Easy Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bars (or Balls)
Before I left for Sanibel Island last Wednesday, I spent a little time in the kitchen because my 6 a.m. flight meant I likely wouldn’t want to take the time to bake breakfast in the morning and I didn’t want to take my chances at the airport. I know many airport restaurants don’t open until 6 a.m. and since that was the time of my departure, I figured preparing a simple grab-and-go breakfast the day before would be a good idea. And a breakfast I could pack and enjoy as a healthy snack later during my trip sounded even better!
I wanted something I could easily transport to the airport and in the end I dug around in my pantry and pulled out dates, almond butter, oats, dried cranberries, maple syrup and cocoa powder.
Makes approximately 8 bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup dates, pits removed
- 1 cup oats
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup almond butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Directions
- Place all ingredients in a large food processor and pulse until a thick “dough” forms.
- If you are making balls, roll dough into small balls and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to enjoy!
- If you are making bars, press dough into a small square baking dish and refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting dough into bars. Refrigerate until ready to enjoy.
I personally find that the energy balls are a little easier to transport until you wrap up the bars individually in saran wrap to prevent them from sticking to a ziploc baggie or each other. Either way, they are delicious! If you decide to give them a try, I hope you enjoy them! And feel free to play around with the ingredients a little bit. I think adding chocolate chips, coconut or even crushed pretzels to the bars would taste fantastic!
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