Easy Energy Bars

A lot of you have been anxiously awaiting this recipe since I teased you all with a photo on Instagram last week. Well the wait is over… here it is!

The recipe for these homemade energy bars is something I’ve been holding onto for quite a while. But now that I’ve made them and realized just how tasty they are and just how easy they are to make, I consider myself a complete and total homemade-granola-bar convert. I doubt I’ll ever buy another granola bar again.

These bars are dense and chewy, just the way I like ’em, personally. If you like yours a little more on the crunchy side, I’d recommend lowering your oven temp and baking longer… an easy adjustment. They’re just sweet enough to satisfy without tasting like a candy bar… another feature I like. Plus, all of the sweetness comes from wholesome ingredients like dried fruit and a little pure maple syrup, not from chemically processed sugary additives. No strange ingredients here! I love that these bars as satisfying to my health-conscious self as they are to my taste buds. A total win-win all the way around.

Try ’em and see if you’re not converted too!

Nutty Granola

I’m probably the last person in the world to jump on the homemade granola bandwagon. I don’t know why I waited so long. Part of it might be that I’m usually not a big granola-eater anyway, since I basically have to force myself to eat yogurt. Maybe I thought it was too hard. Maybe I thought store-bought granola was good enough.

Well let’s just say I was wrong on all accounts.

Store-bought granola doesn’t even hold a candle to this epic homemade stuff.

This granola is super crunchy, especially with all those nuts in it.

This granola is just the right amount of sweet. Maple syrup + ground cinnamon = breakfast/snack time/anytime heaven.

This granola is Flat Belly Diet-approved. MUFA, anyone?

This granola is great with milk. This granola is great with yogurt. This granola is great all by itself when eaten by the handful.

This granola also only takes a grand total of 30 minutes to make. You literally mix all the ingredients together in one bowl, pour it all onto a baking sheet, and throw the thing in the oven. That’s it. 30 minutes of work for a week(+)’s worth of crunchy, nutty, mapley deliciousness.

Make it now, thank me later.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

You guys didn’t expect me to talk about cookies and not share the recipe did you? C’mon… I wouldn’t leave you hanging like that!

Now, I know it’s bad form to be sharing cookie recipes right now while everyone is trying very diligently to stick to their healthy-eating resolutions. I, obviously, am not one of those people. But this recipe was too easy and too tasty not to share.

As I mentioned previously, I made these on a day when I was basically snowed in and had nothing better to do, and these cookies fit the bill because I already had everything I needed right in my pantry. Chances are you already have everything you need too! Nothing fancy here… just the usual flour, butter, sugar, with big hunks of chocolate and nuts, with a little vanilla for good measure.

These cookies were everything I had hoped for in a recipe deemed “double chocolate chip”… they were simply bursting with chocolate! I found the nuts to be a welcome addition too, but I’ve always been a big fan of the chocolate-and-nuts combo. The recipe called for walnuts or pecans, but finding that I didn’t have enough of either by themselves I simply used to both. No harm done.

This also seems like a recipe that could easily be made ahead and frozen, if you felt so inclined. I’d recommend rolling the dough into balls first for ease of preparation, though. But this way you could have double chocolate chip goodness with very little effort whenever you want!

So next time you find yourself house-bound on a lazy afternoon, whip up a batch of these double chocolate chip cookies! I promise they won’t disappoint.