Easy apple cinnamon energy bars that mix up quickly and are a hit with the kids – plus you can be happy they get a healthy snack that will keep them going!
I’m back with more healthy snacks for the kids disguised as treats!
Okay, I suppose that these don’t really look that treat-like, so I guess I’m not disguising them very well. In fact, my husband spied them on the counter and quickly walked over saying “ooooh, what did you make?” When he got closer, his face fell and he informed me that they looked “suspiciously healthy”.
I guess I need to work on my ability to disguise healthy things so that he actually tries them.
Or, I’ll just keep making these types of things for the kids. Because they love my healthy treats and are always gobbling them all up and asking me to make more. Clearly they don’t need chocolate and sugar in everything in order to make them want it. I’ve trained them well. Or I’ve gotten lucky. Either way, I’ll take it!
These apple cinnamon energy bars are full of good for you ingredients. They’re sweetened with dates and a tiny bit of maple syrup. They’re filled with oatmeal, fresh apple, and pecans to make them wholesome and hearty. And some cinnamon to give them that great apple cinnamon taste and make your house smell amazing while they bake. Because apples and cinnamon always smell amazing while baking.
And to make them even better? They take literally 5 minutes to mix up and get into the oven because it’s all done in the food processor. I suppose you do need to soak the dates for 5-10 minutes first to make them easier to process, but it’s okay. You need to give the oven time to warm up after all.
It really doesn’t get a whole lot better as far as homemade snacks go. Healthy, fast, easy, and the kids will love them. That’s a winner in my house. Even if the adults don’t eat them!
Tips for perfect Apple Cinnamon Energy Bars:
- you will need a food processor for this recipe – I have and love this one
- make sure you soak the dates before mixing everything up – they process much easier if you soak them first
- this recipe will work just fine without the flax meal if you prefer to leave it out
- here are a few more healthy snack recipes for you: Healthy Chocolate Banana Snack Cake, Healthy Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies, and Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
I’ve also shared this Apple Cinnamon Energy Bar recipe over at Food Fanatic.
This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission.
Melissa
Sunday 10th of September 2023
What is the nutritional values for these bars? How much protein, Fibre, sugar, sodium and so on? I'm very curious as to how much sugar overall is in 1 bar? My husband is diabetic but doesn't like packaged treats... :)
Stacey
Tuesday 12th of September 2023
The nutritional information is at the bottom of the recipe card on the post on Food Fanatic. You can find it here: https://www.foodfanatic.com/recipes/apple-cinnamon-energy-bars-recipe/
Antonia
Wednesday 22nd of September 2021
Is there an alternative to the oats? Almond flour? And do they need to be baked? As I find alot of recipes for bars are no bake?
Stacey
Monday 27th of September 2021
I haven't tried these with almond flour instead, but I would imagine that it would work well. They are certainly edible without baking as there is no ingredient in them that needs to be baked, but the mixture is quite sticky so baking helps to dry out the bars. I also don't know how well they would cut into bars without baking them first, as it is quite sticky, but I haven't tried it myself.
KarenCramb
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
What could you use in place of nuts in the recipe please? Maybe coconut?
Stacey
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Yup, coconut should work. Or you could just increase the oats if you like. Or sesame or sunflower seeds if those are okay. I think any of those would be fine.
Tiffiny
Monday 1st of May 2017
I was wondering what size food processor you have. I have been wanting to try recipes like this but I need to get a machine first.
stacey
Wednesday 3rd of May 2017
Hi Tiffiny, I have a 7 cup Cuisinart food processor and I like that size. It works well for small batches and I haven't often found that I want it to hold more than that. I actually just bought the one that was available at Costco, and I've had it for almost 17 years and it's still going strong!
tracy taft
Monday 28th of November 2016
Could you use peanuts instead of pecans?
stacey
Monday 28th of November 2016
I haven't tried that, but I'm sure it would be fine!