Homemade energy bars!

I started making my own granola/energy bars this semester and I am still perfecting my favorite one, but you'll never believe how easy it actually is to make them. You need a few basic ingredients consisting of some kind of grain like oats, nuts and or seeds, almond/peanut butter, agave nectar or honey, dried fruit, a baking pan lined with wax/parchment paper (I use a bread pan for these recipes which turn out about 6 bars,) and a freezer (these are raw bars, not baked.) I have some other supplementary add-ins that I already own, although I pretty much owned all of these ingredients already :) 

My first batch were almond apricot oat bars (This makes about 6 bars in a bread pan)

One cup of rolled oats

2 tablespoons peanut/almond butter

1/2 to 1 tablespoon agave/honey

1/4 cup roughly chopped almonds

1/4 cup roughly chopped dried apricots

Just combine together in a bowl with a spoon or hands if you don't mind getting a little sticky (add more almond/peanut butter if it doesn't stick together that well.) When all the wet and dry ingredients are combined, press into the shallow dish lined with parchment paper and make sure its packed pretty tightly, then put it into the freezer for a couple of hours. Then pull out the parchment paper and using a fairly sharp knife, cut out bars and wrap them individually in cellophane. Then refrigerate until you are ready to eat one, then grab and go!

Next batch were crunchy Buckwheat oat bars

1/4 cup Toasted buckwheat (also called kasha which gives this bar its crunch)

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

1/4 cup rolled oats

2 tablespoons peanut/almond butter

1/2 to 1 tablespoon agave/honey

1/4 cup roughly chopped almonds

1/2 tablespoon maca powder if you have it

1/4 cup hemp protein powder if you have it

The same process as above except these fall apart a little more easily so after I cut them I am keeping them in the freezer until I need them! Buckwheat is super super filling so these bars can be cut a little bit smaller! 

Seriously, once you have all the ingredients you can experiment, add more ingredients like pumpkin or sunflower seeds, raisins and dates, other whole grains, etc. You'll save money not buying them at a store and you'll get to customize it to your taste!