Anytime Bars

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I’m loving The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen by Rebecca Katz. Every recipe I’ve tried has turned out great and I’ve even shared some muffins from the cookbook at one of my seminars.

The recipe below makes a granola-like bar with oats, nuts, and fruit. What I like about them is that they are low in added sugar aside from the fruit (the recipe below actually calls for less than the original recipe) and they turned out delicious even when I made substitutions such as using all whole-grain spelt flour instead of some of the white flour the recipe called for. This time, I also substituted dried plums (prunes) for the dried apricots and added shredded coconut as was suggested and they were equally as good.

These would make a great after-school snack for kids or a great addition to their lunch box. I enjoy these with a cup of tea and will have one before or after my yoga class.

Anytime Bars

1 c raw pecans or walnuts

1 c raw whole almonds

¼ c whole grain spelt flour

2 T ground flax seeds

¼ t sea salt

1/8 t baking powder

1/8 t baking soda

¼ cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 c pitted Medjool dates, chopped

1 c unsulfured, dried apriots or dried plums (prunes), chopped

2 T shredded coconut

1 egg

3 – 4 T real maple syrup

1 t vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly toast the pecans on a pan lined with parchment paper for ~7 – 10 minutes. Toast the almonds in a similar manner. Turn the oven down to 325°F.

Combine the flour, flax seeds, sea salt, baking powder, baking soda and rolled oats in a food processor and pulse a few times until mixed. Add the nuts and pulse a few times to coarsely chop. Add the dates, plums or apricots, and coconut and pulse until a coarse, well-chopped mixture is formed.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Add the nut and fruit mixture and combine thoroughly. Spread the batter evenly in an oiled 9-inch, or equivalent baking dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, then let cool before cutting into bars. Store in an airtight container.