If only I had some left, I might have more energy. They didn’t last long. Not only did I wolf them down at every opportunity…but because I thought they were so good, I shoved them at anyone I could, insisting they had to try them.
I’ve seen so many recipes over the past several months using dates as the source of “sugar” in various desserts or energy bars and was dying to give them a try. I picked up a package of these Medjool dates at Trader Joe’s and eagerly sought out to make a healthy snack.
Have I convinced you yet? Make these!
Almond Date and Hemp Energy Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup Medjool dates approx 11-12
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 3/4 cup almonds I used dry roasted & unsalted
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp flax seeds
- 2 tbsp hemp hearts
- 2 tbsp honey
Instructions
- If your dates still have their pits, be sure to remove them!
- Pulse dates and almonds in food processor until chopped medium fine.
- Add cranberries, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp hearts, and honey. Pulse 6 to 8 times or until ingredients are well blended.
- Line an 8×8 dish with plastic wrap or parchment paper.
- Place ingredients into dish and spread evenly while pressing down firmly to form a flat even top.
- You may need to wet the back of your spatula or use parchment paper to press down as the mixture may be sticky.
- Refrigerate 1-2 hours before cutting to get cleaner cuts. Once cut, I wrapped each of mine individually so they were ready to grab and take with me for a great energy snack!
- Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Spoonful of Honey.
What a coincidence – I just posted a similar granola bar recipe! Great minds and all that!! This version looks great – absolutely gorgeous photos!
Thank you! I just got yours in my inbox, they look wonderful as well!!
This recipe looks wonderful and much easier than most homemade energy bars. I’m still learning (and loving it) so much about all these new seeds and what not. Can you use ground flaxseed meal and not put it through the food processor? Thank you!
Hi Jamie – I totally feel ya, so many seeds, and which to grind vs which to use whole, it can be a lot!
But in answer to your question, yes, if you purchase ground flaxseed, or flaxseed meal, they are ready to go and you do not need to put them through a food processor. If you purchase whole flaxseeds, then you can put them in a NutriBullet or food processor to grind them up.
I love adding ground flaxseeds to my yogurt and smoothies, great for the extra fiber!
Haha! Looks like I’m not the only one who also posted this recipe ^ @Helen. These are so great, I was oohing over more dates recipes from FG and here we are! Awesome, I’m all ready to grab a bar and start my energy-packed day too :) just thought I’d stop by first and say cheerios. cheerios!
Ahh, I love it! Looks like we’re all on the same page!
Thanks for stopping by Ala! :)
OMG….delish! Just starting on my paleo journey and made these for a snack! I added unsweetened coconut – wow!
So glad you liked them, and what a great idea to add the coconut! :)
Yum! just what i was looking for! II have everything too! yay! will make it today! thank you!
Hi Millie, I hope you enjoyed the Almond Date and Hemp Energy Bars – they’re a favorite of mine! :)
What have you found to be the most effective way to individually wrap these? Parchment, plastic, wax??? Just curious if the would stick terribly to plastic wrap.. Thanks – they look great.
Hi Noreen, I wrapped each one individually in plastic wrap and had no problem at all with it sticking. I hope that helps! :)
Hi, there. Can you freeze these and defrost overnight? I “cook” for the month.
Hi Natalie, I haven’t frozen these before but I would say you could absolutely freeze them. I freeze this sort of thing regularly and have excellent results each time. Just make sure you wrap them and keep them as air tight as possible. I typically wrap things in a couple layers of plastic wrap and them put them in a ziplock freezer bag. Good luck! :)
I’m going to make these and add some fresh squeezed lemon! Can’t wait.
The fresh squeezed lemon sounds like a wonderful addition! Let me know how they turn out! :)