Can anyone recommend balanced, great-tasting energy bars?

[Ethan A.]

Can anyone recommend an energy bar that’s nutritionally well-balanced with proteins, carbs and fats and with little added sugar; made with quality ingredients (preferably organic); and tastes great? I try to eat real food as much as possible, but it would be nice to have a good energy bar option.

[Roger Caffin]

nutritionally well-balanced with proteins, carbs and fats and with little added sugar; made with quality ingredients
Probably not a commercially viable product. (from sad experience)

Cheers

[Ethan A.]

LoL, gave me a good chuckle, but so true. The highest profit margin processed foods include lots of sugar, low/no protein, low flavor ingredients and low quality ingredients. For example, it’s much cheaper to add sugar than good cocoa to a chocolate product.

I go with my own nut + dried fruits mix most of the time, but it would be nice to also have a bar option sometimes. There’s one large commercial bar brand that begins with a C and ends with an F that literally makes me feel sick.

[Philip Tschersich]

Every flavor of Umchu bar I have tried was tasty. They have a variety pack so you can test different products. The peanut-dark chocolate is 280 kcal per 1.5 oz bar. That’s pretty calorie dense. They are very expensive though.

[Todd T]

My current favorite is Costco’s Paleo Bars (Universal Bakery).  Don’t know if they qualify as “energy” bars, but  I like them because they’re quite calorie dense (230 kcal/bar for 1.5-oz bars, or 153 kcal/oz) and are about the easiest eating bars I’ve ever found.  They’re not heavy and pasty like so many bars that can be difficult to eat–slow to chew, hard to swallow, etc–when you’re tired and sweaty.  Tasty, too.

They’re made primarily from nuts and seeds, sweetened with honey.  Grain-free.  Six grams protein, 14 grams carbs, 19 grams fat.  Is that balanced?  Healthy?  Close enough for me.

[R L]

Make your own ?  This is an informative episode.   Good Eats.  S9/Ep05.  Power Trip.

[Ethan A.]

Thank you, the Umchu (fantastic brand name!) and Costco Paleo bars looks a lot more appealing than anything I’ve seen lately. The Umchu bars look CRAZY good. By quality ingredients I mostly meant natural foods rather than highly processed stuff.

Also appreciate RL’s suggestion – we already make a lot of foods at home, including growing vegetables and sprouts, pickles, our own low-sugar oatmeal-based cakes and our own very low sugar low fat gelato, ice cream and sorbet that are 10x better than anything for sale, so why not give power bars a shot – looking forward to checking it out.

[Philip Tschersich]

I’ve had quite a few of the Umchu bars that are shredded coconut with cocoa nibs. Even though I generally don’t like coconut that much, those are quite good, provide a toothsome chewing experience (like you’re eating substantial food), and are fairly calorie dense. I have also sampled their PB&J bar, and that was super yummy. But for a pure calorie bomb, I recently ordered some of the peanut and dark chocolate bars. Hard to imagine that’s a bad combination.

[Roger Caffin]

A chocolate we can buy here in Oz consists of (fairly good) dark chocolate with lots of rum-soaked fruit & nut in it. Usually sultanas I think.

Dried fruit and nuts in Oz bushwalking is known as ‘scroggin’. Etymology unknown. Does not contain chocolate: that is separate. (It can melt in Oz summers.)

Cheers

[Chris K]

A few to consider:

Kind bars

Rx bars

Pro bars

Patter bar (might be limited to Colorado?)

[Chris R]

Hornby Bars

[Andrew D]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bslh-cJnGzs

 

This may be as quick, easy and tasty as it gets. I have used these for a decade on the bike, love every moment of them, especially with a bit more proteins than listed, and a stronger aged cheese!

[Chris K]

Check out Greens Gone Wild.

They make two vegan bars made with real food ingredients, including “a full serving of spinach” per bar. Not sure how that works exactly, but in any event, it’s 280 calories in a 65 g bar, and it tastes really good.

Macros look balanced as well at roughly 1:3:1 fat:carb:protein, maybe leaning toward a little more fat and protein. I don’t have one nearby to check.

Anyway, brand new company based in Denver.

[JCH]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bslh-cJnGzs

This may be as quick, easy and tasty as it gets. I have used these for a decade on the bike, love every moment of them, especially with a bit more proteins than listed, and a stronger aged cheese!

Very interesting recipe, but do they spoil quickly?  Seems like eggs would not last very long in the field.  And, since this is BPL, I suspect these are fairly heavy.  Calories/oz?  I have not found either of these stats online.

[Rex Sanders]

I keep trying (and trying) different bars. Went years without eating any after my long-time favorite Bear Valley bars vanished.

Stumbled across Huppybars created by a Grand Canyon river guide, and still love them after eating a few dozen. Just got a new shipment today.

Try the sampler pack. I definitely liked some flavors better than others. Didn’t expect to love the coconut ginger date bar.

Dense, chewy but not gummy/sticky, nothing artificial, mostly raw organic nuts and seeds. Feels like I’ve really eaten something after consuming a 48 gram bar.

All the stats on the web site. Everyone has different criteria and tradeoffs. But if you can’t stand eating it, doesn’t matter how calorie-dense it is.

— Rex

[Lee W]

I second those Costco Paleo Bars. Clean ingredients; good mix of fat, protein, and carbs; good calories/oz; and one of the most palatable bars I’ve come across. I think it’s the combo of a hint of cinnamon and the coconut that keep me coming back.

[Matthew / BPL]

I lived those at first but then I hit a wall and now I can’t do them anymore. Burnout is real.

Also the chia seeds get stuck in my teeth.

[Mark L]

It staggers me that Umchu charges nearly $3/bar for what they market as only 3 ingredients: coconut, almonds, and…sugar (“organic brown rice syrup”). At that point, just buy a pound of coconut & toss in a sandwich bag with nuts.

Kind bars are the same – just nuts and honey.

Here are many energy ball recipes: https://fitfoodiefinds.com/coconut-chocolate-energy-balls/

It’s so easy to make vastly superior energy balls/bars on your own. The basic idea is to just toss dates, peanut butter, nuts, seeds, coconut, etc. into a food processor. Grind it down, add a touch of oil if you want, roll ’em up and throw them in the freezer until they’re ready. They don’t spoil, because dates, nuts, etc. last a long time unrefrigerated.

I often have a big batch of them ready. I also like to add hemp hearts.

Hemp balls:

Food process 1 cup dates, 1 cup almonds

Add to mixing bowl with:

• ¼ cup chia seeds
• ½ cup hemp hearts
• ½ cup PB
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt
• Mix, add bit of oil if too dry. Form balls, roll in hemp hearts to reduce stickiness.

Cashew

• 30 pitted medjool dates
• 1/2 cup cashew meal or ground cashews
• 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
• pinch of salt

Another basic idea

Add dates and a nut of choice. Mix in hemp, chia, flax, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips, rolled oats, coconut, etc. Roll, freeze on cookie sheet 20 mins, transfer to freezer bag.

Far healthier, far cheaper, and far more versatile – add only what you like or want.

 

[Roger Caffin]

Wouldn’t it be easier to simply have a bag of mixed dried fruit and nuts?
In Australia we call it ‘scroggin’.
Probably healthier for you.
And a lot cheaper at the same time.

Cheers

[JCH]

In principle, I’m with Roger.  I enjoy stopping to eat and enjoy the break and scenery. However while on the move it is not easier to eat a bag of mixed dried fruit and nuts than a bar.  Bars definitely have their place in some situations.

[Roger Caffin]

I can eat a bit of chocolate while on the move, but for anything else I prefer to stop and sit down. Life is short: relax and enjoy the view! We are not here to make new FKTs.

Cheers

[Ethan A.]

Roger, I’m with you – as I mentioned in my first pot, I go with my own nut + dried fruits mix most of the time. But a bar is convenient sometimes. Mark thank you for the recipes – we may give them a shot (we already make our own no-sugar low-fat sorbet/ ice cream / frozen yogurt that’s more flavorful and healthier than anything we can buy in a store). Also appreciate commercial options when time is limited.

Roger I’m very fond of Australian terminology. Always sounds like what it is.

[Diane Pinkers]

I’ve really been enjoying Taos Bakes Bars. They are available on Amazon or their own website. The nutritional profile varies by the flavor, so you might want to check the details, but they taste amazing, and don’t make me feel heavy and bogged down.  Pinon coffee + dark chocolate, gingersnap pecan, caramel pecan and cranberries, they are not overly sweet, and have good texture without being pasty.

[Mark L]

Ethan, I’m sure you’re aware of the “Performance Nutrition for Backpacking” YouTube series.

See his PDF: https://www.mediafire.com/file/vq1p7sibhk10f5t/Hiker_Food_2.5.pdf/file

It has an exhaustive breakdown on many bars, sorted by those with the highest quality (protein/carb ratio, calories/ounce and so on). Reference the color coding.

Mark

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