For the past few months I have been playing around with paleo power bar recipes. When I’m on the go I want to grab something that is packed with nutrition, not too sweet, and plenty tasty.
I’ve made this grain-free power bar recipe a bunch of times now. My taste testers (that would be my husband who is a very direct and stringent critic) have given it their official seal of approval (that would be eating an entire tray in two days flat).
When I saw Heidi’s video I knew it was time to share my paleo power bars recipe. Heidi is my favorite food blogger and author of the delightful book, Super Natural Cooking. In Heidi’s video, her voice is so soothing and the content so tranquil that it might put you into a trance. It has gorgeous shots of California’s Big Sur interspersed with her recipe.
Power Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups almonds
- ½ cup golden flaxmeal
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup creamy roasted almond butter
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- 4 drops stevia
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Place almonds, flax meal, shredded coconut, almond butter, and salt in a food processor
- Pulse briefly, about 10 seconds
- Add coconut oil, stevia, honey, and vanilla to dry ingredients
- Pulse until mixture forms a coarse paste
- Press mixture into an 8 x 8 inch baking dish
- Chill in refrigerator 1 hour, until firm
- In a saucepan, melt chocolate over very low heat, stirring continuously
- Spread melted chocolate over bars
- Refrigerate 30 minutes, until chocolate solidifies
- Serve
- Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week
My no-bake, high-protein, high-fiber bars are based upon Melissa Diane Smith’s recipe for Amaretto Protein Bars. I’ve made quite a few changes to her recipe, simplifying it a bit and lowering the amount of sweetener.
The chocolate topping on these paleo power bars makes them seem a bit decadent. Though dark chocolate, rich in antioxidants, has now entered the echelon of power foods so I’ll keep it on mine.
By the way, the photo above is actually of Macadamia Power Bars. To make that recipe simply substitute raw macadamia nuts for the almonds and raw macadamia nut butter
Jessica says
I make these all the time – perfect for traveling snackage for plane rides :-)
Alanna says
Hi Elana! Thank you so much for this recipe–I didn’t substitute a single thing, and both my husband and I LOVE them!
Becky says
These look really good!
Can you freeze them? I’m trying to have ‘portable’ snacks that I can make ahead.
Thanks!
Natalie says
Hello,
I’m allergic to almonds. Are cashews my only other option or would peanut butter and peanuts work (organic)?
Debbie says
Natalie, I love this recipe with cashew nut butter and pecans. I am allergic to almonds, too. Peanut butter and pecans are good too.
Emily says
Power Bars are our favorite!!! I’ve made these multiple times and they are so simple and always yummy. They never last in my house more than 3 days and that is stretching it!
For anyone else allergic to cane sugar I melt 3 TBL coconut oil, 3 TBL roasted almond butter, ~2 TBL raw cacao, 1-2 TBL agave over low heat on the stove top and use that as my chocolate topping. It works great as long as you don’t leave the bars out of the fridge for too long on a hot day because the coco oil will melt.
My husbands only complaint: This recipe dies NOT make 20 bars, (he thinks) it makes 10 :-)
GK says
Yay! I’m glad I came across this recipe again. I’ve been gluten-free for years, but I just recently cut out corn and drastically cut down on rice. I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to eat next weekend in Las Vegas =). (I’m also vegetarian and allergic to dairy.) I’m thinking I will make some of these, and maybe your banana walnut muffins and granola, since most of my meals will probably consist of vegetables and maybe beans and a little tofu, depending on what I can find. Thanks for all your recipes, I always love seeing them!
Nora says
Hi Elana,
I totally love your site and recipes ~ I just whipped this one up and made substitutions due to what I had on hand…added some hazelnuts to the raw almonds, used peanut butter instead of almond butter, whole chia seeds instead of flax meal, only had 1/4 c. shredded coconut but that was fine. Substituted 2 t.. xylitol grains instead of stevia. (What are your thoughts on xylitol?) Just had to melt the chocolate for topping, to which I added sesame seeds (2 T.) and cayenne (1/2 t.) Then topped it off with sprinkled sesame seeds.
One question: the big square slides out so easily for cutting, but how do you make clean cuts without breaks as you go? It all still tastes great but I wonder if there’s a trick?
Thanks for the best food blog ever!
Nora
Karen says
Made these tonight – minus the stevia and less chocolate. They were very good, thanks for the recipe.
Lynn says
I recently heard about your website from a friend who is now Gluten/dairy/Refined anything free. Although I don’t have any food allergies I decided to try eating the same way for awhile and see how my body was effected. It’s been a week so far and I’m loving it. I’m getting more creative with cooking for my family and just LOVE how many fresh, colorful, delicious ingredients I have been using as I cook. I feel healthier already. This was my first of your recipes to try, though I’ve scrolled through plenty, and can’t wait to try some more. Thank you for sharing your research, recipes and experience here. I look forward to being a regular reader of your blog!
-Lynn
Allison says
I finally got around to trying these — wow! I love them! I substituted cocoa butter and part almond flour (to use them up) without incident. I was afraid the cocoa butter might make them too hard, but that didn’t happen. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
@linda (who expressed concern about saturated fat content): the lipid hypothesis has been soundly disproven. Please read Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, it is the most important book on nutrition of our era.