I know that packaged name-brand food isn’t a good use of our money. The markup on packaged foods is high because of the packaging, marketing, and distribution, which means a lot of your grocery money is going out but not a whole lot of food value is coming in. But I know that without something quick to grab on our way out the door, sometimes we’ll never actually make it out the door.
So I picked up these Clif Bars for Kids at Costco last week. They worked out to about 43 cents a bar, and they’re small. Nutritionally they’re not absolutely horrid for you, but they do contain soy (but it’s not the main part of the bar and it’s GMO free). A friend and I were talking about how pricey, but easy, healthy energy bars are and we were talking about how we could make our own. She suggested under baking them so they stay chewy. That was what I needed to hear, all my past granola bar attempts had been rock hard, so I was hesitant to try again.
I cheated and looked at the back of the package.
Organic rolled oats, organic oat flour, organic brown rice syrup, organic tapioca syrup, organic honey, organic soy butter, organic evaporated cane juice syrup, organic oat fiber, organic milled flax seed, baking soda, salt
decided to skip attempting to make these with soaked grain, and just dumped a bunch of rolled oats in the food processor. Added 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (I know!), some grade B maple syrup for sweetness/stickiness, crispy pecans, enough coconut milk to hold it all together (not much, maybe 1/4 cup), and a few grinds of sea salt. Pressed it into a buttered 9×13″ Pyrex and baked at 300 degrees for 25 minutes. Cut into bars with a pizza cutter.
They turned out a tiny bit crumbly, so I’m going to try to add dates next time to see if I can firm them up a little bit. I really want these to be solid enough to eat on the run without getting crumbs all over, but also not sticky. They are nice the right texture and sweetness, though, so that’s a good start. Packaged in those ‘snack size’ ziplocks and kept in the fridge, these are much cheaper and almost as easy as those Kid Clif Bars.
I’ll actually measure next time and post a real recipe when I get it to turn out how I want it, but if you’re feeling adventurous, go ahead and see what you can do!
Updated to add link to recipe & nutrition information:
Homemade Clif Bars
For more cost-saving time-saving food, check out these past posts:
Lactofermented veggies to keep veggies from spoiling in the fridge
Make your own yogurt without any special equipment
Potentially save on dentist bills with a holistic approach to dentistry
Do-it-yourself organic chicken lunch meat for a fraction of the cost
This post is a part of Pennywise Platters Thursdays.
Have you made these again? Do you have a specific recipe yet? Thanks!
Yes, please, I really want to make a facsimile of the Chocolate Brownie flavor….please help!