vegan energy bars

Success!!! We made delicious vegan energy bars this weekend... easy peasy and oh. my. god. GOOD.

Ingredients


• 2 cups quick oats

• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

• 1/2 cup crushed pretzels (found some delicious organic whole grain, agave sweetened at Whole Foods)

• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts

• 1/2 cup almonds

• 1/2 cup sesame seeds

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

• 1-1/2 cups natural peanut butter (we used raw almond butter instead)

• 1 cup honey (or maple syrup) (we cut this down because it seemed like it would be too sweet, but ultimately we ended up probably close because it needs it to hold together.

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, coconut flakes, pretzels, walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds, and raisins.

3. Mix together peanut butter, honey, and vanilla in a small bowl, then microwave on high for 1 minute.

4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients (I found I needed to transfer it over to my mixer because it was difficult to mix manually). And add chocolate chips, if desired.

5. Generously grease (with your favorite butter substitute) a baking sheet (I used my 9” x 13” brownie pan) and pour in mixture. Press into the pan – bars should be 1 inch thick (or so).

6. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating pan at the half-way point.

7. Let cool, refrigerate, cut into approx. 15 bars, and enjoy.

These taste amazing.... ! Next I'm going to try some variations!