Energy bar, “power-bar” (that’s a Nestlé brand..be careful now), “cereal bar” (certainly not, cereal is mainly for horses), pro-bar, a serious slab of home-made awesome! Call it what you will these bars are made with a basic “corner-stone” recipe that can be modified as needed to up any particular macro nutrient content you want, cover on or off the bike micro-nutrient worries or just simply to taste awesome and cover your energy needs out on a big old ride!
Other than in a prolonged flat out race like XCO, a time-trial or similar I’m a big fan of covering your energy needs via small, frequent intake of solid food and an electrolyte or “light” energy based drink.
These bars cover all of the needed bases, taste, texture, energy, micro-nutrients, simplicity, portability!
Pretty easy to make, simple to adjust, hold together well, have plenty of carbohydrate from multi-transportable sources and don’t stick to tin foil making an uneatable mess in your pocket.
So here goes! Choc-Nut-Protein-Fruit-Energy-#Point1-Pro-Bar – Surely there is a catchier name than that?
Ingredients:
1 cup of Medjool Dates or other re-hydrated or moist fruit
1 scoop of Chocolate or Vanilla Protein Powder
1 teaspoon of Cocoa powder (if desired, depends how “dark chocolate” you want them to taste)
Half cup of Rolled Oats
Half to 3/4 cup of Apple Sauce
1 cup of frozen Raspberries
Half cup of dried, unsweetened Coconut
5-6 tablespoons of honey
Handful of nuts of choice – I used hazelnuts only in this recipe
Texture of batter should be thick, smooth and slow running – you can add a small amount of liquid or dry ingredients to the above to achieve this texture – It all depends on your fruit “dryness” I think – But choose extra ingredients carefully – Think of Macro content!
How to:
Mix/Blitz the medjool dates with a teaspoon or two of water in a large bowl with a handheld blender – This may take a while (the dates will need to be pitted and chopped before you start)
Add all of the wet ingredients to the Dates and mix until you get a nice runny consistency – The honey may have to be heated slightly to stop it sticking. Add in your frozen Raspberries or other frozen fruit and mix well.
In another bowl thoroughly mix all of your dry ingredients – Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry until a nice smooth batter is achieved!
Poor this into a baking paper lined dish and place in a pre-heated oven at 170c – (I used a fab oven so adjust temperature accordingly)
Cook until a little crispy but not black on top – a small knife should come out clean – To get a nice texture for storage and use on the bike it’s important to use a try big enough so that the batter pours out to an even 1cm – 1.5cm while wet in the dish. After cooking this should rise to almost 2cm and be perfect to cut into consistent but moist bars.
The above recipe makes from 10-14 bars depending on how you cut them.
Please feel-free to comment on how you’ve modified the recipe or even if you like the taste or have any thoughts, tips or tricks!
