The Ultimate Energy Bar Formula

1-pound can of beans, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups cooked beans)

½ cup binder

¼ cup sweetener

¼ cup soft sweet fruit

1 teaspoon of extract (optional)

1 teaspoon of dry spice (optional)

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1. cups of oats (you can toast them if you want but I can’t tell the difference)

   1 cup dry base ingredient

   1 cup stir-ins

   In a food processor, combine beans, binder, sweetener, soft fruit, extract, spice, and salt until smooth. Add the oats and dry base ingredients and pulse just to combine. Add stir-ins and pulse again just to combine. If the consistency seems spreadable, you’re good. If it’s too dry, add ¼ cup of water; if it’s too runny, add an additional ¼ cup of the dry base ingredient.

   Grease 13×9 pan with baking spray or rub with 1 tablespoon oil, then spread mixture into pan.

   Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

   Note: You’ll have the most success if you use unsalted, unsweetened versions of the ingredients, and control the sweetness and saltiness through the sweetener and added salt.

   Recommended beans

   White beans

   Black beans

   Pinto beans

   Chickpeas

   Adzuki beans

   Recommended binders

   Almond butter

   Peanut butter

   ¼ cup of ground flax seed mixed with ¼ cup water

   Pureed pumpkin

   Mashed avocado

   Recommended sweeteners

   Maple syrup

   Brown rice syrup

   Agave nectar

   Honey (if you’re not vegan)

   Recommended soft, sweet fruit

   Applesauce

   Mashed banana (about half of one)

   Chopped dates (remove the pits!)

   Crushed pineapple

   Recommended optional extracts

   Vanilla

   Almond

   Lemon

   Coconut

   Coffee

   Recommended dry spices

   Cinnamon

   Ginger

   Nutmeg

   Cardamom

   Instant coffee

   *For stronger spices like nutmeg and cardamom, use just a ¼-½ teaspoon and combine with less intense spices like cinnamon.

   Recommended dry base ingredient (a combination is usually best)

   Protein powder (we’re fans of chia seed, almond, pumpkin seed, watermelon seed, and pea protein, and usually use Complement Protein)

   Brown rice flour

   Spelt flour

   Cocoa (max ½ cup)

   Whole-wheat flour

   Buckwheat flour

   Recommended stir-ins

   Shredded coconut

   Dried cranberries

   Raisins

   Dried apricots

   Chopped nuts

   Cacao nibs

   Dry cereal

   Crushed pretzels

   Chocolate chips

   So that’s the basic formula! To help get you started, here are three variations Christine came up with. For each of them, follow the same procedure from above for mixing and baking.

   Example #1: chocolate black bean happy bars

   1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed (about 1.5 cups)

   ½ cup almond butter

   ¼ cup agave

   ¼ cup mashed banana

   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   ¼ teaspoon salt

2. cups of oats

   ½ cup cocoa + ½ cup brown rice flour

   ½ cup shredded coconut + ½ cup raisins

   Example #2: cranberry-pistachio protein bars

   1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

   ½ cup binder: ¼ cup of ground flax seed with ¼ cup water

   ¼ cup agave nectar

   ¼ cup applesauce

   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   1 teaspoon of cinnamon

   ¼ teaspoon salt

3. cups of oats

   1 cup vanilla protein powder

   ½ cup pistachios + ½ cup dried cranberries

   Example #3: maple pumpkin health bars

   1 can of great northern beans, drained and rinsed

   ½ cup pureed pumpkin

   ½ cup maple syrup (Christine used more maple syrup in place of the sweet fruit here, for more maple flavor)

   1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

   ¼ teaspoon salt

4. cups of oats

1 cup spelt flour

1 cup raisin bran cereal

So there you go, three examples to get you started. But really, the point is for you to create your own, using the basic formula as the framework. So I hope you’ll do that, and let us know what you come up with!

I’m excited about this formula idea … now we’re trying to think of other things to come up with easy formulas for lots of varieties. Any requests?

[Update: NMA reader Andrew went the extra mile for us and put together a spreadsheet that calculates the nutritional information for any combination of ingredients you can come up with. You simply enter the nutritional information for each ingredient you use, as well as how much you used, and the spreadsheet spits out the numbers per serving. It even calculates the cost if you put that information in! Feel free to download the spreadsheet for your own use. Thanks Andrew!]