Pumpkin Seed Power Bars

by ALEXA

If you like Rise® Breakfast Bars, I think you’ll love these Pumpkin Seed Power Bars. Plus a $3.00 gadget that gives you perfectly square power bars.

Pumpkin Seed Power Bars

If you live with a food intolerance or food allergy, it’s always a happy day when you spy a new goody at the grocery store that’s safe for consumption!  That was the case with these breakfast bars. We’ve been buying them by the carton and eating our way through them pretty fast so I thought it was time to see if I could make them at home and trim a few dollars off of our grocery bill.

Compared to the Crunchy Perfect Pumpkin Breakfast Bar from Rise®, these Pumpkin Seed Power Bars are:

  • Is a little less sweet.
  • Replaces the amaranth with chia seed so that I could reduce the sweetener required to make the ingredients stick together (a job that sugar does so well).
  • Does include nuts, but you can easily make it a nut-free bar by using more pumpkin seeds in place of the nuts (I was running low on pumpkin seeds so had to throw in the nuts).

I’ve only made these in the dehydrator. Some of you have tried them in the oven at a low temperature for a couple of hours and they did not hold together. So dehydrator is the way to go.

Oh and the trick to the perfectly rectangular bars? An inexpensive musubi sushi rice press. Find one at your Asian grocery store or here on Amazon for under $3.00.

Pumpkin Seed Power Bars

Pumpkin Seed Power Bars

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup no sugar added apricot preserves or this compote
  • 2 tablespoons honey (pure maple syrup for vegan)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup chia seed
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened dried cherries or cranberries
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/3 cup pitted and chopped dates
  • 1-1/2 cups raw pumpkin seeds
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup hulled hemp seeds

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan combine water, preserves, honey, and salt. Bring to boil; reduce to gentle simmer and cook until reduced to about 3/4 cup.
  2. Remove from heat and stir in chia seed, cherries, raisins, and dates. Set aside 5-10 minutes to thicken.
  3. In a large bowl combine the pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews, and hemp seeds.
  4. Stir in apricot mixture.
  5. For uniform bars use a musubi rice press; lay a piece of parchment paper on work surface, place mold on parchment and spoon in 1/4 cup (or so) of the seed mixture. Oil press surface and use it to firmly pack seed mixture. Release from mold and place onto dehydrator tray. Repeat.
  6. Dehydrate bars for about 24 hours or until bars are firm and hold together.
  7. Store in airtight container at room temperature for a week or freeze.

Notes

The next time I make these I plan to lightly toast the nuts and seeds in a 325F oven for 10-12 minutes prior to mixing to give the bars a little added crunch. If I hadn't had a musubi rice press, I would have used a medium sized round cookie cutter and some random flat kitchen object to pack the seed mixture in to make round bars versus rectangular. 🙂

https://www.floandgrace.com/201363pumpkin-seed-power-bars-html/

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28 comments

PohaPoha June 3, 2013 - 11:36 pm

This is so nutritious looking! Way to go! I do not enjoy buying energy bars, at all: will try this recipe, with the Chia! We have the musubi lucite press already, and have not used it lately. It never occurred to me to repurpose that gadget! I have always loved pumpkin seeds; the title of your post really caught my interest! Thanks!

Reply
Lexie June 4, 2013 - 1:59 am

Poha, Yes, that musubi press comes in handy for molding almost any goody. Glad you are tempted to make these 🙂 xoLexie

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Maggie June 4, 2013 - 3:59 pm

YUM! These sound and look amazing Lex. You're so smart with that handy little gadget! It's on my list and so are these!

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Hallie June 4, 2013 - 4:23 pm

Cool!! The bars look great…and that gadget looks even neater! Your photos are so gorgeous. 🙂

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Lexie June 4, 2013 - 8:13 pm

Maggie and Hallie … you must get the gadget … we all know, a woman can never have enough! xoLexie

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Alisa - Go Dairy Free June 5, 2013 - 5:30 pm

You are a genius lady! I love Rise Bars, but your homemade version must be even better!

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Kim-Cook It Allergy Free June 6, 2013 - 3:41 pm

These are so totally something I would make! I love these and LOVE your beautiful photos of them too! 😀

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Carol June 7, 2013 - 11:41 am

Gorgeous! And what a great idea to use that rice mold for perfect shaped bars! Gorgeous and Genius.

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Kevin June 7, 2013 - 7:10 pm

I made these this morning and toasted the nuts/seeds before mixing. I also followed the suggestion to bake @170 for 3 hours. I didn't have the mold described with the recipe. I used a 1/4 cup dry measuring cup and I flattened the mixture onto wax paper. They are awesome!! Not too sweet, and they look great. I can't wait to share them. Thanks for posting!

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Lexie June 7, 2013 - 7:47 pm

Kevin … I REALLY appreciated your comment. I blast these recipes out to the blogosphere and am not sure if people make them and IF they turned out for them. Your words made my Friday. And good to know about the toasting … I had a hunch that it might enhance the crunch. And I am glad you thought they were sweet enough … my sweet tooth has a much lower tolerance these days. My son is really sensitive to sugar (probably still some Candida) and so most store bought bars are a bit too much for him.

xoLexie

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Joan - My Cookie Clinic June 7, 2013 - 8:58 pm

My husband, who enjoys long bicycle rides, was just talking about making his own energy bars the other day. Then, along comes your post. I'll have to pass this recipe along to him. Thanks!

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Melissa June 7, 2013 - 9:41 pm

So, are these bars like crunchy bars or chewy/sticky bars?

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Lori June 8, 2013 - 1:12 am

Hello!
Your recipe sounds great! I have my own version that I have been making, but want to try yours. Using a musubi maker is BRILLIANT! Living here in Hawaii, it's a standard utensil in my kitchen. Thanks so much for sharing…Aloha, Lori

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Lynne M June 8, 2013 - 2:51 pm

Wow. This is a lovely treat. I have been craving for this crunchy snack but I was worrying of food allergies stuff. It is nice to see that the pumpkin seeds and nuts are wonderfully complement each other side by side. I hope this is a crunchy bars rather than chewy ones since I am more fond of bar's crunchiness. Where can I get the dehydrator?

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Den June 23, 2013 - 5:55 am

This is actually the first time that I've heard of this pumpkin seed power bars and I am curious about how it would taste!!! But, what I like in this recipe is it's an easy homemade thing, the ingredients are affordable, and it looks like it's so easy to make! HA HA. This is also very nutritious that's why I wanna try it. 🙂

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Tracy W June 24, 2013 - 7:19 pm

Wow! These are super delicious! I made them this morning to take along on a trip. I also toasted the nuts and seeds. I typically cannot tolerate the amount of sugar in bars, but these I are great for me! The amount of sweetness is just right. Two out of three of my kids LOVED them. The third is very picky and judges the taste of any new food just by looking at it. My son even crumbled some bars up and turned it into granola with fresh fruit on top and loved it.

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Lexie June 25, 2013 - 12:02 am

Tracy … so glad they were a hit! xoLexie

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hannah July 21, 2013 - 4:25 am

Lex! I made these and they were fantastic! I did the oven version because i still 🙁 don't have a dehydrator. But they turned out great!! I have one left and I'm hiding it in the butter box 🙂

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kim October 27, 2013 - 10:26 am

Everything has honey in which i am allergic to. And oats and gluten etc. Can anything replace the honey? Sticky sugar syrup although really need to keep this low too? Thanks

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Lexie October 27, 2013 - 5:41 pm

Hi Kim, the thing with bars like this is that they require a "glue" so usually sticky substances like dates, honey (feel free to use maple syrup), and jams are used. One trick you can try is to make a goop of say 1/4 cup flaxseed or chia seed meal (ground seed) and about 1/2 cup water. Add that to the mix (omitting some of the sweetener) and then dehydrating. It might be worth playing with 🙂 The "goop" will work as a binder. I hope that helps a little. xoLexie

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Kim W October 28, 2013 - 12:57 pm

Thank you Lexie, I will have to have a play with it. Wish I could have honey, it's so good for your immune system if you use the right sort. Bars looks lovely too. Thanks for your ideas.

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Eyecandypopper November 12, 2013 - 7:41 pm

I love homemade granola bars! And that gadget looks awesome… if I wasn't so opposed to kitchen gadgets, it'd be useful. hahaha

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Karen October 5, 2014 - 1:37 am

Dissappointed. Thought I'd found a nut free bar. No such thing I guess.

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Lexie October 5, 2014 - 4:31 am

Oh but Karen, just get a little creative with it. In the post I say: "Does include nuts, but you can easily make it a nut-free bar by using more pumpkin seeds in place of the nuts (I was running low on pumpkin seeds so had to throw in the nuts)." You could add a mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Give it a try and see what you think. 🙂 xoLexie

Reply
dairy-free-meal-ideas July 15, 2017 - 5:55 am

[…] High Protein Chickpean Donuts from Skinny Fitalicious Turkey Egg Breakfast Casserole from Aime Mars Pumpkin Seed Power Bars from Flo and […]

Reply
Heather September 26, 2017 - 8:25 am

I only elimated the jam for as you would say goop mixture, as I was trying to make what was similar to the bars I had while in Greece and I am sure there was not any jam. So i also changed out some of the items and put honey, sesame seeds, nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower and cranberries. I did place on a full baking sheet and did not form into bars I figured I could cut after. I baked 170 3 hrs and it won’t stay together what should I do?

Reply
Alexa September 27, 2017 - 2:08 pm

Hi Heather, I am so sorry these did not hold together for you when attempting to bake in the oven. I have updated to post to share that with everyone – that the dehydrator is the way to go with this recipe. The jam may also help stick it all together, but seems the your added honey would do that, too. I would say used the crumble batch as granola 🙂 Thank you for this great feedback.

Reply
High Protein Dairy Free Meals - RunToTheFinish January 11, 2019 - 7:09 am

[…] High Protein Chickpean Donuts from Skinny Fitalicious Turkey Egg Breakfast Casserole from Aime Mars Pumpkin Seed Power Bars from Flo and […]

Reply

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