I think one of my favorite things about blogging has been forcing myself to come up with new snack ideas.
Of course I have my favorites, but I can’t very well be posting kale chip, strawberry shortcake, and cracker recipes every week, now can I?
It’s been nice to start each week off with a tasty new snack, and this week was no exception.
In between baking a cake for my dad’s birthday and icing my knee from my race, I also made a batch of raw energy bars!
There’s a slight banana flavor to these bars that’s just delicious. They’re just sweet enough, perfectly satisfying, and come in at just over 100 calories a bar. I’ve really enjoyed bringing them along with me as an afternoon workout snack. Just the dose of energy I need to get my muscles moving!
Raw Spirulina Energy Crunch Bars
Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free
A 100 calorie raw snack, high in enzymes, healthy fats, and nutrient rich spirulina.
Yield: 9 bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds [pepitas]
- 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 banana, mashed
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 medjool dates, pitted
- 1/2 tsp spirulina
Directions
Pulse pumpkin and sunflower seeds in food processor with “S” blade. Remove and place in a small bowl. Using same food processor bowl, blend banana and dates until smooth. Add pulsed seeds and all remaining ingredients to the bowl. Mix quickly with food processor before shaping mixture into small bars.
Dehydrator version: place bars on teflex sheets and dehydrate for 8-10hrs at 105F. You’ll know the bars are done when they’re crispy on the outside and firm on the inside.
Freezer version: place the bars on a parchment paper lined plate and stick in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up. Bars eaten right out of the freezer work well but will become soft in 15 minutes or so.
If you’re a blogger, what’s one thing that’s changed in your life since beginning your blog?
Do you have a dehydrator? Do you like dehydrator recipes, or would you opt for the frozen version of this recipe?
Hello, welcome to my healthy gluten-free 
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
OOooo!!! I would have to try the dehydrator version, though. I received one for Christmas last year, and I have to admit that I am a little overwhelmed by it!
If you’re a blogger, what’s one thing that’s changed in your life since beginning your blog? = I’ve moved 5 times, my child walks, talks, is potty trained and TELLS ME what she wants in her smoothies. Life happens so fast!
Do you have a dehydrator? Do you like dehydrator recipes, or would you opt for the frozen version of this recipe? = Yes. No. Frozen. Why? B/c I hate the sound of the dehyd, it’s so noisy to me. And I hate running an appliance for day(s) when I can just pop it into the freezer and be done. And I used to think i “had” to have a dehyd. lol
These look great! I don’t have a dehydrator…for a while was thinking of getting one but I just know it would become something I would LOVE for like, a week or two…and then put away only to use once in a blue moon. It’s instances like this where I wish I had one, though!
I was at the store buying some packaged foods for my travel days and I saw that Raw Revolution has a bar similar to this one!! But where on earth could I find spirulina??
I bought my boyfriend a dehydrator for his birthday so he could make beef jerky and dried fruit, he’d been wanting one for ages. But now I need one for myself!! For now, freezer bars for me.
I wish I had a dehydrator. It’s the freezer for me…for now.
Things that have changed in my life — we finished paying off our credit card debt ($30K +) and Jason lost his job about 2 months ago. It has been an interesting year, that is for sure!
I don’t have a dehydrator and to be honest I have no room in my kitchen so I’m not getting one for a long time!
Wow, you’ve had a busy year. It’s great that you were able to pay off your debt before Jason lost his job!
Yum! I need to try out the spirulina.
One of the best things about blogging for me has been the accountability. I am much more consistent with working out and with eating good, clean foods. And, of course, the awesome, inspiring community!
Blogging definitely forces me to think outside the box and come up with fun ways to get good stuff in! I love it though. I love a good food challenge and I love inspiration! I want a dehydrator, but have never had one. Definitely on my list of things to get soon!
Definitely gonna try that recipe!
Love it!
I don’t have a dehydrator, but I ‘dry’ my fruits, granola, bars, etc. in my oven at 100°C/200°F.
Works fine!
I love creating new and healthy snacks! There are many ways that blogging has changed my life. I really pay attention to what I am eating since I blog about many of my meals/snacks. I love your energy bars.
Came across your blog on foodbuzz & am your newest follower!!!
- Jessica @ http://cajunlicious.com
These are gorgeous! I’ve never used a dehydrator, but I really want to try one. Are they expensive?
I have a dehydrator and I love it. We get lots of fruit in the valley where we live so I’m drying fruit constantly in the end of summer, cherries, peaches, apples, plums. And I make lots of fruit leather, but my dehydrator isn’t the best so I’m not sure how making something like these would work. Plus I can’t choose the temperature, that’s kind of important for some things. I’m looking forward to getting a better one in the future. Love the freezer option on these
I always want a dehydrator this time of year especially… almost bought one the other day, but this is JASON’S month (birthday!) so no buying for myself!
soon, though.
I have always tried new things in the kitchen, and took photos of food before I had a blog
but now I am actively thinking about it… sometimes that’s more difficult for me, TRYING to come up with new things, where before it was simply natural. blogging has made my photography skills better, also. still learning, but there has been VAST improvement over what I used to do.
Since starting to blog, I [semi]-graduated, realized what I want to study in Grad School, and discovered tons of new and amazing friends!!
Leanne, I bought spirulina after reading your post “no-bake-brownie-fifteens”. I tried the brownies and they were nice to get used to this new ingredients (http://www.fitnesstreats.com/2011/06/trying-spirulina.html) but I’m afraid every thing else I make with spirulina taste like seaweed if I don’t put lots of cocoa with it. Is one banana enough to ‘hide’ the spirulina flavor in these bars?
I freak about the spirulina taste too. I’m not a fan of it! I honestly didn’t taste the spirulina at all in these. More so when they were dehydrated because the banana taste got a bit stronger. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you could try shaping the mix into cookies and baking at 170F for 15-20minutes!
These look really amazing, but I don’t have a dehydrator… wish I did for so many reasons!
Since I started blogging (not long ago!) my eyes have been opened to a world of people dealing with issues that are just like mine. It has given me more confidence and teaches me something new every day!
You read my mind. I was just eating a Go Raw spirulina bar (banana flavored) and thought to myself that I need to figure out how to make these. THANK YOU!!!! Dehydrator here I come.
Those bars sound delicious!
THESE sound great!! I love how the ingredients are so simple as well as being super simple to make
i am new to spirulina, so this might be just the thing to start to learn about it!
I love how simple this recipe is! I’m always looking for snack ideas that travel well. I don’t have a dehydrator so I would opt for the freezer method.
As far as one thing that has changed in my life since I started my blog–I moved to New Zealand for 9 months! It’s been fun blogging new recipes that were made in another country
Do you have a dehydrator that you would recommend? Thanks!!
I have an excalibur and love it! I purchased it as a recommendation from a friend who owned a raw food restaurant. I love it!
These sound great will have to try them! Have been looking for new recipes with spirulina so this was perfect timing
I thought these were a great idea for the dehydrator! I just made a batch overnight for my 3-year old, and I could even stir his digestive enzyme into some of the bars without worrying about the temperature destroying them. I used soaked and dehydrated oats and pepitas, blanched almonds, coconut, and some chia. Only hitch was that I could only find spirulina mixed into chocolate-flavored greens powder, so they aren’t quite as pretty as yours!
I’m so excited to have found this recipe! A couple of months ago I found some raw spirulina chips at Whole Foods that consist of bananas, dates, spirulina and sesame seeds dehydrated into little chips. They are really tasty and made for a good work snack, but the cost for the size and amount just wasn’t worth it. These are almost exactly the same! I made the dehydrator version, doubled the recipe and added 2 tsp of spirulina. I flattened them out into patties. I just taste tested one and they turned out perfect. I love the pumpkin and sunflower seeds in them. This is going to be my new work snack, and for a fraction of the cost!
Hi! I’m super excited to make the spirulina energy crunch bars but I was wondering if baking them at a low temp could substitute using the dehydrator? Also, I don’t have spirulina powder.. would rice protein powder be a good substitute?
Thanks!
I’m sure if you put it on a low temp, it should be okay. You can also keep them raw and just freeze them and eat them cold. I haven’t used protein powder in this recipe, but I bet it would work! You could add more to increase the protein as well. Enjoy!
These look amazing! I live in a super small apartment (with a tiny kitchen) so my dehydrator has been packed away for the past year, but these are enough reason to finally pull it out.