I would call myself an organized person. Really, I would. But sometimes, I have to wonder…
Because I’m also the person who leaves so many internet tabs open that I can’t see the icons on any of them anymore. And the person who works with stuff all over the table, which I won’t clean up until I’m completely done. And the person who occasionally finds that a recipe I wrote down a few weeks ago now looks like some sort of confusing combination of ingredients, steps, and baking times that I can’t be sure if I’m reading correctly.
I’ll call it a good day if I sit down to write a post and have a fully legible recipe in front of me, even if it is a little messy. On a not-so-good day, I’m rummaging through the recipe drawer looking for that one recipe hidden somewhere in a mountain of the rest of them.
I fully blame my misorganization for the mess it’s been trying to finalize the recipe for these bars. I think I made these at least four times before I actually wrote the entire recipe down coherently. Can somebody please tell me how that happens with a 6-ingredient, 5-step recipe?? I have no idea.
So now that I’ve officially made you guys all think I’m a mess, I hope you still trust me. Because I promise these apple bars taste good, but they look like… not much. We’re taking a bunch of brownish ingredients, throwing them together in a food processor, grinding them to bits, and then clumping it all together into bars. The possibility of making an attractive snack here is about zero. But here’s what I love about these – the healthy, nutrient-dense ingredient list. The easy recipe. The rich, nutty flavor of the pecans combined with the natural sweetness of dates. The tart apple flavor subtly blended in, perfect alongside the robust taste of cinnamon. Yup, these are good AND healthy. Don’t you love it when that happens?
Rich in the nutty taste of toasted pecans and naturally sweetened with dates, these Apple Cinnamon Energy Bars are flavor and nutrient-packed!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pecans (2 cups)
- 5 3/4 ounces rolled oats (2 cups)*
- 8 1/4 ounces pitted and halved dates (1 1/2 cups)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces chopped granny smith apples (or similar) (2 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spread the pecans and oats out on it in a single flat layer. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until toasted and fragrant.
- Keep the oven preheated to 350°F. Line an 8" square pan or a 12" x 5 1/2" biscotti pan with parchment paper, leaving enough parchment on the sides to use as "handles" for pulling out the finished bars.
- Place the toasted nuts and oats in a food processor along with the dates, cinnamon, and salt. Process until the mixture is coarse and crumbly, with no large pieces remaining. Add the chopped apple and pulse in until there are no longer any large chunks left. Continue to process until everything starts to clump together, using a spatula if necessary to help move things around. This process may move slowly, but eventually everything should come together.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, using a wide, flat spatula to pat it down into a flat and compact layer that takes up the entire space of the pan. It helps to fold the extra parchment on the sides over the bars, and flatten with the spatula on top of the parchment (to prevent sticking). Be patient with this; the bars will look the exact same once they're done baking, so try to make them really flat and even.
- Bake the bars in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes, and then slice into bars. Once completely cool, lift out of the pan. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
*To make these bars gluten-free, use gluten-free rolled oats.
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the flavors in these bars, they’d make a great afternoon snack!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) recently posted..chocolate-dipped financiers
It happens that energy bars and cereal bars are high up my To-Bake list ;) So I will definitly give these ones a try, too :D (I am addicted to everything with apples, can’t help it ;))
Take care!
Rebecca recently posted..Mum’s first Cooking Book
Awesome! I’d love to hear what you think if/when you get a chance to try them out. :)
You have me on these! They are my now absolute favorite of all breakfasts! And I really love the fact that they are so healthy! Thanks for the recipe!
apples and cinnamon are one of the best combos on earth. I could use a bag of these bars at my office to get me through the afternoon. I love healthy snack bars like this!
sally @ sallys baking addiction recently posted..Soft-Baked Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies.
Cinnamon is good with so many different flavors!
I can just imagine you sitting at your work desk pulling out a big ziploc full of bars lol…
I’m always looking for new homemade snacks – these sound great. Apples, cinnamon and pecans are always a great combo. And I totally do the same thing with too many tabs open on my browser. It gets ridiculous … and then it will crash and I’ll get really mad at myself for not saving anything lol.
Ashley recently posted..Raspberry and Chocolate Crumble Bars
Thanks Ashley! I’ve definitely been through the whole computer/web browser crashes problem… SO frustrating! Except sometimes I think I’m secretly a little glad when just the web browser closes because it gets rid of all the tabs that I can’t quite get myself to close yet. :)
I’m also a mess when it comes to actually writing recipes down – when I finally do, it’s scribbled on the back of some random piece of paper, and I’m lucky to find it again. I think you succeeded with these bars, though, for sure! They look and sound fantastic. I’ll definitely be trying them ASAP. Especially since I gave in and bought Nature Valley’s apple crisp bars today cause I really wanted an apple bar.. I was meant to see this recipe!
Melinda @cookingalamel recently posted..Calming Cinnamon Roll Milkshake (Dairy Free)
Exactly! It’s a really annoying problem and it would make life so much easier to just stay really organized. I think you were meant to see this recipe! I like making my own snack bars because then I know exactly what’s in them and I can make sure they’re actually healthy. :)
I wish I could help you out, but I am quite the organizational mess myself. Half written notes, magazine recipe pages, post its, and a stack of bills are all over my desk right now. Maybe some good for me energy bars are what I need to motivate myself into some sort of routine and organized living! These bars sound great!!!
Jocelyn @BruCrew Life recently posted..Trick or Treat Tuesday #8
Hah :) Well it’s good to know I’m know the only one! But I think that’s a smart plan: healthy snacks = healthier, more organized life, right?
These look so good and healthy! I was wondering if fuji apples would work as a substitute? And can I use raisins instead of dates? Just trying to use what I have at home without going to the store! haha also, what other spices can I use to replicate cinnamon? Thanks!
Never mind! Just went to the store!
Great! I was going to try to help you out as best as I could, but that’s best that you just went out and bought all the ingredients. I have some other recipes using dates on the blog, if you have extra leftover! Cinnamon will always come in handy when you’re baking too. :)
Just made these and they are fantastic!!! Next time I may add raisins because I love to muck with things although they are perfect the way they are!!
That’s awesome! Thanks so much for taking the time to tell me. :) I think raisins would be an awesome addition (although I would suggest adding them at the end if you don’t want them to get completely chopped up!)
hi can you use other nuts or does it have to be pecan ?
You can use another type of nut if you’d like. I would use the same about by weight if possible, but if you don’t have a kitchen scale, just match the volume measurement.
Fantastic and simple ingredients. Breakfast bars are often on our first of the morning list of foods, so I’m always looking for homemade recipes.
Kristi Rimkus recently posted..Poached Eggs with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Honey Mustard Sauce
Thank you Kristi. :) If you get a chance to try the bars out, I’d love to hear about it!
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