Easy fruit and grain energy bars

Fruit and grain energy bars are protein-rich, delicious and easy to prepare -- a perfect portable breakfast or afternoon snack. 

These easy, homemade fruit and grain energy bars have successfully gotten us out of our current breakfast rut at Casa de Ninj.

Booyah.

They are just the right amount of chewy and not too sweet -- perfect for a grab-and-go breakfast. The danger is that they are so good that I'm tempted to keep making batch after batch.

But eating them constantly would likely get us into another breakfast rut, right? Gaaaaah, when will I learn?!

Changing up the kinds of dried fruit you use in these energy bars keeps them from getting boring. I use dried cranberries and cherries since we have them on hand most often, but I've been known to use dried apricots and plums, too. (Prunes and apricots are a particularly favorite flavor combination of mine, in case you hadn't noticed.)

And if you're not in a breakfast rut, these are still the bars for you. Their portability (and freezability!) make them great afternoon snacks.

So let's get right to it, shall we?

Have you been stuck in a breakfast rut recently? What new recipe helped you get out of it? Leave a comment: The Ninj wants to know.

Easy Fruit and Grain Energy Bars

(adapted from The Cabot Creamery Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chopped dried fruit (I use cranberries and cherries or prunes and apricots)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seed meal
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 5-6 ounce container vanilla Greek yogurt
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix together the first 7 ingredients (oats through meal). In another smaller bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients, then add the wet to the dry mixture, stirring to combine. Spoon the mixture evenly into a prepared 8-inch-square baking pan, making sure to get it into all the corners. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges are beginning to brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack, then cut into bars.

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