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
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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Mike says
Katie, you are absolutely gorgeous. skip the recipes and post your own pics pls.
Brittany says
I make these all the time and eat them like candy! I decided to try about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of butter flavoring to enhance the “cake batter” taste on the last batch I made…oh em gee! It’s amazing!!
Jamie says
Wow, where do I even start?! These are wonderful! So much better than an actual Luna Bar… I don’t even know how to describe them… crispy, and a little creamy, and just the right amount of sweet. They were super easy to make… It maybe took 20 minutes at the most to get the ingredients together and pressed into the pan… And I made my own oat flour using my food processor. It took no time at all, and I have some extra oat flour left over that I’m going to keep in a ziploc for future use… Which I’m sure will be very soon, because it won’t be long before these disappear, and I have to make more. Thank you for sharing this delicious, nutritious snack recipe!
Chelsie says
So I just made these last night put them in the fridge and tried them this morning the rice crisps were soggy I’m not sure what I did wrong. I did add a half teaspoon of butter extract and used almond butter they tasted just like cake batter.
BinngoBenngo says
Hey. do you think they could be made with puffed amaranth instead of Rice Krispies? I wouldn’t know what to do with a whole box of Rice Krispies but I always have puffed amaranth around.
kind regards
bb
Lynn says
I just made this tonight (doubled the oat flour to make thicker) and all three of my teens love it and say it tastes like Cliff bars! I am making more right away but tripling the recipe for the whole family for breakfast!
Brandy says
this sounds SO good! But I was wondering if you knew of a possible substitute for the cashew butter? I have a severe nut allergy which makes eating healthy kind of hard 🙁
Unofficial CCK Helper says
Why not use Sunbutter or coconut butter?
Kari says
WOW!!! These are amazing! I didn’t even get them chilled and my family was asking me if there was more. I proceeded to make a triple batch! I don’t normally have cashew butter, so I subbed with almond butter… It REALLY tastes like cake batter! 😀
Crystal says
What could be used in place of the cashew butter? Our schools are nut free.
Unofficial CCK Helper says
Sunbutter works! Coconut butter also!
Julia says
I love that you post the nutrition facts on the recipes! Most sites don’t.
K says
These are seriously SO good and so easy to make. What I did was double the recipe to fill the whole pan and cut the bars into 12; I just decided that that would be easier for me. The bars are just a hair sweeter than I’d personally prefer but I’d still definitely make them again. My non-vegan friend really liked them, too, and says they taste just like cake batter. Mine kept for about 4 days in the fridge, but the texture was starting to go a bit by then.