This was a birthday project I embarked on that turned out to be a little more complex than I’d anticipated. My boyfriend (aka Pretty Boy aka Spiderman aka UltraSteve) has been eating vegan for the last six months or so. Because of all the running he does, he needs a lot of calories, which is tough on a vegan diet. He’s developed a bad habit of snacking on energy bars throughout the day, so I decided to make him some homemade bars full of vegan goodness. Then I got the idea of packaging them like real snack bars.
I made four different recipes. I wrapped each bar in wax paper and tin foil, added a custom label, and put them in decorated boxes. Each type of bar has a different bar label and a different box label. The box labels have meaningful quotes or tidbits. The bar labels feature poems I wrote for him, mostly involving inside jokes based on his various nicknames (it helps to know that an ultra is very, very long trail race). The bar labels wrap around the bar so you see the name of the snack bar on top and the poem is underneath.

This is the box for the Double Chocolate Chip bars which are rather cake-like with chocolate chips

(The Official Snack Bar of Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman)

These are the labels, which say:
There once was a climber named Steve
Whose beauty was hard to believe
But it’s tough to belay
And take three showers a day,
So Grade IV he could never achieve

This is the box for the Peanut Butter Protein bars which came out most bar-like in terms consistency and cohesiveness. I thought they tasted very strongly of honey but Steve likes them.

(I have met my hero and he is me.)

These are the labels, which say:
Smile, warrior, strike the pose.
Lift up your arms to the sun; set your feet wide.
Breathe, balance, extend.
Strong and supple, you flow.

This is the box for the Blueberry Blast bars which are better described as a handful of granola than a bar. They’re also overcooked because when they came out the first time and wouldn’t stick together I tried to see if cooking them longer would fix that. It didn’t. I had increased the amount of blueberries the recipe called for (so they’d live up to their name) and I think I needed to increase the honey correspondingly.

(To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.)

These are the labels, which say:
The hills are ugly, long and steep
But I have victories to reap
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep

This is the box for the Traveling Trail Mix bars. These were the hardest to make. The base is dried fruit which is turned into a kind of a paste in a food processor. I didn’t have a food processor so I tried to use my blender, which shortly started smoking. A friend lent me her food processor and I was able to make the paste. Then came the blending. I had to knead the paste into the dry ingredients.
My hands were completely covered in goo and it was impossible to achieve an even paste/dry mix. It was only after I gave up on the kneading that I had the brilliant idea of coating my hands in oil. My oil-coated hands made forming the mix into bars much easier. I wish I’d thought of it before. Anyway, Steve likes these and a friend has got a food processor that almost works right that I can have, so I’ll probably get a chance to try again.

(UltraSteve, n: a Pretty Boy powered by veggies who climbs like Spiderman and runs like the Energizer Bunny)

These are the labels, which have my favorite poem of all:
Ultras are hard, ultras are scary.
So is Steve, but he’s also hairy.

What took more time than I expected was individually wrapping each bar and applying the label to it. I hadn’t planned for that. Most of the bars were easy enough to make. All together it was a worthwhile project and the results were enjoyed.