Foodie bucket list: Home-made Energy Bars

I have a food bucket list. It is made up of foods I want to learn how to cook, foods I want to 'conquer' and foods that I want to make better than Brad. More or less.

One of the foods I want to 'conquer' is home-made energy bars. I LOVE granola/energy bars. I feel like any craving I have can be fulfilled with that wonderful combination of salty nuts and sweet fruit.

I can't take full credit for creating this recipe....it came from my work bff. I changed a few things here and there, but nothing major.

The only downside to home-made energy bars is that most recipes have a lot of ingredients. This was daunting at first because I assumed it would be a really expensive Sunflower Market run. Bulk bins to the rescue! The total cost wasn't bad at all.


Preheat oven to 275. Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil. Cook 1/2 cup of Quinoa on the stove-top (no picture of that, sorry). Side note, I love Quinoa.

Combine 1 cup roasted almonds, 1/2 cup walnuts, 1/4 C pecans and 1/4 cup sesame seeds in the food processor - pulse a couple of times until the nuts are pea sized


Some of them will grind finer than that, and that's ok


Now add 1 cup of dates, 1/2 cup of raisins (I used golden), 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup of apricots (or mango) to the processor and pulse until the fruit is also pea-sized. I cut the fruit up a little before I put it in there - just so I wouldn't have to over-grind the everything to get the fruit right. While it is running, drizzle in about 2TBSP of pure maple syrup.


Dump it in a bowl. This is what it will look like when you dump it into a bowl


Add 1 cup oat bran flour (I used spelt flour), 1.5 cups rolled oats, 1 cup of shredded coconut.


Stir mixture together and gradually add 1/4 cup pure maple syrup 1/4 cup almond butter (or any other nut butter), 1/4 cup of coconut oil (needs to be heated first), 1T vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon sea salt and one egg. Lastly stir in cooked quinoa. Let's be honest...mixing is much easier with your hands.

If the consistency is too dry, add more wet ingredients, if it is too wet, add more wet ingredients. duh.

Dump the mixture onto the baking sheet and spread it out evenly - making sure that all the pieces are stuck together so when you are done baking them you can cut them into bars.


Cook on the middle rack at 275 for 35 mins or until edges are slightly browned. Once baked, allow to cool for at least an hour before you cut them into bars.


Put the finished bars in the fridge so they harden and combine even more.

Yum-o



Recipe for Naomi’s Ah-mazing Energy Bars



Ingredients*

1 cup roasted almonds
½ cup walnuts
¼ cup pecans
¼ cup sesame seeds
1 cup dates
½ cup raisins
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup dried mango
½ cup cooked quinoa
1 cup oat bran flour (you can sub spelt flour, wheat flour, etc)
1.5 cup rolled oats
1 cup coconut
½ cup pure maple syrup, plus 2 TBSP
¼ cup almond butter (can sub any other nut butter)
¼ cup coconut oil warmed (can sub canola oil)
1 TBSP pure vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
1 egg

*all ingredients should be organic when possible!

Directions

Preheat oven to 275°. Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil. Cook quinoa on stovetop. Place all nuts in food processor and chop briefly until size of peas (some will grind up to a finer consistency, that’s fine. Add all dried fruit to food processor and pulse grinder until pieces are the size of peas. While machine is running, drizzle in 2 TBSP of maple syrup until mixture binds. Dump mixture into a mixing bowl and add spelt flour, oats, coconut. Stir mixture together while adding maple syrup, almond butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract, sea salt, and egg. Lastly, stir in cooked quinoa. You may have to use your hands to get all pieces evenly coated with binding agents, so the consistency is like sticky, lumpy dough. If consistency is too dry and crumbly, add more wet ingredients, if it is too goopy, add more dry ingredients. Once combined, dump out mixture onto baking sheet and spread until mixture is evenly distributed. Ensure all pieces are stuck together so when you’re done baking it can be cut into bars. Place in middle or top of oven and bake at 275° for approx 35 or until edges brown slightly. Once baked, allow to cool for at least one hour and then cut into bars. Place bars immediately into refrigerator so they harden.