My KIND of Bar :: DIY Recipe to Save Some Money

Lately I’ve been completely obsessed with KIND bars.

Have you tried them? They are full of nutty yummy goodness! Some have dried fruit, others have chocolate or peanut butter. Yum! What’s not to like?

I’m not ashamed to admit it, I’ve bought them on impulse at the checkout stand. There is something about the packaging or maybe the name, that makes me think I’m making a WAY better choice, instead of buying peanut M&M’s.

In actuality, I am making a better choice. KIND bars are chock full of nuts which are good fats and actual ingredients one can pronounce. In this article they took time to rank KIND bars and explain not only the ingredients, but their caloric value and nutrition.

In my eyes, this is good way to get a boost of energy before the gym or a good pick me up in the afternoon.

However,

I cringe a little bit when I see the almost $2 price tag on them. Especially since they are so small, they never really make it to the car!

SO, 

I decided to try my hand at making my own, and had the seal of approval from my “guinea pigs”, including the hubby and my trainer.

One tip insert here. Buy your nuts and ingredients at places like Sprouts where you can weigh out exactly what you need which makes it much cheaper than the grocery store. I already had many of these ingredients in my pantry and only needed to buy sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients: (by no means do you need to use these same nuts. If you are allergic to a certain nut, or don’t like one, switch it out for another)

1/2 cup each unsalted raw almonds, halved pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds,

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 Tbsp ground flax seeds

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp sea salt

3 Tbsp honey

3 Tbsp agave syrup

Optional 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Prep 9 inch square pan with oil spray and line with parchment paper, including up the sides, trust me!
2. Set your oven at 350 degrees. Mix nuts on a cookie sheet and roast for about 10 minutes.
3. Mix honey, agave syrup, sea salt and vanilla in a saucepan and bring up to a boil for 2-3 minutes continuing to stir. It will foam up so, keep an eye on it! 
4. 
5. Place slightly cooled nuts into a bowl, add cranberries and ground flax seeds. Pour syrup over nuts and MIX. You’ve got to work pretty fast here since this gets sticky.
6. Press nuts into prepared lined pan. I used a bit of oil spray to prevent nuts from sticking to my hand as I did this. You can also use a piece of parchment paper on top to help you.
7. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top and place in oven for a few seconds to help melt.

Notes:

Once cooled you can cut into strips, squares, bars. I happen to cut mine to 10 bars, wrapped them in plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator.

I will say, these were very yummy nut bars. To my taste they were slightly on the sweet side and next time I might just omit the chocolate chips. But that is the beauty of making your own bars at home. You can fool around with the recipe, add more of one nut, or trade the cranberries for puffed quinoa, coconut; add more flax seeds or chia seeds. It’s definitely a recipe I will play with in the future.

Have you tried any other recipes? Please share, and if you try this one let me know what you think.