Two Recipes for Healthy Snack Bars

I like to feed my teens nutritious food. They, on the other hand, like sweets. (No surprise there) While they DO eat nutritious snacks like apples, I like to bless them with a little sweet treat once in a while. I prefer that the treat be something that’s at least a bit healthy. So when I recently found some recipes for healthy snack bars, I decided to try them.

One recipe was for an Almond Power Bar and one for Chocolate-Dipped Nut Bites. They both looked delicious but they had some ingredients that we either didn’t like (I hate coconut and coconut oil) or couldn’t get very easily (we live in the country). I also wanted to let my teens pick out their own assortment of nuts and seeds for these recipes. So with some simple modifications, my teens and I developed these recipes for healthy snack bars.

Chocolate Nut Bars

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of a blend of your favorite nuts and seeds (some possibilities are almonds, peanuts, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pistachios, and cashews)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter, unsweetened
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 150 grams of chocolate chips, unsweetened or semisweet (your preference)
• 1 Tbsp butter

Directions:

Put nut and seed mixture plus peanut butter into a food processor and blend for about 10 seconds.

Combine melted butter, honey and vanilla in a small bowl or cup. Add this to the mixture in the food processor and blend about another 10 seconds or until all of the ingredients are combined.

Press the mixture into a lined 8×8 inch pan to make an even layer. Parchment paper works well for lining. Refrigerate until it sets, approximately 1 hour. You can also put it in the freezer to speed up the process.

In the meantime, put the chocolate in a bowl and put the bowl in another bowl of hot water. Don’t let the water mix with the chocolate. I’ve found that this is a very effective way to melt chocolate without burning it. You might have to refresh the hot water once or twice.

When the chocolate is melted, add the 1 Tbsp of butter and stir. Spread this mixture evenly over the set bars and refrigerate until the chocolate hardens, approx. 30 min. Cut and serve.

Makes 16-20 bars.

Chocolate-Dipped Nut Bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 pinch of sea salt
• 3 cups of a blend of your favorite nuts and seeds (some possibilities are almonds, peanuts, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pistachios, and cashews)
• 4 1/2 oz of chocolate chips, unsweetened or semisweet (your preference)

Directions:

Combine nuts and seeds in a bowl and set aside.

Put honey, butter and salt into a saucepan. Cook at medium heat until starts to thicken and turn golden brown, approximately 10 minutes. You may need to turn down the heat if it bubbles up.

Pour liquid into nut mixture and stir well so as to coat the nuts and seeds. Press mixture evenly into a lined 8×8 inch baking pan and refrigerate or freeze until hardened.

Meanwhile, put the chocolate in a bowl and put the bowl in another bowl of hot water. Don’t let the water mix with the chocolate. I’ve found that this is a very effective way to melt chocolate without burning it. You might have to refresh the hot water once or twice.

When the bars are ready, cut them into squares. Dip one end into the melted chocolate and set on a tray or container lined with parchment paper or wax paper. Refrigerate bars until the chocolate hardens.

Makes 20-24 bars.

If you make either of these bars in the summertime, you may need to store them in the refrigerator to keep the chocolate from melting.

By the way, these recipes taste REALLY good with a cup of coffee. 🙂

I hope your family enjoys these healthy snack bars. Feel free to share these recipes with others.

Many blessings,