These simple Apricot Almond Energy Bites are easy to make and are great for taking with you on car trips or backpacking. They are gluten free, grain free, quick, and do well in hot weather if you’re hiking or at the beach.
This year has been full of some fun adventures and lots of firsts for us: my first blog trip, our first adventure race that wasn’t a mud run, our first big family vacation, my kid’s first 5k, my son’s first golf tournament, my first long bike ride coming up next weekend (yikes!!), and *hopefully* my first trail race next month and half-marathon in October if my knee will cooperate. This Summer has been full of firsts and adventures for us!
Our Rev3 Outlaw Challenge Adventure race
Finding foods to keep me fueled for all these activities has been really challenging lately. I mentioned in my last post that during most of my latest races I have had stomach cramps in nearly every race. My stomach problems haven’t been improving much and brown rice protein powder is now officially on the list of things I can no longer eat, so finding good protein options has been tough.
With our long bike ride coming up next weekend with Wyoming Cares, I need some portable food options for taking on the road. Everything is an experiment at this point since this is my first long ride. We’ll be riding 50 miles on Saturday and 50 miles on Sunday.
I have plenty of gels and I have some Hammer Heed that will help, but I will be needing some solid food at least before and after my ride if not during the ride if my stomach can tolerate it.
In my quest to find whole-food portable food options I decided to make up my own! I can tolerate some bars well, but expense and food allergies keep me from eating many bars and pre-made snacks out there, even the healthy ones, so making some of my own is my best bet these days.
Wish us luck on our bike ride! The ride is hosted by Wyoming Cares, a non-profit that helps families in Wyoming. To participate in the ride we are raising money for the charity, so we are helping a good cause too! I’ll post a recap of the ride and photos after next weekend when are done.
It’s not really a race, just a charity fundraising ride, so I just need to remember to pace myself on this one and get lots of good sleep for 2 days of long rides. I’ll probably make up some portable food this week to take with me, like homemade hemp protein pancakes and bites like these.
For this recipe, I used the Blue Diamond Lightly Salted almonds, but you can use the Oven Roasted almonds (which I love) or the raw almonds if you want to make these raw as well.
A little shot of my photo setup for this one. I always think it’s fun to see how people set up their photos! The bench makes a great place to take photos: it has a matte finish and the natural wood is a perfect color

Apricot Almond Energy Bites (Grain Free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried apricots whole
- ½ cup Blue Diamond Almonds your favorite flavor
- 2 Tablespoons almond butter
- 2 Tablespoons honey for vegan or lower FODMAP use maple syrup
Instructions
- Combine the apricots and almonds in a food processor or small blender and process/blend until the mixture is coarsely ground. You want this to be a little sticky but not a paste. If your food processor is small, make a half batch
- In a medium bowl, stir in the almond butter and honey into the almond/apricot mixture. Stir to combine. You want the resulting mixture to be sticky and hold together when you roll it
- Roll the almond/apricot mixture into balls about 1-inch in size
- Store these in the fridge
- If you want some more protein in these, add a 1-2 Tablespoons of your favorite protein powder and add a little more honey or maple syrup to make it all stick together
- Enjoy!
Nutrition

Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie which she founded in 2011. Sarah is based in Wyoming and has been managing food allergies for herself and her 2 children for over 20 years. Sarah was also a certified personal trainer for 12 years, as well as a group fitness instructor, health coach, running coach, and fitness nutrition specialist.
I’m wondering if you could substitute either dried apples or blueberries? Thanks, Anna
Hi Anna, you can try using dried apples or blueberries, I think that would work fine. If they aren’t as moist as the dried apricots, you could add a little coconut oil to help them stick together if needed.
They look great! Will give them a try.
Awesome! I can’t wait to hear what you think 🙂
love that these only have 4 ingredients! Yum 🙂
I love easy/simple recipes! It makes cooking so much more enjoyable for me 😉
Great recipe!!!I will try it tomorrow!
Thanks Kalliopi! 🙂