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No-Bake DIY Clif Bars are ideal for lunches, snacks, hikes, camping, workout fuel, and so much more! They are vegan, gluten-free, and frugal to make, too.
Make Your Own Clif Bars
It doesn’t matter if it’s a three-course meal on the grill, a simple barbecue, or an impromptu picnic, summer outdoor eating lends a magical feeling to food. Even unwrapping and eating a popsicle, trying to keep up with its melting, is such a treat.
And because I like to get out and go, energy bars are always a convenient and oh-so-portable option for heading off to the park or making longer treks by plane or car. When I’m hungry and busy, and there is no other food in sight, an energy bar eaten on a park bench in the sunshine exceeds haute cuisine.
I’ve written recipes for energy bars in the past, including my rendition of homemade Lara Bars, but the other day I decided to tackle another of my favorite ready-made bars: Clif bars. I like them a lot, and so does my husband, but the $1.69-per-bar cost is a bit much considering how much we like to have them around.
What do the Bars Taste Like?
Clif bars are chewy and soft, similar to an under-baked oatmeal cookie. Looking at the ingredients list on the wrapping, brown rice syrup and oats are two of the main ingredients in all the bars. Also on the list are some scary scientific additives that I’d rather do without, along with a weird soy aftertaste. So rather than add any soy protein powders or the like, I decided to keep the ingredients simple and readily available (as well as pronounceable).
No-Baking-Required Clif Bars
I tried a baked option first, combining several recipes into one and swapping out a number of the ingredients for high protein nuts and some whole grain. I was thinking I could under-bake the bars slightly to get the chewiness (it didn’t include any eggs). The results were tolerable, but extremely dense–arguably an edible enema. Thankfully, Nick thinks they are delicious, so all is not lost.
I went back to the drawing board and, using some of my no-bake cookie recipes as reference, concocted a no-bake Clif bar. Yum! While not exactly the same, it is pretty darn close. Plus it’s far less expensive–and no yucky aftertaste.
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
- Crisp rice cereal (e.g., Erwhon Crisp Brown for gluten-free, or Rice Krispies are fine)
- Uncooked quick-cooking oats
- Ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal)
- Finely chopped dried fruit (e.g., raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc.)
- Finely chopped nuts or seeds (pepitas are great)
- maple syrup or brown rice syrup (or honey if not strictly vegan)
- Nut or seed butter of your choice (e.g., peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter)
- Vanilla extract
- Optional: ground cinnamon
How to Make DIY Clif Bars
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
Combine the rice cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl.
Combine the syrup and nut butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and well-blended (alternatively microwave in small microwave-safe bowl 30-60 seconds until melted). Stir in vanilla until blended.
Pour the nut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated (use a wooden spoon at first, then get your hands in it. It will be sticky, but this way you can really coat everything. Just scrape off your hands when you’re done).
Press the bar mixture firmly into an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) using a large square of wax paper (really tamp it down).
Cool in pan on a wire rack and then chill at least 30 minutes set the bars. Cut into 12 bars. (Wrap bars tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator).
How to Store the Bars
Tightly wrap the individual bars in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
Variations
- Variations Cheery Cherry: Use chopped dried tart cherries for the fruit and lightly salted roasted almonds for the nuts. Use any nut butter (almond butter is great, but I know, a bit pricey–but worth it!), and add 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.
- Apple Pie: Use chopped dried apples for the fruit and rice syrup or honey for the syrup. Be sure to add the cinnamon option, and use toasted walnuts or pecans for the nuts.
- Chocolate Chip Cookie: Replace the dried fruit with an equal amount of semisweet miniature chocolate chips (or cacao nibs, or carob chips). Combine the cereal mixture with the syrup mixture, then let the combined mixture stand 10 minutes before adding the chips.
- Pepita Cranberry:Use chopped cranberries for the dried fruit and raw pepitas for the nuts/seeds. Use either honey or brown rice syrup.
- Peanut Butter Cookie: Use chopped dates for the dried fruit and dry roasted peanuts for the nuts. Use honey, or half honey-half molasses for the syrup and peanut butter for the nut butter.
Enjoy these as easy fuel for all of your adventures, large and small!
More Easy DIY Energy Bars to Try
DIY No-Bake Cliff Bars (vegan, gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal, e.g., I like Erwhon Crisp Brown, but Rice Krispies are fine
- 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed, flaxseed meal
- 1/4 cup finely chopped dried fruit, e.g., raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, etc.
- 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts or seeds, pepitas are great
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or brown rice syrup, or honey if not strictly vegan
- 1/2 cup nut or seed butter of your choice, e.g., peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional: 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Combine the rice cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl.
- Combine the syrup and nut butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and well-blended (alternatively microwave in small microwave-safe bowl 30-60 seconds until melted). Stir in vanilla until blended.
- Pour nut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated (use a wooden spoon at first, then get your hands in it. It will be sticky, but this way you can really coat everything. Just scrape off your hands when you’re done).
- Press mixture firmly into an 8-inch square pan (sprayed with nonstick cooking spray) using a large square of wax paper (really tamp it down).
- Cool in pan on a wire rack, then chill at least 30 minutes to help it set.
- Cut into 12 bars.
Notes
Cheery Cherry: Use chopped dried tart cherries for the fruit and lightly salted roasted almonds for the nuts. Use any nut butter (almond butter is great, but I know, a bit pricey–but worth it!), and add 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.
Apple Pie: Use chopped dried apples for the fruit and rice syrup or honey for the syrup. Be sure to add the cinnamon option, and use toasted walnuts or pecans for the nuts.
Chocolate Chip Cookie: Replace the dried fruit with an equal amount of semisweet miniature chocolate chips (or cacao nibs, or carob chips). Combine the cereal mixture with the syrup mixture, then let the combined mixture stand 10 minutes before adding the chips.
Pepita-Cranberry:Use chopped cranberries for the dried fruit and raw pepitas for the nuts/seeds. Use either honey or brown rice syrup.
Peanut Butter Cookie: Use chopped dates for the dried fruit and dry roasted peanuts for the nuts. Use honey, or half honey-half molasses for the syrup and peanut butter for the nut butter.
Pretty standard ingredients, but I found out heating peanut butter (no additives) doesn’t melt it, just dries it out.. I’ll have to mix this into yogurt or something since it doesn’t stay together.
Hi Brian,
I’m sorry your peanut butter dried out. Did you melt it with the liquid sweetener? I use all natural peanut butter— it does not dry out when melted along with the sweetener, as directed. I heat the two over relatively low heat, it does not take long for them to form a melted mixture.
Camilla, I’ve been making these for more than 10 years! I’ve probably made over 100 batches, all different flavors. Thank you for your great, well-tested frugal recipes!
I am in heaven! I’ve now made these so many times because I give them to friends. Then they too get hooked. No more buying Cliff bars. I had gastric bypass and love the fiber and protein! My friend said there is a Thai version but I don’t see that variation. Either way all my friends are now making too!
This makes me so happy, Belinda –I cam up with this recipe eons ago to save money, too. Thank you for posting, and for sharing the recipe with friends!
Original recipe= 155 calories each (12 bars)
If you’ve got a magic bullet or blender of some kind a quick couple pulses will turn flax seed into ground flax seed 🙂 same with oats into oat float
Here is how I kept my bars from crumbling:
Firmly knead the “dough” inside the bowl and add a teaspoon of water and knead some more to incorporate the water. . Keep kneading and adding a tiny bit of water until the dough can be formed into a cohesive ball without falling apart. Then, place the dough into the pan and very firmly press it down evenly using something flat. After chilling in the fridge cut it into bars with a sharp knife.
Great tips, Lucy! 🙂
Good recipe. To hold together I put the dry ingredients with the added nuts/dried fruit into a blender first and chopped for about 30-40 seconds (I had to manipulate a bit to push it down, but it blended beautifully). I put the blended ingredients in a bowl and then added the heated nut butter, vanilla and syrup, working it with my hand. They’re great that way, otherwise I was just fighting them trying to keep them together. HTH.
Great tips, Karen! Thanks so much for sharing this with everyone 😊
I am so glad I found this recipe! My son has gotten into bike riding lately and he goes out on two or more hour rides. He tends to wear down a bit on the way home so he’s been spending a small fortune on energy bars. He asked me to see if i could find a recipe to make some instead. I gave this a try by making a double batch for him. I used honey with the peanut butter (one of his favorite childhood sandwiches) and found some mixed dried berries, cranberries, blueberries and one other I’m not sure of lol. I put this in a 9 x 13 pan and let it set up,, cut it in 24 bars and wrapped them individually. He tried one when he came to pick them up and before I knew it two had disappeared! He loves these and they are so much cheaper and frankly healthier to make them yourself!
Double this recipe, grind half the oat meal into a powder and the other half just roughly so it’s a nice texture, with these modifications these bars should hold together MUCH better, if an issue
I starting using this recipe about 5 years ago and it is the best homemade cliff bar recipe I have found.
Wow! Thanks so much, Donna! 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! I was happy to find a no-bake version because 1) the oven just feels unnecessary sometimes, and 2) baking the bars seemed like it might yield something much crunchier than I wanted.
I probably just over-poured my dry ingredients, but do you have an idea of why my bars didn’t hold up as bars? They immediately crumbled when I cut them. I upped the PB/honey/syrup mixture, and added some melted coconut oil into that mixture, as well as pouring more melted coconut oil atop bars after I had pressed them into the pan.
For the record, I basically put the kitchen sink into these. For some reason I was very low on oats so subbed about 1/2 cup of oat bran in, reduced the Rice Krispies, used whole (rather than ground) flax seeds, used raisins and chocolate chips, added crushed graham crackers, and added whey protein for some staying power. Besides the crumble, I love these!
THESE ARE GREAT! I didn’t have flaxseed meal but I did have flax seeds and we actually liked them fine. Making them again today, this time with dried cranberries and a few mini choc chips. Thanks for posting the recipe, it’s our new favorite thing.
whoohoo, so glad you enjoyed them! They are a favorite at our house, too 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! I’m really enjoying them.
Can anyone think of a good substitute for oats in this recipe? I’m so excited to try it, but hubby is sensitive to oats. Any suggestions appreciated!
Hi Shannon–have you ever tried quinoa flakes? They are hard to find in the store but you can order them from amazon,. They are a great sub for oats in all baking recipes! Also, Eden Foods makes rye flakes that can be subbed for oats. Hope that helps!
Is this cheaper than buying the bars on the retail shelf?
Hi Kevin,
Yes, definitely! Even better, they TASTE so much better. The real CLIF bars have soy protein isolate which is what gives them that weird and cloying aftertaste. It’s also a really poor protein source. You can add a little bit of protein powder to these to get a better boost of protein 🙂
Do you think these would hold together well if I made them into balls rather than bars? I’d like to have a health snack for my kiddos, and I think a ball would be easier for them to handle.
Absolutely, Sara! I do it all the time 🙂
Bananas, peanuts, and cocoa powder for chunky monkey goodness, or banana, strawberry, cherries, peanut butter, and cocoa powder for banana split
Hi Camilla! These look so good! I’m glad I found them via Pinterest. I wanted to ask if you could add protein power to these? Or would you have a suggestion as to how much or if I should substitute anything? Thanks! <3 Kitty
Absolutely, Kitty! I would start by adding a few tbsp at a time to the mix since it will vary by type of protein powder. You can always add a few teaspoons of milk (dairy or nondairy) to keep them moist as you add the powder 🙂
Hey does vanilla extract help act as the glue to hold everything together, or is it more of a flavor thing? I notice a lot of bar recipes have that ingredient.
No, it’s just for flavor–you can always skip it! 🙂
I’m not sure what adjustments need to be made. When I follow this Recipe and method of preparation to a “T” I end up with a crumbly mix that is compressible but doesn’t hold together. If I adjust this recipe and go a little more on Brown Rice Syrup and Dates (dried fruit), and hold back on the Brown rice and Oats, then I get more of the consistentcy and texture of the Clif Bar. Has anyone else made adjustments to get closer to the
“real” thing?
I do appreciate this blog and the guidance. Thank you.
Although these taste great, they don’t have the same consistency as Clif bars. Mine turned out much crunchier than a Clif bar. I think next batch I will try less Rice Krispies and peanut butter, and use more syrup and oats. Thanks for the recipe…it’s nice to have a snack without all the additives!
Hi! Gosh, I am not sure why they came out crunchy. Perhaps the peanut butter you were using was a bit dry? They should definitely have a texture akin to Clif bars.
These are good, but in no way whatsoever does this recipe produce 12 servings! I had to double everything just to get 9 bars of the same size as Clif brand.
My husband hates clif bars and I just recently discovered them lol. I just don’t like paying $2 a bar almost. I’m currently breastfeeding my 6 month old and everything in this is great for keeping supply up. I did add a tablespoon of brewer’s yeast to it to help with supply but omg so yummy! I decided to make these because I already had everything in my kitchen. Whipped them up, and had hubby try them. He loves them! 🙂 I’m going to have to make a few batches now. Thanks for your recipe!
You are welcome, Kristina!
Yeah you can use seed butter such as tahini or sunflower seed butter. A bit harder to find but definitely around the place. Try organic stores if your stuck.
I made the cliff bars with 2 of my home economics classes today and everyone loved them.. /great combination of nutrition and low cost.. Does anyone have a nutritional breakdown for the 12 seervings?
Hello, thank you for this recipe! I plan on making these for my son as a daily afterschool treat. How long do they last? One week, I hope!
Great! They will last at room temp for several days, in the fridge (in sealed container or wrapped individually)for several wekks, and frozen for several months 🙂
My boyfriend and I are very much into fitness and have been looking everywhere for a sub to Clif bars. (They are so expensive!) These are perfect and taste wayyyy better! I even added a couple scoops of vanilla whey protein powder for a little extra nutrition and they taste like cake batter! Wonderful recipe, thanks a million!:)
Yay! You’re welcome, Allyson!
These are amazing. I love that I can change them so easily every batch. I will say that I’ve found my favorite…
Rolled Oats, almond shavings, dried cranberries, sunflower seed butter (I don’t like the taste of peanut butter and this was the least expensive spread we could find) and honey. I added some whole flaxseed because we had some in the cabinet.
I’ve been making these every Sunday for a month since finding the recipe…so much cheaper than buying 2 boxes of clifbars a week for my boyfriend and myself…not to mention we both (and all of my friends) think they taste much better. I can’t wait to look through all of your other recipes!
Just made these & they were great ! I’m curious to try a variation using tahini instead of peanut butter. I plan to make these often- thanks so much for a great recipe my family will enjoy often
🙂
Christine, I’m so glad you liked them! I have made them with tahini with great success, so go for it! I’ve also used sunflower seed butter (brand: SunButter)–super crazy yummy.
These Energy Bars are the BEST! I have a case of Clif bars in the pantry that have gone untouched since I started making these bars! My first batch was crumbly but I loved the taste so I made a few changes. I used almond butter (much healthier) with maple syrup and some organic coconut oil – a little more than the recipe calls for of each. Also, I put the nuts and raisens in the food processor with 1/4 bar of Green and Black 85% dark chocolate; this makes a perfect consistancy to be added to the mix. The recipe is always doubled, cut up into 14 bars and individually wrapped for easy to go snacking! Thanks for sharing!
You are sooooo welcome, Sonya! Love the sound of your changes!
These are easy and delicious!!!!! Thanks for the recipe
You are so welcome, Kevin!
Wow! this would be great for my school lunch 🙂
I tend to break my wallet because of these yummy power bars so really, thank you for all these amazing recipes!!
My son is in his second year of college. He has 2 days of classes that he barely has any time to eat. so I found a few recipes on pintrest and made him some. He loves this idea. we are experimenting with a vacuum seal bags. I put 4 energy balls in a bag not much bigger than a snack bag and vacuumed all the air out or at least most of it . I sent them to him and it’s just been about a week. He put them in his fridge at college and n those busy days he garbs a pack or two and starts his day. I was hoping this would keep them for 2 weeks. so far so good. he will be home this weekend and we will discuss this method. I can’t see any reason it won’t work. i’ll post back and let you know.
Oh, that makes me so happy Kathleen! Homemade power bars sustained me though grad school–so glad to pass along the love!
Twice I have tried doubling the recipe and putting in 9 x 12 pan. The bars fall apart. What am I doing wrong? I am also looking for a recipe for Fiber One Muffins. Was told to buy Krusteaz Bran Muffin mix. Have searched and searched and cannot find any bran muffin mix!!!
Hi Carole! So sorry you are having trouble with the recipe. Do you mind my asking whether you are making any substitutions of any kind? Or what kind of nut butter and syrup you are using? That could help me figure it out. This is one of my go-to recipes (for years) so I would love to help make them right for you.
Krsuteaz brand brings back a lot of memories–my mom used their mixes a lot when I was growing up, they are very good.
Wow! Thanks for posting all these recipes for cliff, Lara, ect. Bars! I am looking forward to trying them! Do you know of a good substitute for the oats though? I am new to gluten and dairy free and just found out I can’t handle oats well either 🙁 thanks again for the started ideas!
Hi Joanna! Quinoa flakes are fantastic! Just like quick-cooking oats (you can get them at health food stores and online, like amazon and nuts.com) Can you eat quinoa? You can sub them measure for measure for oats 🙂
I just finished making these. Only difference is I added a scope of vegan protien powder mixed with a bit of water and added it to the nut butter/honey mix. The trick is to get the protien the same consistency as the nut butter for the texture to be right. I just wanted to bump up the protien in the mix
Sounds perfect!!! 🙂
I have a question please…I LOVE these Clif bars so much that I actually gained 10 lbs within 3 months and did not even realize it until a few days ago. My favorite is the Chocolate Brownie, here is the question, does anyone know of a recipe that matches closely with this bar with LESS calories and sugar. I have to admit, I am an addicted to these but need help reducing and making my own. Now I have to go and lose the 10 lbs I gained from these beloved bars, what’s a girl to do! Any help, thanks in advanced.
I just made these… AWESOME!!! they are so good and my family is going ga-ga over them. We used sun butter and doubled the recipe. Thank you for saving us a ton of $$$ on store bought cliff bars! whoo hoo!!!
Sabrina! I am so happy! We make power bars all the time here, too–such a big savings, I agree. Ooh, and I am CRAZY about sun butter, too. Especially the chunky. Crazy delicious goodness!
I was wondering if you can use chia seed instead of flax? Would the chias penchant for creating goop mess up the texture too much?
Hi Amber!
I love it when it is a question I can answer with 100% certainty: yes, you can sub chia seeds for the flax measure-for-measure in this recipe. I know, because I have done it on several occasions and they are great (great minds think alike :)) The chia seeds don’t get goopy here since they do not have the opportunity to sit in liquid, so instead they maintain a pleasant poppy seed-like crunch. All the best 🙂
I just made these with substitutions due to missing ingredients. The warm bar ‘dough’ tasted good. Hope my picky daughter likes them. 🙂
Hope she does, too, Jacqueline! My picky son likes them (although not all of my flavor combinations–it can be exhausting!)
I am definitely going to make these, clif bars are WAY to expensive.
I like the option of adding chocolate to it because I have a sweet tooth!
Enjoy, Weston! 🙂
I tried making this today and had mixed results.
The good: The combination of dry ingredients works really well. I could eat this as a plain old bowl of cereal.
The bad: The mixture didn’t actually stick together into bars. It crumbled apart in the pan as soon as I cut it, and I ended up with cold, clumpy granola. It was tasty granola, so it didn’t go to waste, but I was hoping for an actual bar. If I’m going to eat something granola-like, then I might as well just make granola since that doesn’t require storage in the refrigerator.
As far as not using “nut-butter”, and I know it is made from hazelnut, but has anyone tried using Nutella? Think I am gonna try to see if that would work well..then not use chocolate chips for a less fat/sugar option?
Thanks for the posts they were interesting to read, as this will be my first batch.
just the recipe i have been looking for! definitely making these this weekend!
http://www.fooddiaryproject.blogspot.com 🙂
I made these today and they came out perfect. I couldn’t find anything in the store that said nut butter so I just used organic peanut butter. Looking forward to making the Kind bars.
Camilla,
I love lemon zest Luna bars. They’re such a great flavor. Do you think there’s anyway this recipe could be adjusted to that flavor?
Thanks so much for sharing your calculations!
Using the original recipe listed here (with Rice Krispies, raisins for the dried fruit, pepitas for the nuts and Jif Peanut butter for the nut butter), cut into 12 bars, Here is the nutritional info: Calories 160/ea, Total Fat 7.3g, (Saturated Fat 1.3g, Trans Fat 0), Cholesterol 0, Sodium 102mg, Carbohydrate 20.5g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 8.8g), Protein 4.6g, Vitamin A 2%,Vitamin C 2%, Calcium 1%, Iron 10%
wondering if you’ve figured out the nutrition of these? cals/protien/fat,etc.
Thanks!
Thank you for all your recipes. I just made the cliff and lara bars today. I am over the moon with your recipe for the trio bars. I can’t wait to search your blog more.
Thank you again for sharing.
Not sure about buying brown rice syrup locally, but you can get it at Tropical Traditions online. I just bought some today for 35% off. Still have to pay shipping, but… easy to find. Just FYI if you can’t find it. I’m looking forward to making these as soon as my BRS comes in!!
Thanks so much, anonymous! No worries–I am not offended by corn syrup. People have gotten a bit silly about it. I understand the concern in packaged foods, but for home baking and cooking, it is a tried and true ingredient.
If you’re not offended by corn syrup you can use that as a substitute for the brown rice syrup (if you have a Wegman’s or an organic food store near you, you should be able to find the brown rice syrup though.) Corn syrup has a good consistency for the recipe and has a much lower sugar content than honey. The bars are awesome by the way–much better than Clif Bars 🙂
Hi Dina,
Yes, you can definitely use an equal amount of honey here (or pancake syrup). It’s a very flexible recipe–enjoy! 🙂
I can’t find maple or brown rice syrup at my local grocery store…..any suggestion for honey substitution?
Thanks for this recipe! I tried a version of these with dried cranberries, pecans, and puffed millet cereal. Amazing! 🙂
I made these today….so delicious! I’m so excited that I can make my own now too!
I can’t wait to try these! Thank you, Cmailla!
Have you ever tried ProBars? They are my favorite and have everything under the sun in them, but they taste so good. If you try them and gind a way to make them at home, I’d love to know how!
Hi! I just made these and they are SO good. so good, in fact, that I’ll hopefully stop buying granola bars and just make these… 🙂
for the record, I used puffed rice instead of rice krispies (way cheaper!!), and replaced half the oats for hemp hearts for a higher protein bar. I also made up an “apple pie a la mode” version. which is just like your apple pie version (I did add nutmeg, lots of cinnamon and ginger though) but after I put them in the tray I let them cool a couple of minutes in the fridge, then sprinkled yogourt chips on top and pressed them in. (when I mixed the yogourt chips in, they just melted)
I also made the peanut butter cookie version. unlike real clif bars (even though I love clif bars) they actually taste like what they’re supposed to taste like… real peanut butter 🙂 genius! thanks again so much!!
these look fantastic and I’m hoping to save on snacks, so I’ll have to bookmark this one…
a couple of questions…
how long do they keep and would you recommend refrigerating them or do they not need it?
could I substitute hemp hearts for some of the oats to boost the protein?
could anything be used instead of rice krispies, like puffed rice? (cereal is expensive! 🙁
Thank you, I love cookie dough and now I can feel good about it and give some to my kids.
I will be making this tonight. I would have never had the time to figure out the recipe, as I like the concept of the Clifbar but don’t like the aftertaste. Your recipe sounds absolutely delicious.
I suppose I could figure this out myself, but you may have already done so: What is the nutritional info on your bars? The recipe looks great and I am eager to try it! Thanks for saving me a lot of brainstorming time trying to dissect the Clif Bar recipe! 🙂
thank you!!!! We like your ‘lara bars’ recipe too, but this one is a definite hit with the kids and I love that it doesn’t have soy protein powder in it. We add choc chips and a few TB cocoa powder and they go so fast! Thanks!
Cool, Jesi–thanks for sharing the link to your blog, too!
Just another big thanks for this recipe. Made them this weekend and my husband and I are both very impressed in how they turned out. So tasty and so easy!I couldn’t find brown rice syrup so had to improvise, but I think it still worked out OK. Thanks so much!
Hello Camilla! I wanted to thank you for this recipe! I recently made them and in one weekend they were all gone! I even had doubled the recipe! Very delicious, perhaps even more than the real thing!
Also, my fiance eats very healthy and does not eat much sweets. His birthday is in May and I would love to make him a super healthy cake. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks so much!
Nicole
I’ve been making these bars now for at least 6 months. They are much loved by my whole family. And yet I never thought to thank you. How is that possible. Well, thank you SO MUCH for sharing this recipe. It’s really added a lot to our small culinary world over here.
I made these this morning before going to work, and they turned out great!
I used about 2 tbsp. extra of honey and a little more dried fruit.
The sweetness and texture of them kind of remind me of a Cliff Bar. Pretty cool. 🙂
The mixture was fabulous and I’ll definitely make it again! They didn’t work as bars for me though, and I’m not sure why…too crumbly. Thanks for the recipe!
Do you happen to know the approximate fiber countof these recipes? I am looking for recipes for my son who loves the outdoors, but had his colon removed so everything must be low fiber – real challenge for an outdoorsey teenager! Thank you.
Thanks for the update, Misty–I found the post (they even lifte one of my photos with my kitchen table and spatula–very uncool!) I’ve left a note.
But do enjoy the bars! Camilla 🙂
Hi! These are fabulous-I love the cherry ones. One note: using my food processor for the dried cherries culminated in a unglorious BLOB! Much better to hand-chop them with a good chefs knife.
(btw…someone else has “borrowed” this on their website as their recipe)
These look awesome. I just opened and ate a Blueberry Crisp Clif Bar and thought, “I betcha I can make these.” Thanks to your hard work, looks like I will be able to. They look amazing and I can’t wait to try all the recipes and make some of my own creations!!
Excellent recipe! We’ve made these so many times, each time a little different.
I just made these. They are absolutely incredible! I microwaved the syrup and nut butter and it turned into a liquid in about a minute and half. You have to really press down on them to get them to hold together, otherwise they’ll end up falling apart.
I’ll definitely be making this again. Thanks!!
which nut butter would you use to make choc chip clif bars (not pb and choc chip)
Thanks for this recipe! Im so glad i dont have to pay $1-2 for a good energy bar anymore. For my first batch i did it exactly as the instructions said, but i found it to be too clumpy and not malleable enough. So i tweaked it to 2/3 cup peanut butter and 1/2 cup honey and it seems to be holding its shape much better. I hope everyone enjoys them as much as i do!
I have tried the cranberry pepita version two times now. My trouble lies in the nut butter and honey/syrup mixture. Mine is not liquid like your picture and is not coating the dry ingredients well enough. It is resulting in a mixture that does not hold together in bar form. I have tried different peanut butters – from fresh ground to a creamy natural. Please help! Thanks
I made these yesterday morning for breakfast. They barely survived one whole day in our house! I really liked how quick they were to throw together. Thank you so much for this recipe!
The photo of the dry ingredients seems to have an extra one not listed in the recipe? Haven’t tried mine yet–they’re in the fridge!
Taste fantastic but crumbled apart in my cycling jersey! Any suggestions for better “stickage” or is this inevitable?
Just made a variation for cycling and it’s now chilling. Here it goes: replaced rice syrup with maple syrup; lessened the almond butter from 1/2 cup to 1/4 and added an extra 1/4 cup maple syrup (don’t want too much protein during exercise); used sesame seeds for the seed; used dates for the dried fruit. One last thing. Didn’t have rice cereal so I crushed up some multingrain oatbran flakes. Will let you know how it tastes!
Overall, a great recipe. I’d recommend reducing honey significantly if replacing brown rice syrup, especially if you add anything else that’s sweet. I made the basic recipe with honey and raisins and it was WAY too cloying for my taste. But these bars have a GREAT consistency and flavor otherwise. I will definitely be experimenting more with this one. Anyone tried adding other ingredients like bran or germ or other grains to up the ante?
looks so yummmy! thanks youre site is great! kudos! I am going to try this with nutella tonight mmMmm. Thanks!
did this recipe change? it used to have measurements for brown sugar and some sort of honey/molasses combo. could you please post those again? i’m not interested in finding brown rice syrup. thank you.
This is a great find for being on clinical rotations. Do you have an estimate on how much cheaper it is to make it rather than buy it?
Thanks!
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I just made these and they are so yummy!
I also wondered how I might increase the amount of protein by adding whey protein powder, but wasn’t sure if anything needed to be increased or decreased; or at what point I should do it.
Thanks for sharing!
Trina
Clif bars are delicious. I’m really excited to try out this recipe. The only thing that’s a downside is there isn’t much protein in them (as far as bodybuilding standards). I’m going to try adjusting the ingredients just a smidgen.
Thanks for the info!
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Hi Barbara,
This is easily convertable to gluten-free. Use a gluten-free brown rice crisp rice cereal (e.g., Nature’s Path or Erewhon brand; they are typically in the healthy food section of the grocery store).
Next, use gluten free oats (e.g., Bob’s Red Mill), Give them a quick whirl inthe food processor to makechop them up like quick-cooking oats.
Go ahead and just leave the brown sugar out of the recipe; it will be a little bit less sweet, but still delicious.
I haven;t tried these with agave nectar, but it should be fine. Just be sure to bring the nut butter-syrup mixture to a boil. It’s really imprtant for getting the mixture to stick together.
Finally, avoid ready-chopped dates as a dried fruit choice. They are typically coated in a non-GF oat flour.
Enjoy!
, I actually substituted the brown sugar for agave and did not have as much luck with it sticking together. However the original recipe does it say to bring it to a boil it just says the heated until it’s well Blended which are two different things. So I foolishly heated everything together on super low and doesn’t stick together. I’m going to try the boiling method next time. I ended up refrigerating my failed batch and that sort of keeps them together well enough to get them in my mouth. Thanks for recommending the boil. I don’t bake often and had no idea that was required for the chemistry to work. For the person who’s using agave keep in mind that these will still be quite sweet depending on the sugar content of the nut butter that is used.
Oh I wanted to add that I actually packed mine into one of those silicone trays with the preset Square shapes. Worked really well for getting consistent shapes if you care about that. I think I will try heart shapes and such next time. Seems like these would make good gifts if I can get the next batch to stick LOL. Sorry for the weird typos I’m dictating and Google is not doing that great of a job.
2nd batch made. Got a nice boil going. Included a little honey, but mostly but mostly agave & pb. Still no stick, so I heated up another 1/4 cup and got everything very wet & coated. Bars still won’t hold together much, but better than last time. I stuffed a mini cupcake pan with some and those seem to be working (use a small spoon to pop them out after they cool & pre-.grease). Don’t need hold if it’s bite sized. 🙂 Wondering now if agave lacks the fundamental property sugar has that causes it to turn into a glue when boiled… or crystallize for brittle.
I would like to make this a gluten free recipe. Any suggestions ?. I also can’t add the brown sugar, as I am gluten, dairy and sugar free but can add agave nectar. I can make these for my daughter.
Thanks
I can’t wait to try them. I just discovered Clif bars.
Just made these bars, and they’re fantastic. I used old-fashioned oats but ran a knife through them a few times before adding them to the mix to make them a bit closer to a quick-cooking type. I imagine you could also pulse them a few times in a food processor.
Most of my bars turned out just fine, but a couple had dry spots and crumbled a bit when I took them out of the pan to wrap individually. Oh well–one casualty I just ate as a snack. 🙂 I’ll probably add a bit more honey next time or make sure I don’t overpour on the dry ingredients, which was also a possibility for this batch. I noticed I had to stir it up really well before transferring to the pan, and I might stir with my hands next time to incorporate the wet and dry ingredients more thoroughly.
I wondered if using all-natural peanut butter, which tends to be a little stiffer than conventional, could also have made a difference in how far the wet ingredients would stretch.
Another variation–add a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients to mimic a brownie flavor!
when i bake and their dry…adding some peanut butter might help 🙂 … or some apple sauce.
when i bake protein bars,and their too dry i add a couple table spoons or more of peanut butter to the batch and they turn out awesome. . . dont like that..try apple sauce . . i substitute that in for butter in my recipes 🙂
These look yummy!
I think that I may be having trouble because the oats I used are not quick-cooking but old fashioned.
I’m loving the flavor, using Uncle Sam cereal, for the crisps.
I had the same experience as WildSaffron…I did boil the liquid, but it wasn’t gooey enough to really solidify the bars into bars–more like crunchy snack granola or something, and they are very dry, not soft like Clif bars…would welcome any suggestions!
I’ve tried this recipe as well. The flavor is fabulous, and the family gobbled it up, but we had to eat it with a spoon, like granola. It crumbled when trying to slice into bars.
I did bring the sugar to a boil (using honey) but it just didn’t seem to get the mixture wet enough for it to stick together. It was very dry.
Just made a batch! Cherries, cranberries, and mixed nuts…awesome. Definitely worth a try. Got the brown rice syrup and used both Almond and vanilla extract. Not a cliff bar, but better, fresher, and cheaper. Thanks for the recipe. Will keep experimenting.Blueberries next?
What would you store these in? I want to make lots of these for upcoming hiking trips, and Clif Bars were getting kinda hard on the wallet.
AMAZING. i made the a version of the peanut butter cliff bars.. they came out perfect! i put a little more honey and peanut butter to hold it all together, and well im a peanut butter freak. thanks so much for the recipe
This recipe is fantastic! It did take me several tries to figure out why my bars weren’t sticking together – the key is to make sure the brown rice syrup, or whatever sugar you’re using, comes to a boil first before adding the dry ingredients. For some reason, this makes the syrup harden better to hold the ingredients together when cooled.
I am SO glad I just googled homemade Clif bars. I’m headed to the kitchen to make these right now and I can’t wait to explore your blog some more!
These are delicious! I just made two batches. My boyfriend eats Cliff Bars like there are no tomorrow, and with a price tag attached to them, it adds up pretty quick. These are so easy, delicious, and hey, we know what all of the ingredients are going in it. Thank you for this great recipe. Signed, two semi-vegan vegetarians. 🙂
Thank you for posting this recipe! How long do you think they will keep in the refrigerator?
I googled Cliff bar recipe and came across this post of yours. Am bookmarking it and will be trying it out soon!
I believe that quick oats are cut finer so they will cook quicker. In recipes like this, they are softer and can be digested easier.
Thank you so much!
I’m having fun playing around with variations of these.
One question though…why are quick cook oats (instead of regular rolled oats) used in this recipe and other similar recipes?
Camilla,
These bars look amazing! I’ll have to try them out soon, bet my boys would love them. Great post!
Michelle,
Your comment of “meat emergency” had me cracking up at my computer–I’m going to have to borrow that!
Enjoy the bars, and have a great
4th!
Eek, thank you for pointing out the error, Priscilla. It was a clerical error–I’ve made the correction!
Thanks for these recipes. My husband goes through CLIF bars like crazy, and they’re not cheap. We’re vegetarians, and they’re good to have around for meat “emergencies.”
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Great! Thanks for sharing that!
Hi Sue,
Funny you should ask about the freezing becasue I was curious about that, too–it’s so hot here in Texas in the summer and power bars tend to melt in my bag (even the more grnaola-like ones get goopy).
So I froze 6 of the bars (individually wrapped, tightly, then placed in a freezer zipper bag). I popped one in my person (still frozen) and it was great; only took about 30 minutes to thaw, it was still cool after an hour.
I’m not sure about long-term freezing; I dodn;t know how well the rice crispies would hold up, in particular. But defiinitely for shorter storage!
My apologies! I read the recipe closer and saw that you recommend wrapping them and storing them refrigerator.
I wonder how they would freeze?
Do you have any hints about storing these? They would be great to have on hand for a snack on the go, or a long bike ride.
Hi Mo!
Good question…hmm…the nut butter really works like glue here, so it would take some experimenting on my part. What about tahini? Do you like the flavor of it? It is really mild, but a wonderful sesame flavor, and yet still has the properties as a natural nut butter. I think that would work beautifully. You may want to check out my recipe for LARA bars (I have a link within the body of my post above). They do not have nut butter, and I list lots of flavor combinations.
Let me know how things turn out! 🙂
I just made a no peanut butter version that turned out great! i warmed 1tbsp coconut oil, 1/2 cup honey, and 2/3 cup evaporated milk to a boil, reduced to simmer and cooked 5 min, stirring constantly, until the mixture began to caramelize. then removed from heat and added vanilla. Stirred into dry mixture. really stirred it in good and its yummm!
I used sunflower seeds instead of nuts and added golden raisins and lemon zest as the fruit plus 1/4 cup shredded coconut. I call them lemon sunshine bars!
Your variation sounds fantastic, Amber!!!
Camilla,
Is there a way to make these without nut butter. I am not a fan of the flavor of any of them. I would love a snack like this, just not the nut butter flavor.
Very cool, Amy! I envy you the camping trip, I love to camp. Have a great time!
These look SO good. I’ll definitely be making them for my 4th of July camping trip. Great idea!