I've been trying lots of new recipes. Well, not lots, but some. It's so hard to cook with a toddler. But after 3 attempts at a good yet healthy baked good, I finally found one and it is ALSO easy to make!! I made it while Kaelyn ate an afternoon snack in her high chair - so you know that's easy!!
You won't believe this either, I found the recipe in none other than Family Fun magazine. Impressive!
Energy Boost Bars (they provide 20 grams of carbs for slow-release, sustained energy)
Ingredients;
1 8oz bag of raw almonds (I used one cup of almonds since I buy mine in bulk)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 1/2 cup oats, quick-cooking (I replaced 1/2 cup with rolled oats since they're yummy)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I subbed with raisins since I couldn't find non-sweetened cranberries - the sugar in most dried cranberries is BAD)
1 cup dried blueberries (unsweeted found at Trader Joes)
2/3 cup maple syrup (always use Grade B RAW - found at Trader Joes. DO NO USE REGULAR MAPLE SYRUP - you know, Log Cabin? The first ingredient is high fructose corn syrup - very BAD)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Heat the oven to 275 and lightly grase a 9 inch baking pan with olive oil. Grind the almonds in a food processor until they resemble a coarse meal. Combine the ground almonds and the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Using wet fingers, press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake it for 1 hour. Allow the bars to cool thoroughly while they are still inthe pan, then slice them. Makes 20.
(151 cals, 4g protein, 20g carbs, 7g fat, 0 cholesterol, 2mg sodium)
Mike, Kaelyn and myself all like them. And Mike doesn't even like Raisins. Try the recipe as is first, and then feel free to modify with any dried fruit. This is a pretty versatile recipe that I think you could make many substitutions and only improve them for your preferences.
Have fun!
Don't you KNOW about high fructose corn syrup? Know what? That it's natural, that it's made from corn, and that it's perfectly fine in moderation?
ReplyDeleteHahaha, have you seen those commercials? Pretty funny. I'm sure meth is fine in moderation too :p
Oh and I made these the other day. AWESOME. Dave, Katie and Jesse loved them too. I used agave syrup instead of maple, flaxseed instead of sesame, and raisins instead of blueberries... I wanted to work with what I had. Also I used half old-fashioned oats and half rolled. I baked them in a casserole dish because it's easier to clean and I was concerned about sticking. Also I greased the pan with pumpkin seed oil, because I thought it'd be tasty.
ReplyDeleteMy only complaint was that they didn't hold together super well, I got about half the pan cut into good bars and stored them that way, the other half basically turned into granola... albeit DELICIOUS granola. My theory is that either the agave doesn't stick things together as well as the maple, or that the casserole dish didn't get them as crispy as a cake pan would have. I was concerned that the flaxseed would taste funny, but I didn't notice it at all whatsoever.
BUT OMG THEY WERE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!
Thanks for posting this!!