In all honesty, there’s been more than one occasion when our hiking snacks were energy bars picked up from a convenience store on the drive to the trailhead. Sometimes you wake up and decide to go hiking and don’t have any appropriate snacks in the house. But I think we can all agree that homemade energy bars taste better than the ones you can buy at the convenience store; thus, I’m trying to get better at planning ahead and always having snacks to take hiking (and really, just for all times) on hand.
I have a few requirements for hiking snacks: they should hold up well in a backpack, obviously, and not need to be refrigerated or heated up. I prefer my snacks to be energy-dense, since tough hikes burn a lot of calories and leave my stomach rumbling. For that reason, you’ll see a lot of nuts, nut butters, seeds, and dried fruits in these recipes. It’s nice if the recipe only calls for ingredients I usually keep stocked, but honestly, I just substitute with abandon if I’m missing something. No guarantees on the outcome if you try this, but this type of recipe tends to be pretty forgiving.
All images in this post are courtesy of the recipe creators; be a decent person and don’t steal them. Now let’s get started with the energy and granola bar recipes!
Clockwise from the top left of the image:
Vegan chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars from Rachel Mansfield
Dark chocolate cherry almond granola bars from Emilie Eats
Toasted sesame cranberry black rice bars from Healthy Helper
No-bake pecan fig granola bars from Athletic Avocado
Other bars to check out:
Cinnamon chickpea crunch protein bars from Let’s get Living
Chocolate chip granola bars from Fifteen Spatulas
Oatmeal breakfast bars from Well Plated
Savory snack bites from Healthy Helper
A note before we get into the ball recipes: most of these recipes call for the balls to be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. In my experience, this is because they become squishy and/or sticky at room temperature. Since they’re better at cold temperatures, energy balls are perfect snacks to take hiking in cold weather. If you’re picky about texture, though, you might want to opt for other snacks in hot weather.
Clockwise from the top left of the image:
Mango energy balls from Lean Clean and Brie
6 ingredient no-bake energy balls from Pumpkin and Peanut Butter
Chocolate trail mix power balls from Young and Rungry
Chocolate beet bites from My Healthyish Life
Other balls to check out:
2 (or 4) ingredient energy balls from Gretch Runs
Chocolate cherry mocha brownie bites from Healthy Helper
Cranberry pumpkin energy balls from Sinful Nutrition
No-bake maple vanilla nut latte protein bites from Cotter Crunch
Gingerbread chocolate chip bites from Running to the Kitchen
Dark chocolate trail mix energy balls from Fitful Focus
Pumpkin pie cookie dough energy balls from With Salt and Wit
Grain free chocolate cookie dough bliss balls from Rachel Mansfield
Check out part 2 of this post for more hiking snacks!
Which of these snacks to take hiking are you going to try?
Linking up with Fitness, Health, + Happiness & Fit Fashionable Friday
All of these look awesome, nothing better than homemade granola bars! Thanks for sharing my Fig Pecan granola bars 🙂
You’re welcome 🙂
Thank you so much for including my beet bites! The gingerbread chocolate chip bites might be on my list first!
No problem – gotta love getting some veggies in your snacks 😉
Ahhhhh I love this roundup! I am all about bites, balls, and bars! So many here I want to try. Thanks so much for including my recipes!
You’re welcome! I need to try those black rice bars, they sound so interesting.
I want them all! Thanks for including my recipe 🙂
Of course!
Mmmm must try those pumpkin pie cookie dough energy balls!! Great round up! Thanks so much for sharing my 6 ingredient no bake energy balls 🙂
You’re welcome 🙂
Hannah recently posted…Snacks to take hiking: 20 bar & ball recipes
Hi Hannah. Nice to meet you. I love homemade bars and bites. The only store bought bar I still buy is KIND. I”m pinning a few of these recipes. Yum!
Thanks for sharing with friends at Fitness Health & Happiness. Have a great weekend!
Thanks Jill! I love KIND bars too, but you can have so much more variety with the homemade ones 🙂
Hannah recently posted…Snacks to take hiking: 20 bar & ball recipes
Oh – how I love hiking – one of my favorite ways to spend time outdoors. These snack options really look great and you created quite an impressive list. The chickpea and cinnamon looks like an interesting combo. Thanks, Hannah!
Lori @ TheHealthMinded.com recently posted…How Travel Can Lead You To An Amazingly Healthier Life
I actually love chickpeas in sweet recipes as well as savory – they’re so versatile. Thanks for stopping by, Lori!
Hannah recently posted…Snacks to take hiking: 20 bar & ball recipes
[…] me know. Anyway! If you missed part 1 of the hiking snacks roundup, the bar and ball recipes are there. The recipes for granola and all the other stuff I just listed are […]
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Nice recipes. I am obsessed with all kinds of energy and protein bars. Went on a hiking trip with friends in Northern Sweden a few years ago. There was basically no store for 4-5 days of walking, so I had my backpack filled up with bars haha.
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