziplock bags. Each day for the last couple of months, I take one bar out before my gym session and it is ready for me to bite into it! And as you can guess, these store well for more than a couple of months without any issues. Check out other healthy snacks recipes!
How to make Homemade Energy Bar | Dry Fruit Energy Bar
📖 Recipe
Detailed step-wise picture recipe of making Homemade Energy Bar | Dry Fruit Energy Bar
In a blender jar, add the soft dates after seeds are removed.
Pulse through until they are ground well. Add 1-2 teaspoon of water if needed.
In a thick-bottomed pan, dry roast almonds, sun flower seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds and pumpkin seeds on low flame until they are fragrant. It should take about 3-4 mins.
To pop the amaranth seeds, heat the thick bottomed pan until it is really hot. Sprinkle ½ a teaspoon of amaranth seeds around and within few seconds, they should begin popping.
Move them around using a spoon and when most of the seeds are popped up, remove them from heat as they can burn very quickly. Repeat this with rest of the amaranth seeds.
Sieve the popped up amaranth seeds to filter out any seeds that remain unpopped.
Now in the same pan, add ground dates paste and cook it for 3-4 mins on low flame.
As it comes together, add dried cranberries and raisins.
Next add roasted nuts and mix them in.
Now add popped amaranth seeds.
Mix everything well together.
Place a parchment paper on a tray and spread the mixture into thickness of 1cm. Press it tightly. Refrigerate this tray for 1-2 hours until it is firmly set.
Cut into squares or rectangles of desired size.
Wrap each bar in the parchment paper and store in an airtight container or ziplock bag and freeze it.
When needed, just take a bar from the freezer and it should be ready to eat.
Recipe Notes
Use any choice of mixed dry fruits and nuts. Instead of amaranth seeds, you can use instant rolled oats. Roast them before adding to the mixture.
I would be delighted to know if you have tried this recipe, don’t forget to share your feedback and comments below. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me! I am also available on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter 🙂
