Cranberry Buckwheat Energy Bars

These delicious baked Buckwheat Bars are packed with natural energy from dried cranberries, raisins, walnuts and pumpkin seeds. A great option to keep in the freezer for on-the-go snacks.

Homemade Energy Bars made with Buckwheat

Move over Larabar. And Cliff Bar. These Cranberry Buckwheat Bars are loaded with healthy fats and natural sugars to give you a boost, without the sugar crash. My kind of snack.

It’s great to have healthy treats in the freezer to snack on throughout the week. These are an option that are easy to bake up, and then can be stored in the freezer for weeks. In fact, it’s a good idea to make a double batch so you don’t run out of these!

These are like a buckwheat granola bar. The buckwheat groats and the oats are blended into a flour, so they are soft, like a cross between a cookie and a granola bar.

Buckwheat is a great flour to add to baked goods. It’s naturally gluten free, and is one of the rare plant sources of all essential aminos acids.

Don’t make the mistake of buying bags of buckwheat flour at the store! It has a very strong flavor and a grainy texture.

It’s simple to make your own buckwheat flour with buckwheat groats. It takes a minute in a blender and results in a soft, fresh flour, with a lightly nutty flavor.

What You’ll Need

• Buckwheat Flour (ground from raw buckwheat groats)
• Almond Flour
• Rolled Oats (ground into a flour in the blender)
• Flax Seed (ground into flax meal)
• Cinnamon, Ginger & Freshly Grated Nutmeg
• Baking Soda & Sea Salt
• Butter (or melted coconut oil)
• Blackstrap Molasses
• Honey (or maple syrup)
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Egg
• Cranberries, Walnuts, Golden Raisins, Pumpkin Seeds

How to Make Buckwheat Bars

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Step 2: In a mixing bowl, combine the buckwheat flour, almond flour, oat flour, spices, baking soda, and sea salt. Stir to combine.

Step 3: In a separate mixing bowl, combine the molasses, honey, coconut oil (or butter), egg, and vanilla.

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, and stir to combine.

Step 5: Fold in the mix ins (I used cranberries, golden raisins, walnuts and pumpkin seeds.)

Step 6: Add the batter to the prepared pan, and use wet hands or a wet pastry roller to make a flat even layer.

Step 7: Bake the buckwheat bars for 15 minutes.

Step 8: Allow to fully cool. I freeze the pan of buckwheat bars prior to slicing for the nicest looking bars. If desired, add some spiced cream cheese frosting to the tops!

How to Store Buckwheat Flour Bars

Freeze the bars in the pan for at least 1 hour, and then use a sharp knife to cut into 12 bars.

Wrap individual bars in parchment paper, and then place them in an airtight container (like a freezer bag or glass storage container). Freeze the bars for up to 5 months.

Tips and Variations

Drizzle the Tops with Frosting or Chocolate: If you like the look of the tops being covered with frosting, use my Autumn Buttercream recipe, which is made with cream cheese. Add the frosting to a piping bag and make a lattice by drizzling the frosting in one direction, rotating the pan, and making lines that cross over the top. Freeze the bars with the frosting on them prior to slicing them. Alternately, use a sugar free white chocolate and add some spices to it. This will set harder, so it’s best to drizzle the bars after they are frozen and cut.

Other Mix Ins:

• Dried Cherries
• Chopped Dried Apricots
• Mini Chocolate Chips (dark chocolate preferred)
• Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
• Sunflower Seeds
• Pecans
• Chia Seeds
• Hemp Seeds

Other Buckwheat Flour Recipes

• Buckwheat Protein Pancakes
• Crepes Bretonnes (Savory Buckwheat Crepes)
• Blueberry Buckwheat Muffins

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