Should you make your own energy bars, drink, and gels?

Energy food producers have managed to crack the code of making it an essential product for a ride out. And there are loads of brands out there vying for a place in our pocket or bottle. But do you really need to shell out what at times can be a small fortune on the mid-ride nutrition?

So I set out to find out, can I at home make myself some not just tasty ride grub and drinks but also stuff that will keep me going mile after mile (or kilometre after kilometre as I am in France)?

I scoured the information superhighway (yeah, no ones called it that for a while) in search for recipes, not just energy bars but the whole compliment of stuff we down on the bike. Bars, gels, chews and drinks.
The question is, was any of it any good, will I make it again and was it cheaper than buying the fancy brands from the local bike shop?
Full list recipes:
Cocaine Bars :

One cup Sesame seeds
One cups Almond meals
Four cups Rolled oats
One cup Pine nuts
One cup Pumpkin seeds
One cup of brown sugar
One cup Currents
One cup Cranberries
One cup Apricots
One cup Figs
Favourite Jam 500g jar
½ cup Honey
250g Butter
Four tablespoons Cinnamon

Shoddyade energy drink:
8 cups fresh cold water, divided
3 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon fine Himalayan pink salt
¾ teaspoon calcium magnesium powder (optional)
One pinch cayenne pepper
¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice, strained
Two lemons, juiced
Two limes, juiced

Energy gel:

7 and 1/3 tablespoons of honey
3/4 teaspoons of blackstrap molasses
1/10 teaspoons of table salt

Gel chews:

One pound of frozen fruit
One pitted dates, roughly about 22 dates (but I suppose that depends on how big your dates are)
One sweet rice flour

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