Snickerdoodle energy bars are only available seasonally, but since I love making my own bars, I decided that we needed them year round! We bought an entire box of snickerdoodle Lara bars for our trip to Utah late last fall. Store bought energy bars are nice from a convenience standpoint (especially on a road trip) but homemade always taste 1,000x better, and they’re also a lot cheaper!
I used a combination of almond and pecans for this recipe but you can use other nuts like walnuts or cashews if you have an allergy. Another thing I’ve started doing more often is putting a bit of coconut in my energy bars. I like how it adds a softer texture and an extra dimension of flavor to the overall picture.
While Tyler loved the amount of cinnamon in the store bought bars, I found it to be a little overwhelming, but nothing a cup of strong coffee couldn’t fix. For my homemade version I toned down the cinnamon, but I left you a note in the recipe to be sure and taste to see if you want to add more!
These energy bars are some of the simplest I’ve ever made. Just a few ingredients into the food processor, and a couple minutes later you have 30 energy bars just waiting to be snacked on.
You can process your bars to be as smooth or chunky as you’d like, I like mine to be soft like a cookie dough but with a few good sized chunks to crunch on.
To shape them into bars, line a cookie sheet with plastic wrap, and using a spatula spread the energy bar dough about 1/2″ thick. This recipe only takes up about 3/4 of a regular sized baking sheet.
Next taking a large chef’s knife, cut the bars into portions. I cut mine into approximately 1 ounce bars which is a smaller serving size than the store bought versions, but on your average day I don’t need that much for a snack. When I make bars to take hiking or traveling, I tend to make them in a 2-3 ounce size because we often use them as a small meal replacement.
I also love these bars because they remind me of my Mom’s Snickerdoodle Cookies she made during the holidays when we were growing up, except these are healthy enough to eat everyday!
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Snickerdoodle Energy Bars
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 30 - 1 ounce bars 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened big flake coconut, 2 ounces
- 2 cup almonds, 9 ounces
- 2 cups pecans, 8 ounces
- 1 Tablespoon Vietnamese cinnamon
- 12 Medjool dates, pitted and quartered
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 Teaspoon sea salt
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1–2 Tablespoons water
Instructions
- Place the coconut, almonds, pecans, cinnamon, and dates in a 12 cup food processor. Process for 30-45 seconds, or until your desired consistency is reached.
- Add the vanilla, sea salt, and maple syrup. Process again until combined, about 20 seconds.
- Taste the mixture and see if it’s sweet enough, if not you can add a bit more maple syrup in place of the water. You can also add more cinnamon if desired.
- After you’ve taste tested, add 1 Tablespoon of water and then another if needed to create a soft cookie dough like texture.
- Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap, and using a spatula spread the ‘dough’ about 1/2″ thick. This will take up about 3/4 of the pan. Using a chef’s knife cut it into 30 bars.
- From here you can either wrap them individually or freeze them spread out on a couple of cookie sheets before putting them together into a container and placing them back in the freezer. These bars keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator, and 1 month in the freezer.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
What is the carb count for this recipe.
I don’t have the nutrition facts for this recipe yet, but I will have every single one done by the end of this year! Thanks for your patience and in the meantime, you can always calculate this recipe using an online nutrition calculator.
what is Vietnamese cinnamon? Can we just use regular cinnamon?
Vietnamese cinnamon is a different variety than regular cinnamon and is more flavorful, but you can definitely use regular cinnamon in it’s place. Since regular cinnamon is usually weaker in flavor, you may need to taste test at the end and possibly mix in some more. I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!
Where do I get Vietnamese cinnamon?
I get mine from our local health food store because they carry it in bulk for much cheaper, but it’s also available at our regular grocery stores here. You can also use regular cinnamon which tends to be a bit weaker in flavor, so just add to taste.
What is the nutritional information?
I don’t have the nutritional information for this recipe, but I’m including a link to a nutrition calculator if you’d like to know.
https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
WheN do you put the dates in
You put them in with the nuts and coconut at the beginning of the recipe. I’m so sorry I forgot to mention when you put the dates in in the recipe, I’ve fixed it for the future. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions! (Thanks so much for noticing so I could fix that!)
Is the coconut crucial to this recipe? It’s on e of the allergens on our list.
You can definitely leave the coconut out, I like to add it to my energy bars because I like the soft texture it brings, but you can just replace it with nuts instead. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!
Snickerdoodles have always been my favorite cookie, I had no idea that they could come in an energy bar form! I always used to bake Snickerdoodles for my high school fundraisers but managed to forget the yeast and baking soda every time so they were flat as pancakes. Oh well. My chemistry teacher always took pity on me and bought all my sad, flat cookies.
Anyhow, I always need a snack at around 10 a.m. and these just sound perfect.
I think you will really love these if snickerdoodles are your favorite cookie, I just love the cinnamony taste and cookie dough like texture!
These are perfect! They have everything I love–coconut, nuts, cinnamon, dates . . . wow! Can’t wait to try them.
These are my new favorite snack, I have a hard time not eating them everyday! They’re perfect for midmorning when you’re getting hungry but lunch is still a ways off.