Energy Bar Recipe

Richj

Thought I would try asking on here, I have searched for it and not found anything. A few years ago (probably 6-8 years ago) I used to make a homemade energy bar/flapjack and I am pretty certain the recipe came from either the Cycling Plus or Bike Radar website and was wondering if anyone had it.

It was made from Oranges, Apricots and Tahini blitzed to a paste then adding in nuts, seeds, dried fruit, oats and flour.

I made it last night but my quantities were off so its not come out right at all.

Had a thought that someone on here might have it or would have seen it.

Cheers

joenobody

I do 1 cup of dates, 1 cup of raisins, 1 cup of nuts as a base recipe - mix, blitz to desired consistency, press in to square tin, refrigerate and then cut in to bars. You can build out from here. For example, I might add coconut oil, chia seeds, goji berries, cacao powder, spirulina, oats, protein powder (not all at once).

Or you could try something like the no-meat athlete energy bar recipe.

Richj

thanks...might give that a try with Oats, coconut and a couple of bits of dark chocolate.

tonysj

This is my personal variety on the flapjack/oat/energy bars.

Sunflower oil 120ml
Soft Dark brown sugar 200gr
Golden Syrup 2 tablespoons
Peanut butter 1 table spoon
melt above in a deep pan.
Oats 225gr
Chopped dates 50gr
Sultanas 50gr
Flaked Almonds 50gr
Pumpkin seeds 50gr
Sunflower seeds 25gr
Quinoa 25gr
Chia seeds 25gr
Linseeds/Flaxseeds 25gr
Mix that lot into the melted liquid.
Put into flapjack tray with grease proof paper lining.
bake 180 in oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
Cut into blocks and your done.

T.

simon_e

Anyone interested in a no-bake recipe might like to look at River Cottage fridge flapjacks:

https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/fr ... -flapjacks

sloppyschleckonds

TonySJ wrote:

Soft Dark brown sugar 200gr
Golden Syrup 2 tablespoons

I'm out

MiddleRinger

If you want easy then:

- Tin of condensed milk (warmed in microwave)
- Oats - 250g
- Handful of whatever fruit or nuts you like

Mix, spread in tray, bake, eat...

The Lazy Cyclist's Flapjack - https://wp.me/p5bA4U-7l

trekvet

The Ultra Lazy Cyclist's Bar.

SIS GO Energy Bar Bundle.
Cut into chunks and you're done.

joey54321

MiddleRinger wrote:

If you want easy then:

- Tin of condensed milk (warmed in microwave)
- Oats - 250g
- Handful of whatever fruit or nuts you like

Mix, spread in tray, bake, eat...

The Lazy Cyclist's Flapjack - https://wp.me/p5bA4U-7l

These look good, I'm gonna add some cherries and a little almond extract too.

joey54321

Well, made these last night. They're ok, but not great. Serviceable but I prefer when made with reduced fruit juice and/or fresh (mashed) banana.

buckmulligan

joey54321 wrote:

Well, made these last night. They're ok, but not great. Serviceable but I prefer when made with reduced fruit juice and/or fresh (mashed) banana.

I tried the River Cottage ones and had a similar impression, they're edible but not great; the taste of coconut oil completely dominates them and the fact that they're not baked means that the texture is a bit strange.

I'm going to try again using butter and baking them, but it's a reasonable starting point.

neilr4

GCN do a good recipe for energy bars but I've found it to contain too many calories!!

Below is the best recipe I have found!

For anybody looking for a recipe for energy bars without complex carbs and only using simple sugars that are very quickly converted during excercise:

Raw almonds 420 Gr (I like to use 210 grams of almonds and 201 grams of mixed seeds)
72 Gr powdered egg white (I use whey protein)
4 tbls pure powdered cocoa
54 Gr unsweetened shredded coconut
pinch of sea salt
112 Gr honey (organic, as dark coloured as possible)
80 ml hot water
1 to 2 tsp vanilla

Grind dry ingredients. Mix honey, hot water and vanilla and blend in to dry ingredients. At this point you might have to mix it by hand if the mixer can't do it. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and press mix firmly into tray and refrigerate. Honey/water ratio can be adjusted for sweetness. Keep refrigerated though they can last for a week out of the fridge. For other flavour options use fresh lemon juice instead of cocao or use more coconut.

Makes 10-12 bars!

Savage stuff with a brew instead of hobnobs!!!

MiddleRinger

^ Definitely going to give that recipe a try, thanks!!

joey54321

Just my 2p on the that recipe above, almonds and coocnuts are both high fat-low carb ingredients which is definitely not what you want while working hard. Maybe try replacing the almonds with ground oats instead?

buckmulligan

joey54321 wrote:

Just my 2p on the that recipe above, almonds and coocnuts are both high fat-low carb ingredients which is definitely not what you want while working hard. Maybe try replacing the almonds with ground oats instead?

+1 If you follow the recipe as stated and divide into 12 portions and you'll get the following (per serving):

Energy = 289 kcal
Fat = 21.4 g
- of which saturates = 4.4 g
Carbohydrate = 11.3 g
- of which sugars = 9.1 g
Fibre = 6.5 g
Protein = 10.2 g

Those macros are absolutely woeful in terms of fuelling for any kind of endurance activity; it'll fill your stomach up but it'll do little to actually keep your legs turning; you'd almost be better off eating nothing.

Even replacing the almonds entirely with oats bumps the carbs up to 27.8 g and cuts the fat to 7.0 g, but that's still short-changing yourself on the proportion of carbohydrate that you can get in there with similar recipes.

As a comparison, the River Cottage ones linked above (adjusted to same total calories per serving):

Energy = 289 kcal
Fat = 8.6 g
- of which saturates = 2.7 g
Carbohydrate = 46.3 g
- of which sugars = 31.7 g
Fibre = 4.1 g
Protein = 5.5 g

N.B. that's using butter in place of coconut oil, because as I mentioned in a previous post, the coconut oil recipe isn't great.

neilr4

BuckMulligan wrote:

+1 If you follow the recipe as stated and divide into 12 portions and you'll get the following (per serving):

Energy = 289 kcal
Fat = 21.4 g
- of which saturates = 4.4 g
Carbohydrate = 11.3 g
- of which sugars = 9.1 g
Fibre = 6.5 g
Protein = 10.2 g

Those macros are absolutely woeful in terms of fuelling for any kind of endurance activity; it'll fill your stomach up but it'll do little to actually keep your legs turning; you'd almost be better off eating nothing.

Even replacing the almonds entirely with oats bumps the carbs up to 27.8 g and cuts the fat to 7.0 g, but that's still short-changing yourself on the proportion of carbohydrate that you can get in there with similar recipes.

As a comparison, the River Cottage ones linked above (adjusted to same total calories per serving):

Energy = 289 kcal
Fat = 8.6 g
- of which saturates = 2.7 g
Carbohydrate = 46.3 g
- of which sugars = 31.7 g
Fibre = 4.1 g
Protein = 5.5 g

N.B. that's using butter in place of coconut oil, because as I mentioned in a previous post, the coconut oil recipe isn't great.

Thanks for the nutricianal analysis Buckmulligan but I find this recipe very useful on extensive (not intensive) endurance rides where I'm burning only fat for fuel and even though I sometimes eat nothing on those rides it's sometimes nice to eat. For more intensive riding I take in additional fruit have I have no problems staying fueled. I have made bars containing more carbs (oats, dates, brown sugar, natural peanut butter) but then I find that there's too much going on in my stomach and I get indigestion.

It's merely a suggestion for those who want to use it, if you don't agree that's fair enough you stick to gels or something along those lines!!

joey54321

neilr4 wrote:

Thanks for the nutricianal analysis Buckmulligan but I find this recipe very useful on extensive (not intensive) endurance rides where I'm burning only fat for fuel and even though I sometimes eat nothing on those rides it's sometimes nice to eat. For more intensive riding I take in additional fruit have I have no problems staying fueled. I have made bars containing more carbs (oats, dates, brown sugar, natural peanut butter) but then I find that there's too much going on in my stomach and I get indigestion.

It's merely a suggestion for those who want to use it, if you don't agree that's fair enough you stick to gels or something along those lines!!

I would say it's likely an issue of digesting at intensity rather than carb content which causes your inability to digest the other stuff. After all carbs are easier to digest during sport than fat is. (As an aisde, peanut butter is also predominately a fat source rather than a carb source).

It's great you've found something that works for you, all that Buck and I were doing was pointing out that they're not really good cycling food if someone can tolerate more carbs.

Bordersroadie

I usually do variations on this oat bar recipe that has far less processed sugar than many (I think!):

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/302 ... -flapjacks

Very ripe bananas work best and have more natural sugar than less ripe ones.

ric/rstsport

i like these :-)
https://www.cyclecoach.com/blog/2017/10/2/great-balls
(although i end up eating them with a cuppa instead)

lesfirth

Ric/RSTSport wrote:

i like these :-)
https://www.cyclecoach.com/blog/2017/10/2/great-balls
(although i end up eating them with a cuppa instead)

That is the problem I have. If you make them too tasty I do not have the willpower not to have one when I shouldnt .I am always looking to control my calorie intake.
I find it better to make some that taste just OK and do the job rather than something I like eating.

ric/rstsport

i suppose you could eat a few for your breakfast pre-training. no idea on the energy content...