These healthy cake batter energy bars will rock your face off.
Addictively delicious no-bake energy bars that taste surprisingly like cake batter.
It’s weird, but they really do!
Now that I’ve finally started posting videos (what took me so long?!), I’m going back to some of the most popular recipes of three to four years ago to remake them, add videos, and see if I can make the original recipes even healthier.
In the case of these cake batter bars, I’ve improved upon the original recipe—this new version makes a much bigger batch and is also lower in sugar.
The sprinkles add a fun touch, but it’s actually not the sprinkles that make these bars taste like cake batter, so feel free to omit them if you desire.
The first time I made these cake batter energy bars was on one particular Saturday afternoon when a friend came to visit with her four-year-old daughter.
With the leftover sprinkles, we thought it’d be fun to make sprinkle maracas by pouring the sprinkles into containers (as seen above) and shaking.
But the little girl was more interested in a family of bugs she found in front of the house.
Using leaves and rocks, she spent about an hour constructing a home for “Bobby” the roly poly bug.
Then she decided he needed food, and so she proceeded to dump the entire contents of her sprinkle maraca onto the ground for Bobby to eat.
Obviously Bobby took no interest in this sustenance.
But I think we’ll now be getting ants.
Going back to these cake batter bars.
Just 6 ingredients in these easy-to-make and kid-friendly energy bars that need no refrigeration and can be customizable to fit allergy-friendly diets as well.
My favorite nut butter to use in these bars is cashew butter, but any nut butter—or even Sunbutter or Peabutter—will work here.
As always with my recipes, be sure to use pure vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla or vanilla flavoring.
And you can replace the sprinkles with raisins or even mini chocolate chips if your heart desires.
Protein powder can also be added if you want a higher-protein snack bar.
Cake Batter Energy Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice crispies (brown, white, or gf)
- 1 cup oat flour, or make your own by blending rolled oats then measuring 1 cup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp roasted cashew butter, or allergy-friendly sub
- 1/2 cup agave or honey
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- handful sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- *If desired, you can replace up to half of the oat flour with your favorite protein powder.Combine all dry ingredients and stir well. In a separate bowl, whisk together liquid ingredients to form a thin paste. (If your nut butter is cold, warm it a little for easier mixing.) Then stir together all ingredients to form a batter. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment or wax, and smooth the batter into the pan. A trick is to use a second sheet of parchment over top to spread the batter and press it firmly into the pan. Really press it down as hard as you can. Refrigerate or freeze to harden, then cut into bars.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Dessert Recipes
Homemade Chocolate Bars (3 Ingredients)
Have you ever tried to combine these with the fudge baby idea? I’ve been debating on testing it out…
I haven’t. Let me know if you try it!
These totally rocked my face off! I used chocolate brown rice crispies and subbed half of the agave with a few drops of liquid stevia. I also threw in a heaping tbs of coconut oil :). So delicious! I’m totally addicted to your site, it started with the cookie dough dip, then coconut crack bars, choc chip blondies (my fav) and on and on! I think I read something about you making a cookbook… I will be needing a few copies!
These totally rocked my face off! I used chocolate brown rice crispies and subbed half of the agave with a few drops of liquid stevia. I also threw in a heaping tbs of coconut oil :). So delicious! I’m totally addicted to your site, it started with the cookie dough dip, then coconut crack bars, choc chip blondies (my fav) and on and on! I think I read something about you making a cookbook… I will be needing a few copies!
Wow I am so making these!
I skipped the sprinkles and added cocoa powder instead! Chocolate makes everything extra wonderful!
I just finished the last one of these. So tasty! I was wondering if anyone had succeeded in using way less honey or agave and had the recipe hold together still? I tried to get away with less but the batter wouldn’t come together properly so I ended up using the full amount. They are so delicious but so sweet! I did sub some whey protein powder for half the oat flour so that could be why but I would like to try these again with less sweetener if it’s possible.
Excellent recipe, as usual! Tonight I made popcorn with olive oil, then added lo salt, unsweetened coconut, and a small handful of semi sweet chocolate bits. With an aged Zinfandel – priceless!
I just made these using coconut nectar as the sweetener. They turned out well, and are yummy!
Your blog has given me hope in my ” sweet tooth ” problem where I literally consume mindlessly when sweets are present! I can’t wait to try this recipe! I had given up trying to fast sweets and reduce my consumption of then because of how much I found myself eating! And in addition to being physically active as a housekeeper I have a three year old. Let’s just say this blog might just be my saving grace!
I made these today after drooling over the pictures for a week. My husband skeptically tried one, his eyes bugged out of his head, and he told me to hide them immediately lol. He is officially stealing them for his army buddies tomorrow guess I will have to make more 😉
so much food porn…
great ideas & motivation. Thanks for the fun place to visit!
I have recently discovered your website and was immediately (or so I thought) convinced that I found the BEST food site ever. You speak my language with all of these healthy treats and chocolate!!!!! However…..rock my face off!! YES! That just 100% solidified my like and enthusiasm for you and this website 🙂 Thanks for all of the work you put in to this!
I have to tell you Ms. Katie these r so yummy awesome!!!!!! Thanks for posting
I made these with Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter (which I am obsessed with) for a chocolate version and they were delicious:)
These look amazing! Anything that tastes like cake batter with a handful of sprinkles is worth trying. I will put these to the test this week for my family. Thanks for sharing!