Granola Bars

Making your own energy bars is a MUST if you’re on a tight budget. Store-bought ones are expensive, and making your own is as easy as it is cheap. We started making our own in 2016, when we had decided we were going to quit our jobs and move to Sweden. We were looking to save up as much money as we possibly could, and our little apartment quickly turned into a DIY studio as a result of that. Granola, yogurt, packed lunches… we had a whole operation going on.

We did have this one, pricey thing we wanted to do before we left the U.S. though – a ski trip to Colorado. By staying a short drive away from the mountain, bringing our own lunches and cooking our dinners in a microwave at night, we could keep our costs down and make that dream come true (big time). To both of us, that week of skiing ranks as one of our best weeks ever. We took the first lift up, and stayed until the last one. Had packed cheese sandwiches for lunch every day and landed fantastic goggle tans. It was glorious. We also brought 30+ of these energy bars on the plane, and quickly got into the habit of snacking on one around 10:30am, when going up the chair lift somewhere. And then another around 2:30pm. They check ALL the boxes. You’ll feel as if you’re having a cookie, but each piece does pack a good amount of both protein, fibers and good fats and will therefore keep you going for a long time. It might not be what you want to chew on when running a fast race, simply because you just want simple carbohydrates then, but for a long day skiing (whether downhill or cross country) or hiking – they’re prefect. We have a week of cross country skiing in front of us as I’m typing this up, and we have a giant bag of bars sitting in our fridge, ready to go.

We love the tartness of cranberries, but you can obviously add in whatever dried fruit you’d like. The same thing goes for the chocolate – just pick your favorite kind and chop it up. The procedure is simple, so there isn’t too much more information to add here (besides that they taste best outside, preferably someplace pretty, so make sure you schedule an outdoor adventure soon!). Good luck!

För recept på svenska, klicka här: Energibars

Makes 8 big bars

130 g honey (1 dl)
125 g salted peanut butter (1 heaping dl)
160 g oats (4 dl)
35 g dried cranberries, chopped (1/2 dl)
25 g g dark chocolate, chopped (1/2 dl)

1. Line a regular loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, place oats and cranberries.
3. Melt the honey in a small saucepan over low heat. When nice and liquid-y, turn off the heat and add in the peanut butter. Stir until smooth.
4. Add the honey-peanut butter mixture to the bowl, and stir together. Work fast, as the honey will start to firm up. Add in the chocolate last, to prevent it from melting.
5. Place the mixture into the loaf pan, making sure to press down hard. You can fold the edges of the parchment paper over the mixture, and press with you fingers from the outside. You don’t want any air pockets, but instead a compact layer. Refrigerate for a few hours before cutting (you can easily lift the whole thing out of the pan, parchment paper and all). Can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, and the freezer for several months. To bring on the go – wrap them individually in parchment paper and twist the ends to “lock” (think old-timey candy) and pop in your bag.

Nutritional information (based on 8 bars): Protein: 7 g, Carbohydrates 33.8 g, Fat 8.9 g, Energy 243 kcal.

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