I happen to be one of those people who prefers to eat real food for fueling my rides. Prepackaged snacks don’t quite agree with my stomach so I started making my own at home with preparation time the night before a ride. While its easier to just buy snacks, sometimes your GI won’t always agree with them so it’s important to test and find what works for you. When it comes to making my own bike snacks, I find it’s cheaper, taste fresher and better, and are really easy and varying so you don’t get sick of making them like with store-bought bars. Plus, it’s fun sharing homemade treats with friends on a ride.
When it comes to making your own snacks for ride fuel, all you need is 20 minutes and kitchen equipped with a blender or food processor and a few recipes. Here are a couple of my favorite simple recipes you can make at home.
NO BAKE ENERGY BITES
These delicious little no bake energy bites are the perfect healthy snack! Honey, peanut butter, shredded coconut with chocolate chips thrown in… The mixture can be a bit sticky when you roll it together so I find keeping your hands as clean as possible and washing them halfway through helps them stick less. Keep these in the fridge for a delicious ready to go snack! (Gimme Some Oven recipe).
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
- 2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup ground flax seeds
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or vegan chocolate chips)
- 1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.*
- Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1″ in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.
- Makes about 20-25 balls.
* To speed up the chilling, I recommend spreading the mixture out on a baking sheet, then covering it with plastic wrap and refrigerating. If making these gluten-free, be sure to use certified gluten-free ingredients.
HOMEMADE LARABARS
Lara Bars are one of my go-to bars since they have minimal pronounceable ingredients in them. The beauty of the homemade version is that you can make them a gazillion different ways, to suit your tastes and what you have in the cupboard. Just throw everything in the food processor and you’re three-quarters of the way there! When using dried dates, it’s good to soak them for 10 minutes ahead of time to make the mixture stick together better. (Power Hungry recipe.)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chopped dates (roughly chopped whole fresh dates; see my note about pre-chopped below)
- 1/4 cup dried cherries or dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup whole pecans, almonds or walnuts
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Set out two pieces of plastic wrap for shaping and wrapping the bars. Do this first; you’ll have sticky fingers when you need it.
- Place the dates and cherries in a food processor. Pulse until processed to a paste. Transfer paste to a medium bowl (don’t clean processor).
- Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the nuts, along with the cinnamon, to the bowl with the fruit paste
- Use your fingers to knead the nuts into the paste (just keep squishing, it’s fun; brings back memories of play-dough).
- Divide mixture in half. Place each half on each of one of the sheets of plastic wrap. Wrap the plastic around each bar and start squishing into a bar shape form, 3 and 1/2 inches long, 1 inch wide and 3/4-inch thick); press against countertop to flatten bottom side, flattening top side and ends with flat of hand. Tightly wrap the plastic around each bar and store in the refrigerator. Makes 2 bars.
Note about using pre-chopped dates: Pre-chopped dried dates are much cheaper than whole dates, and sometimes are the only option available at the supermarket, depending on where you live. However, they are typically coated with oat flour (to prevent sticking), and sometimes a bit of sugar, too. They are too dry and hard to work as is in this recipe, but with a bit of tweaking, they will work just fine. To make them usable for larabar purposes, place them in a small bowl and cover with warm water (not hot or boiling water; this will make them turn to mush). Let stand 3 to 5 minutes until softened; then drain and pat dry. Not only will this soften the dates, it will remove any oat flour and/or sugar).
ADVENTURE BARS
This one is from Elyse Kopecky’s blog which has a few recipes on it, like these Adventure Bars made with fruits and nuts. If you’re looking for easy, fast, nutritious recipes to keep your energy up on the bike this is a good one as it is loaded with protein, natural sugars, and healthy fats thanks to the cashews and hemp hearts—and they have the most amazing chew factor going on thanks to the antioxidant-rich dried fruits. If you want your bars bite-size, cut them into 16 squares instead of 8 bars. Makes 8 bars in total. Pro tip: Don’t try to double the recipe unless you have an extra powerful food processor! (Run Fast Eat Slow recipe).
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1⁄2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup medjool dates, pitted
- 1⁄2 cup dried apricots
- 1⁄2 cup dried tart cherries
- 4 tablespoons chia seeds
- 4 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 1⁄2 cup creamy almond butter
Instructions
- In a food processor fitted with the chopping blade, combine the cashews and coconut and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl.
- Place the dates in the food processor. Pulse a few times, then process the dates until they have turned into a paste. Add the apricots and cherries and pulse a few times. Return the cashew mixture to the fruit, along with the chia seeds, hemp hearts, and almond butter. Process until the ingredients are well combined—neither too dry nor too sticky—and hold together nicely when pressed. If the mixture is too crumbly, add a little more almond butter or a tiny bit of water and process again.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper on a clean, flat surface and turn the mixture out onto it. Press the mixture together and form into an 8-inch square that is a little thicker than 1⁄4 inch. Place in the fridge or freezer to firm up before cutting into 8 bars.
- Wrap the bars individually in parchment paper. They will keep for several weeks in the fridge or several months in the freezer.
PEANUT BUTTER PROTEIN BARS
This recipe comes from Detox Insta and are a healthy snack that takes just minutes to make. No food processor or protein powder required. All you need to make these are a bowl, a spoon and 6 ingredients. If you’re someone who likes to eat peanut butter (or almond butter, hazelnut butter, almond-hazelnut butter, cashew butter etc.) by the spoonful, these are just the ticket. If you’re not, move along. (Detox Insta recipe.)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (or ground chia seeds)
- 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 2 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup for vegan)
- pinch of fine sea salt
Instructions
- Combine the oats, peanut butter, flax seeds, hemp hearts, honey, and salt in a large bowl and stir it all together with a spatula. The dough should stick together, without being so sticky that it sticks to your hands.
- If the dough feels too sticky to roll into balls, add one more tablespoon of ground flax seeds and stir again. The mixture should hold its shape when pinched between your fingers.
- Scoop the dough by heaping tablespoons, and then roll them between your hands to form a ball. Repeat with the remaining dough and place the balls on a pan lined with parchment paper as you go.
- You can serve these right away, or store them in the fridge for an hour to firm up. Once firm, transfer them to an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. (They can be frozen for up to 3 months, too!)
ALLEN LIM’S RICE BARS
You’ll need to cook rice and a few other things for these, so they have the biggest time commitment. But are they ever worth it! Allen Lim is the founder of Skratch Labs, which you’re probably most familiar with for their energy drinks, bars and chews, but for day to day activities, he advocates for eating real food over the packaged stuff. He’s worked with tons of top road athletes and found success feeding them these rice cakes for long days on the saddle. I had a test taste of this version with egg and bacon and really prefer it when I need a more savory option. He has an entire cookbook, Feed Zone Portables, if you want more recipes.
Allen Lim came up with rice cakes for training camps and riders so that they could have something savory. These cakes are delicious and also provide a consistent energy source that doesn’t upset the stomach. (Allen Lim’s recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked calrose rice
- 3 cups water
- 8 ounces bacon
- 4 eggs
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or liquid amino acids
- brown sugar
- salt and grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Combine rice and water in a rice cooker.
- While rice is cooking, chop up the bacon before frying, then fry in a medium sauté pan. When crispy, drain off fat and soak up excess fat with paper towels.
- Beat the eggs in a small bowl and then scramble on high heat in the sauté pan.
- In a large bowl combine the rice, eggs and bacon. Add the liquid amino acids or soy sauce and sugar to taste. After mixing, press into a, 8- or 9-inch square baking dish. Top with more brown sugar, salt and parmesan cheese to taste.
- Cut and wrap into 10 individual portions.
Do you have any favorite cycling snacks you enjoy baking at home?