homemade energy bars

the other day we had the extreme pleasure of visiting a natural foods store.  it's probably a good thing we don't have one of those in town because the man and i got a little giddy and spent far too much... but one of the many tasty things we came home with was some peanut butter sesame seed bars.  i've been trying to up my protein and am always looking for healthy snacks (because i'm now hungry every second of every day), and these looked pretty simple.

pair that with an irrational urge to clean everything in sight, including my baking cupboard, and saturday morning's adventure was making my own energy bars.  i wasn't crazy about using peanut butter as the "glue", but i didn't find too many other suggestions online, so i just settled on honey and coconut oil.  next time i might try something different because these really only stick together when they're cold (right out of the fridge is perfect), but they're amazingly tasty.  i think the little bit of dark chocolate is the key.

i used pretty much everything i had in the cupboard that looked good.  you can use whatever nuts and dried fruit you have.  i highly suggest dates though because they've got a bit of natural stickiness to them anyways.  again... i didn't measure anything so if you attempt these, it's at your own risk.  :)

Homemade Energy Bars - serves 1 pregnant woman and 1 husband for a couple weeks.
prep time: 30 mins  cook time: 15mins

1 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted (the green kind, not like fresh out of the pumpkin)
1 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1 cup almond slices, toasted
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted
1 small package coconut flakes, toasted (ya i toasted everything)
1/2 cup dried apricots (i used some we dried ourselves this summer - so fun!)
1/2 cup chopped dates (i'd use a full cup next time)
1/4 cup dark chocolate pieces
1 cup honey (i'd use 1/2 to 3/4 next time)
2-3 tbsp coconut oil
1-2 tbsp ground flax seed

to toast the nuts and seeds - spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 10-15 minutes, stirring the seeds once or twice and keeping a close eye on them so they don't burn.  allow them to cool (i didn't because i'm impatient, but whatever).

mix seeds, nuts, and fruits together in a large bowl.  meanwhile heat the honey, coconut oil and dark chocolate pieces on low heat until everything's melted (i mixed the chocolate pieces in with the dry stuff but they just melted anyways, so might as well melt them from the start).  pour over nut mixture and mix well.  sprinkle the ground flax seed over top and mix it in.

press the mixture into an oiled casserole dish (i used two but they're a bit thin - just depends how thick you want them) and bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.  cool completely before cutting and devouring.

enjoy!