The key mixture of goodness that I used in both these bars came pre-tossed for me courtesy of (as always) Bulk Barn - a trail mix of almonds, goji berries, raisins, pineapple and sunflower seeds appropriately called "Goodness of Gogi". It looked so inviting in the bin that I had to see what it was about! Plus, it's nice to know what I was sticking into these "health-food" clones - no preservatives or gobbledegook to sift through!
Perfect Protein Power Bars
Makes 8 large, 16 small
6 oz silken tofu
2 tbsp cranberry juice
2 tbsp honey (for vegan version use dark agave syrup)1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg (for vegan version add 1/4 cup more peanut butter)
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup soy protein powder
1/4 cup spelt bran
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
2 tbsp sweet rice flour
2 tbsp wheat germ
2 tbsp chia seed
3 tbsp ground flaxseed meal
2 tbsp whole flaxseed
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp amaranth
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz fruit and nut trail mix of choice, soaked in hot water and drained
2 oz roasted soybeans
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8" square pan with greased foil or parchment.
- In a food processor, puree tofu, cranberry juice, honey, brown sugar and peanut butter. Scrape into a large bowl.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients until everything is well combined.
- Press / scrape into the pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake 35 minutes. Chill overnight in the pan before cutting and serving.
Calories: 421.1
Total Fat: 20.8 g
Cholesterol: 26.6 mg
Sodium: 151.5 mg
Total Carbs: 40.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 8.3 g
Protein: 22.6 g
But neither man nor (especially) women can subsist off of protein alone. Deprive me of my carbs, dear reader, and you will soon see me transform into something inhuman! As a kid in school, I would swap anything that would be "tradeable" - not much from my mom - for a chewy, chocolate-dipped granola bar. I never liked cooked oatmeal either. Of course, without half a bag of choclate of chocolate chips poured ontop. Tastes have sure changed! I love me a good mid-afternoon bowl with a small spoonful of brown sugar, a touch of honey and a scoop of unsweetened cocoa (I never said I stopped liking chocolate!).
When I was scouting around for a basic bar recipe that would give me the chewy texture I adore (I despise the "crunchy" kinds), I came across a winner thanks to Becky, the food blogger at Vintage Mixer. She assured me hers were the chewy type of bars and hey - how could you not want to make her recipe (also adopted from AB!), with photos like these?? These granola-esque bars became more "esque" than "granola", really - since even though I used (certified GF) oats, I bulked up the blend with Textured Vegetable Protein, sesame, chia, amaranth, poppy and sesame seeds, ground almonds, quinoa and kasha! Even though I (obviously) needed to toy with the "wet" ingredients too to compensate for all the stuff, the resulting mixture was still amazingly chewy and not overwhelming in any one flavour. When I passed the paper bag filled with the individually-wrapped bars (how lunchroom-eque, I know) to the awesome girls at my salon, their eyes lit up at the option of a reason to avoid the RutR lines at Tim's! I'm betting that - if their school isn't one of the gazillion out there with a nut-free policy - kids would take one of these to eat with lunch too. If you let them after a taste, of course!
Goodness "Grain"ness Granola Bars
Makes 16
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup dry TVP
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/4 cup kasha (toasted buckwheat)
2 tbsp amaranth
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1/3 cup whole flaxseeds
1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
3/4 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup psyllium fibre husks
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp cranberry juice
1 cup trail mix of choice, soaked in hot water and drained
1/4 cup raisins, soaked in hot water and drained
1 tsp vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 300F, line a 9x13" pan with greased foil or parchment paper.
- In a bowl, combine the oats, TVP, sesame seeds, chia seeds, quinoa, kasha, amaranth, poppy seeds, flaxseeds, flaxseed meal, ground almonds, psyllium husks and salt. Set aside.
- In a large pot, heat the honey, agave, brown sugar, peanut butter, sesame oil and cranberry juice until the peanut butter is melted and the brown sugar is dissolved.
- Add the grain mixture to the pot with the trail mix, raisins and vanilla, stirring well to combine.
- Turn into the pan and press down firmly and evenly.
- Bake 25 minutes.
- Cool completely, then chill thoroughly (I like overnight) before cutting into bars.
Calories: 303.6
Total Fat: 13.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 135.3 mg
Total Carbs: 40.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.7 g
Protein: 9.1 g
okay! so now I know what the CRFA show is. That sound like my kind of even. hehe. And now I must Google "amaranth", because I don't know what that ingredient is. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links and I am so glad you enjoyed the bars! Next time I will have to try your version.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
When cooking with chia, do the seeds get gooey like they do on a chia pet?
ReplyDeleteWeird question, I know, but just wondering