Portions: 24 bars (aprox.) Calories: 258kcal |
These inexpensive, healthy and easy peanut and fruit bars recipe will yield 3 different versions of homemade energy bars that you can carry for a quick snack or pick-me-up, and can be consumed plain, or make them into spicy or salty flavors. They are all delicious.
Why I ā¤ļø it ⢠Recipe ⢠Ingredients ⢠Preparation
Why I ā¤ļø it
We've all been there: hungry, hangry, and with no time to attack a whole meal. Fear not, you don't need to buy expensive commercial fruit bars of dubious qualities.
I'm always looking for good alternatives, preferably homemade, because the commercial ones are either cloyingly sweet, or taste like sawdust. I love nuts (hey, you are what you eat!), and peanuts are one of my favorites, plus readily available. Make these at home, and even adapt them to your own taste. Wrap them in earth-friendly materials and keep refrigerated for a long time.
3 homemade fruit bar recipes
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Utensils and tools
- Baking sheet
- Silicone liner (or parchment paper)
- Oven
Ingredients
- 6 cups of unsalted roasted peanuts
- ½ pound [0.23 kg] of dehydrated fruit of your choice
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 8 tablespoons of honey at room temperature
- Some oil to grease your hands and parchment paper
For the salty option (optional)
- 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt, crush a bit if the grains are too big
For the spicy option (optional)
- 1 tablespoon chili flakes
Preparation
Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.
Step 1: Heat the oven
Heat oven to 300 ĀŗF [150 ĀŗC].
Line a baking sheet with silicone liner or parchment paper.
Step 2: Pulse the peanut
In the food processor pulse the peanut until the beans are broken into a third of their size.
Pulse the fruit separately until they are broken into bean-sized pieces.
Step 3: Combine
In a large bowl, combine peanut, fruit, salt and honey. Mix well until everything is coated in honey.
Spread evenly on the lined baking sheet to about half an inch (1.5 centimeters) layer.
Step 4: Bake
Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the tray from the oven and cool to room temperature.
Step 5: Wrapping the bars
Grease your hands with some oil and press down to compact it.
Chill them in the fridge for an hour. While still chilled, cut them into bars. Wrap the bars in waxed paper (before wrapping you may add chili or salt per notes below).
Variations
Spicy fruit bar snack
Sprinkle the bars with chili flakes prior to wrapping.
Salty fruit bar
Sprinkle the bars with coarse salt prior to wrapping.
Peanut-free
If you are allergic to peanuts, but can tolerate nuts, you can use that instead of peanuts.
Dessert-style
These Lucky Charms Bars are a more dessert-like bar recipe that you may want to try.
Top tips
Store wrapped individually in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. Let it warm to room temperature before eating.
Notes
At room temperature these dehydrated fruit bars are chewy, rich. The small amount of salt added to them lifts the sweetness in the fruit and honey, so it actually feels sweeter than it is. Chilled they are harder, perfect for those of us who like to exercise our chompers while we still have them.
After I wrapped them I sealed them with pretty washi tapes and stuck little notes to them. Today I found a sticky note on my computer. It read: "mommy's peanut bars are the best". You see, that's the kind of endorsement companies paid Betty White good money for.
Nutritional information
Calories: 258kcal - Carbohydrates: 19g - Protein: 10g - Fat: 18g - Saturated Fat: 3g - Sodium: 162mg - Potassium: 360mg - Fiber: 4g - Sugar: 6g - Vitamin A: 100IU - Vitamin C: 0.6mg - Calcium: 43mg - Iron: 1.8mg
Nutrition in peanuts
Peanuts are very nutrient-dense, they provide more than 30 of the essential nutrients our body needs. In fact nearly each of the nutrients we need are present in peanuts in greater or lesser quantities. Niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, fibers, folate, vitamin E and a whopping 25% protein content. No saturated fats and it tastes good? It's like the perfect food.
FAQs
Is a peanut a fruit?
Peanut is not a fruit. It is not a nut either: peanut is a legume.
Print card
This is just a printer-friendly summary, some useful details are found in the recipe above.
Healthy and easy homemade fruit bars recipe
Ingredients
- 6 cups of unsalted roasted peanuts (or nut of your preference)
- ½ pound of dehydrated fruit of your choice
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 8 tablespoon of honey at room temperature
- Some oil to grease your hands and parchment paper
For the salty option (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Ā of coarse sea salt crush a bit if the grains are too big
For the spicy option
- 1 tablespoon chili flakes
Instructions
Step 1: Heat the oven
- Heat oven to 300 ĀŗF [150 ĀŗC].Line a baking sheet with silicone liner or parchment paper.
Step 2: Pulse the peanut
- In the food processor pulse theĀ peanutĀ until the beans are broken into a third of their size.Pulse theĀ fruitĀ separately until they are broken into bean-sized pieces.
Step 3: Combine
- In a large bowl, combine peanut, fruit,Ā saltĀ andĀ honey. Mix well until everything is coated in honey.Spread evenly on the lined baking sheet to about half an inch (1.5 centimeters) layer.
Step 4: Bake
- Bake for 30 minutes.Remove the tray from the oven and cool to room temperature.
Step 5: Wrapping the bars
- Grease your hands with some oil and press down to compact it.Chill them in the fridge for an hour. While still chilled, cut them into bars. Wrap the bars in waxed paper (before wrapping you may add chili or salt per notes below).
Notes
Nutrition
By Tia Clara
, published Oct 4, 2013 on
Trybizz
This is what I'll call perfectly healthy. I'm going to try this can't wait
Thanks for this recipe.
Keisha
These are some good stuff
Arlene
Can't wait to try these. Love the cute typo in no. 9 of the recipe instructions.
Tia Clara
Haha! Child/chill... not that far off in meaning either. š
whilehewasout
I made these and they are wonderful, my boyfriend and my mom loved it too, she even asked for the recipe to make it herself.
Tia Clara
I am very glad to hear that!
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com
These fruit bars would make such a great snack at lunch at my work this week. Oh, how I wish I had them! š
Tia Clara
They are very easy to make, and totally worth it.