Copycat recipe: Lemon Vanilla Chia Bars

I took inspiration from an early morning snack by the beach yesterday for this recipe.  I wanted to recreate Kit's Organic Lemon Vanilla Chia Seed energy bars, and came up with a close enough version that is quite tasty, and best of all, super easy!  Scroll below the recipe for my top healthy energy bar picks that will fuel you, and not weigh you down as you achieve great things each day--whatever that looks like for you!

Lemon Vanilla Chia Bars
Yields 4 energy bars

Ingredients:
6 organic medjool dates, pitted (or 1/2 cup dates)
1/2 cup raw organic pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup dried apple, packed
2 tablespoons chia seeds
3/4 to 1 tablespoon lemon zest, loosely packed
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:
1.  Mix all ingredients in a food processor, adding 1-2 teaspoons of water as needed for mixture to stick together.

2.  Press into a wax-lined loaf or similar pan, and freeze or chill to set for 20 minutes.  Slice and wrap in plastic wrap for a portable bar!  Store in the fridge sealed to last several days.

As you can see, I don't always have the time to make my own bars (especially when I'm usually selling them, hehe--don't worry, one day Running Girl Bakery treats will be available outside the Monterey Bay area!)

So when I do grab a meal substitute or snack on the go, I want to be sure it's completely gluten-free, soy-free and dairy-free, and usually nut-free and vegan.  I like energy bars that fill me up but don't weigh me down, and most importantly, taste good.  If it tastes terrible, why eat it?  Life's too short for that nonsense.  So if you'd like my allergy-free recommendations, here you go!

Running Girl's Fave Non-Homemade Energy Bars :
all available at natural food stores on through Vitacost


1.  Kit's Organic Fruit & Seed Bars: two flavors, Lemon Vanilla Chia Seed and Cherry Pumpkin Seed are my snack or meal when I'm on the go and want a sweet treat with simple, healthy and organic ingredients and nothing hidden or sneaky.

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 2.  Squarebars: Oh-em-gee.  Really, I wish I had invented these.  This one of my favorite protein bars that gets its protein from pea and hemp (love that hemp protein), and it tastes like dessert.  This is my treat snack or dessert when I want to satisfy a chocolate craving but not indulge.  Also, if you're having a crappy day, have one with herbal tea.  Problem solved.  My favorite is Cocoa Mint, followed by Cocoa Crunch then close behind, Cocoa Coconut.  My husband's favorite is Cocoa Cherry--unfortunately I can't handle chocolate with cherry. Or chocolate with blueberries or raspberries.  I know it is a normal thing to mix fruit and dessert but I had bad experience as a child in a candy shop on the Oregon Coast that involved me vomiting everywhere.  Whoa I digressed.  You'll love Squarebars, I promise you.  It tastes nothing like a healthy food, yet it is!  Literally it may tie with my Chia Chocolate Chip Cookie for being the yummiest treat ever.

There are a select few bars I can eat without getting sick.  Almonds are the only nut I can tolerate in certain amounts, and I've learned some energy bars with almonds work for me, though most don't.  In terms of protein, I have another favorite:

3.  Exo Protein Bars: Apple Cinnamon flavor, followed by Cocoa Nut.  These are the only nut-containing protein bars on my list, but they are delicious.  I love the sustainably, eco-friendly protein source of cricket flour (yes, cricket flour!) and I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more food items made from crickets soon. Click here to try them out and enter code AFL10 to receive 10% off!

4.  CoGo Bars: These are tricky to find outside of Oregon.  I know they exist in several natural food stores.  This used to be my favorite bar (both the chocolate and apricot ones are amazing) and I still enjoy them though I prefer them as a light meal or snack, not necessarily a pre-workout fuel source or post-workout replenishment.  If they had more protein I'd be excited, but they are a still super-delicious organic allergen-free option. The apricot hemp one I think is a little better because it's less sweet, and I love they that have quinoa in them when you need a little more carbs.

Thats about it for now for the yummy bars that my sensitive stomach (and taste buds) can handle.  What are your favorites?  Have you had any of these?  Let me know in the comments if I missed a great bar that I need to know about!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rice Crispy Treats

I know, right?  More rice crispy treats?? Well, I purchased gluten-free brown rice cereal and I realized it is way more fun and tasty to create a bar out of it than eat it blandly in a bowl.

Check out my previous post if you still don't care much for pumpkin: it is so good for you!  So is cinnamon, for that matter.  This recipe is easy, tasty and sneakily healthy, like so many of my "desserts" are.  While my husband pointed out that I haven't had a real rice crispy treat in years and that they cannot truly compare, I disagree.  Because these rice crispy treats taste great and yet still provide nutrition through healthy ingredients to fuel you on your day or workout, they win over a traditional buttery marshmallow dessert, hands-down.  Plus they are gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free and corn-free for those of us with extreme sensitivities.  Perhaps best of all, they are very fast and simple to make.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rice Crispy Treats

Ingredients:
1/3 cup sunflower seed butter or almond butter
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon Red Ape cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon lucuma powder* optional
sprinkle of sea salt
3-1/2 cup brown rice cereal (I used Erewhon for this recipe)

Directions:

1.  Heat seed butter, honey, pumpkin and water together in a saucepan over medium heat.  Remove from heat after it bubbles and gets pretty liquid-y.  Stir in vanilla, then cinnamon and lucuma.

2.  Pour over brown rice cereal, then pack mixture into a lined or greased 8" pan.  Freeze 15 minutes to firm up before cutting and serving.

Why add lucuma powder?  You can reduce sugar or sweeteners in recipes by adding lucuma.  Lucuma is a great natural sweetener.  If you add lucuma to this recipe, you can even increase it to 1 teaspoon and reduce the honey to 3 to 4 tablespoons. Lucuma is a dry and starchy fruit native to Peru, and has a low glycemic index despite its sweet taste, and it has high amounts of beta-carotene, iron and vitamin B3.

By the way, most of these ingredients are found on Vitacost.com; they have tons of organic ingredients and ship in one day, which is hard to beat.  If you sign up through this link, you'll receive a $10 off coupon, and when you're order ships, I'll get a $10 coupon too--it's a win-win for both of us, and I'll have a reason to buy even more delicious organic ingredients to play with.