Are the calories right on my first batch of homemade granola bars?

itsMcKay
itsMcKay Posts: 131 Member
edited November 9 in Food and Nutrition
I did everything I normally do to make sure the calories, macros and micros are properly represented (vetting the label with other sources, weighing on my digital food scale, etc.). I've shown volume amounts below but I converted everything to weights as I went. I just didn't record those this time since it was an experiment.

It just seems soooooo low for how monstrous, dense and filling these things are. This can't be right, can it? I just ate one of these bad boys and it's really good but how can it be so low? Since they're more like cookies than granola-protein bars, I was expecting closer to 400/serving. Thoughts?

sjfNibP.jpg

GRANOLA-PROTEIN BIG BITES
Makes 15 servings
252 calories per serving

104 calories ___ 1 cup Sprouts cinnamon rice crisp cereal
720 calories ___ 1.5 cup Sprouts natural granola
380 calories ___ .25 cup JIF creamy peanut butter
480 calories ___ .5 cup Sprouts clover honey
15 calories ___ .5 cup Almond Breeze original almond milk
373 calories ___ .33 cup Sprouts yogurt chips
205 calories ___ .4 cup Sprouts dried cranberries
340 calories ___ .5 cup Sprouts smoked almonds
210 calories ___ .25 cup Sprouts sunflower seeds
180 calories ___ 2 Tbsp. Hodgson Mill milled flax seed
780 calories ___ 6 scoops Six Star Protein weigh isolate french vanilla cream
3787 TOTAL CALORIES
divided by 15 servings =
252 calories each!

Am I missing something here or is this not too good to be true?

Two more for scale:

pBDeIw9.jpg

zyktM7T.jpg

Replies

  • FatMama_33
    FatMama_33 Posts: 16 Member
    They look delicious.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited January 2015
    Might be too good to be true, yes. You're using high calorie ingredients, and didn't weigh them, so your bars could easily be 300 calories or yes, 400, if you were really off.

  • itsMcKay
    itsMcKay Posts: 131 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Might be too good to be true, yes. You're using high calorie ingredients, and didn't weigh them, so your bars could easily be 300 calories or yes, 400, if you were really off.

    I did actually state in my initial post that I weighed them.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    I dunno, everything seems fine to me.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    Idk about your math, but can you send some to me? Please? <3
  • samantha1242
    samantha1242 Posts: 816 Member
    The only thing I could see would be that the bars are not all of equal size/weight. I can see from your picture that some are bigger than others, therefore the calorie for each serving would vary.
  • itsMcKay
    itsMcKay Posts: 131 Member
    Thanks, SmartAlec!

    Zyxyst: I just made another batch without some ingredients and they are even better. So easy to make. Highly recommend. :)

    Samantha: You're absolutely right about that. Luckily, I don't worry too much about an extra 50 here and 50 fewer there. I generally balance it out by eating one large one then one small one next. It all evens out in the end. :)
  • madamepsych0sis
    madamepsych0sis Posts: 25 Member
    252 calories per serving looks pretty right to me!
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
    itsMcKay wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Might be too good to be true, yes. You're using high calorie ingredients, and didn't weigh them, so your bars could easily be 300 calories or yes, 400, if you were really off.

    I did actually state in my initial post that I weighed them.

    But you stated the quantities in cups. repost in grams, and I'll check your math
  • itsMcKay
    itsMcKay Posts: 131 Member
    Thanks for looking, Madame.

    Sullus: I just converted as I went like always so I didn't write it down. Thanks for any help. Here are the amounts I used:

    104 calories ___ 1 cup / 118 g Sprouts cinnamon rice crisp cereal
    720 calories ___ 1.5 cup / 210 g Sprouts natural granola
    380 calories ___ .25 cup / 65 g JIF creamy peanut butter
    480 calories ___ .5 cup / 168 g Sprouts clover honey
    15 calories ___ .5 cup / 123 g Almond Breeze original almond milk
    373 calories ___ .33 cup / 105 g Sprouts yogurt chips
    205 calories ___ .4 cup / 49 g Sprouts dried cranberries
    340 calories ___ .5 cup / 72 g Sprouts smoked almonds
    210 calories ___ .25 cup / 27 g Sprouts sunflower seeds
    180 calories ___ 2 Tbsp. / 12 g Hodgson Mill milled flax seed
    780 calories ___ 6 scoops / 222 g Six Star Protein weigh isolate french vanilla cream

  • DanniB423
    DanniB423 Posts: 777 Member
    Those look super yummy!!!
  • itsMcKay
    itsMcKay Posts: 131 Member
    edited January 2015
    Danni, they turned out good. I have to say, while I appreciate the low calories and high protein, my second batch turned out so much better. They are:

    cZoBgBf.jpg

    VINCENT'S GRANOLA BARS
    Makes 12 servings
    306 calories each

    1.5 cups granola
    1 cup cinnamon rice crisp cereal
    3/4 cup smoked almonds
    1/3 cup honey
    1/2 cup sunflower seeds
    1/2 cup yogurt chips
    1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
    2 Tbsp. flax seeds
    6 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
    1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

    Press in greased pan and bake for 16-20 minutes.
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