Hi there. I am interested in any tried and true recipes for home made energy bars. I am wanting bars to eat while out riding (when putting in a reasonably hard effort of intensity or distance); not for racing. I also would like something that doesn’t fall apart too easily when you take it out of your pocket or top tube bag. 
There are so many recipients out there on the internet….How do I choose??
I’ve heard really good things about the Skratch labs cookbook The Feed Zone Cookbook | Skratch Labs
Team EF has posted some pretty tasty looking recipes to YouTube. I imagine some other teams may have similar videos.
I’ve got the Feed Zone Portables cookbook and never had much success finding things that kept or made sense for an individual. Many of the recipes would be great if you’re feeding an entire team or had a SAG vehicle to hand them to you mid-ride.
I am liking the recipes from the PockitFuel Instagram page. They have good variations on rice crispy treats, which keep for a while and won’t crumble in your jersey pocket.
After some experimenting in the kitchen I reckon I’ve come up with a pretty good homemade equivalent for the Styrkr 50g carb Rice bar… no cook, about 15-20 mins to make, pretty good storage and portability.
The “secret” ingredients are a rice paper wrapper (game changer) and adding a small quantity of maltodextrin powder dissolved in water- you can buy this at your local pharmacy or easily find it online; it’s a simple starch-based thickener intended to help people who have difficulty swallowing. With a bit of testing, this combo binds and holds the rice mix really effectively and is surprisingly durable.
I usually make batches of 4. Per MyFitnessPal, this is 214 cal and 47g of carb per bar.
- 4 sheets of rice paper (the sort you use for spring rolls, any Asian supermarket should have them)
- 6 Jelly Babies
- 6 Dates
- 50g Rice Krispies
- 50g honey
- 10-12g Maltodextrin Powder (Hormel Thick’n’Easy or others, search online or try your local pharmacy)
- A Good pinch of salt
- 6g desiccated coconut (optional)
You’ll need a plate with a thin layer of warm water, a mixing bowl, a small side bowl, and a chopping board.
- Cut the Jelly babies and dates into small pieces (tip- dip your knife into a cup of warm-to-hot water between each baby/date to prevent them clumping together and gumming your knife up)
- Pour the remaining warmed onto your plate- you’ll need this for the rice paper.
- In the mixing bowl, combine the Rice Krispies, salt, and coconut if using. I also add some spices like cinnamon or allspice. Add the sweets and stir to distribute them evenly. Add the honey and stir it in.
- In the small bowl, combine the Maltodextrin powder with 50-100ml water. Stir to thicken- it’s pretty remarkable stuff. Don’t be tempted to add too much water- start with less. Once it’s evenly mixed and looks like a thick translucent goop (trust me), add to the rice mix and combine everything evenly.
- One at a time, assemble your bars. Place a rice paper sheet into the warm water in the plate. If you are confident in your timings, you could do this earlier in the process to speed things along! The warmer the water, the quicker the sheets will soften.
- Remove the rice paper from the water and let the excess drip off- you want it to feel malleable and slightly sticky. Lay the paper on a clean plate (or clean and dry your chopping board after cutting up the sweets).
- Spoon 1/4 of the rice mix onto the rice paper in a shape that will fit in your pocket. Fold the rice paper over the mix, ensuring the edges overlap. Burrito or Spring Roll aficionados can fight over the best technique.
Wrap the bars individually in baking paper, and add a wrap of tin foil if you need them to last longer or survive in a kit bag. In case it’s not obvious, you eat the rice paper wrapper!
I tend to freeze my bars if I’m keeping them more than a week, partly to help them hold their shape, but this isn’t necessary.
If you have the means, good quality local honey, non-Nestle puffed rice, and high quality salt will make a better bar. These are luxury choices though and overall I hope these are more sustainable and better for your body and wallet than what you get in the shops!
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Look up power balls, they are a bikepacking go to.
Most recipes make 12-16, and they can be two bite or one bite. Mine usually have dates as the binder.
I’ve done apple Maple crunch, peanut butter and “jelly”, pumpkin spice and several others.
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We have been working our way through these recipes, so many different delicious combos with quick oats as the base:
I have made my first small batch of these. I need more practice to get the hang of handling the rice paper wrappers! I am looking forward to seeing how they taste and whether I have the consistency right.
I’ve been making this for years, it works out well wrapped in aluminium foil. It will smoosh a bit but retain it’s overall shape and integrity. Tested for over a century in a back pocket.
The tin of condensed milk is the standard UK size, 397g.
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For us in North America 180°C? Canadians do a lot metric but cooking is still freedom units
Yes, 180 new degrees or 350/360 freedom degrees.
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A really simple alternative recipe is:
500g Porridge Oats
2 tins condensed milk (UK size 397g)
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Mix it all together and put mixture evenly in a baking tray, press it down to even the thickness and bake at a low temp (between 100°C - 140°C, 212°F - 284°F) for 60 mins or so. Allow to cool a cut into the size you want. The honey and syrup makes it little sticky on the outside, but add a lot the the flavour and keep the texture soft! I wrap the pieces in baking parchment and put them in a pocket or top tube bag. Freezes well too.
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See attached. I don’t remember where this no-bake recipe came from. After I cut them I toss them in oat flour to minimize sticking and freeze until needed.
The brownie bites are from “Rocket Fuel” by Matthew Kady, which has a lot of good ideas for tasty homemade athletic fuel. I make them in mini-muffin pans with roasted sweet potato and oat flour and add nutmeg and diced candied ginger. Seriously tasty.
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I’ve had fun making Rice Krispy Treats as my training ride food this last year. Wrapped in parchment foil works well for me. Can be made in bulk (using microwave to heat mallows works best for me and is fast/easy, spray hands with oil when forming on pan), after wrapped I freeze them and just grab and go as needed - they defrost in back pocket very quickly. Super cost efficient (only a few US$’s for an entire sheet), very tasty, and fun to play around with and adjust flavors (e.g., peanut butter, chocolate dipped, etc.).
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I like the recipes in the Skratch Feed Zone books, but rarely have time for the prep, or when I do don’t end up using them. One home made item that I find easy and pretty good on a ride is pancakes. When I make them for breakfast I make several 2” or so diameter cakes. I freeze them and the night before a ride will make little sandwiches with nut butter or jam. My favorite is Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut butter.
Another snack that is easy to make the night before is a mini wrap. Take soft taco shell and roll turkey a little cheese, greens and maybe add cucumber or radish. These work with almost any ingredients: rice, potatoes (sweet or regular) squash, avocado, bacon…whatever is on hand. Toast it and then wrap it up.
Honestly though so many of my rides are short so I’ll stuff a Skratch bar or some fig bars in my pocket and call it good.
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I really think the key is to experiment until you get the macro nutrients they way you want with ingredients that you enjoy and are heathy for you. This is my gluten free no bake energy bar. You can substitute for each ingredient (like peanut or walnut butter for the almond), skip the protein powder if you want (like Orgain for vegan and no bad ingredients like plastic, chemicals, etc). Experiment with the spices (add anice or cardamom for a Turkish flavor!) Could also do honey instead of syrup, but then I add a squeeze of lime juice to help break down honey’s long chain carb molecules).
COOK TIME: 25 min
INGREDIENTS
Dry ingredients
• 1 cup Rice puffs
• 1 cup Oats ( or more rice puffs)
• 3 Tbsp Protein powder (optional)
• 1/4 cup Raisins (any dried fruit)
• 1 Tbsp Pumpkin Seeds
• 1 Tbsp Chia seeds
• 1 Tbsp Flax seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp Ground Ginger
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 cup Quinoa flakes
Wet ingredients
• 1/2 cup Almond Butter
• 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
PREPARATION STEPS
-
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
-
Warm wet ingredients in a sauce pan
-
Combine wet to dry and mix well. Add 2+ Tbsp water until ingredients come together.
-
Press firmly into parchment lined 8x8 pan using spatula. Cut dough into 9 bars. Wrap individually in parchment. Store in fridge
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