Super Heroic Granola Bars

Here, as promised, is the recipe for my favorite granola bars.  As I mentioned, I used to bake professionally.  Mea culpa.  It took me a little while to get to this because the first time I made them at home I was halving a large commercial-sized recipe, but forgot to halve the oats.  So, the result was way drier than it should have been and I ended up with really delicious granola instead!  Again, yes, I did once bake professionally.

 

TREK Bars

*These delicious gluten-free, vegan, fruit and nut-packed granola bars are a great addition to anyone’s snack list, but they are especially great on the trail!  Enjoy.

**I thought about changing the measurements in the recipe to cups since everyone doesn’t necessarily own a kitchen scale, but then I realized that most of the ingredients are either being purchased bulk or in bags already marked, so I didn’t bother. 

***All ingredients can be found at your local health food store.  The nut and seeds in the bulk aisle and brown rice syrup is usually with alternative sugars.

Yields: 48

2 lbs rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill “Gluten-free” Oats to ensure GF quality)

½ lb sesame seeds

½ lb sunflower seeds

½ lb pumpkin seeds

½ lb masserated coconut

½ lb dried cranberries

¼ lb (app 1 cup)  dried apricot  (diced)

¼ lb dried black currants or blueberries

1 T salt

10 oz finely chopped almonds

1.5 jars brown rice syrup

2 ¼ cup canola oil

1 T vanilla extract

Preheat over to 325 degrees.

Finely chop the apricots and almonds in a food processor.  Mix all dry ingredients together.  I put them in a large soup pot, as this amount is too big for my 5 qt countertop mixer. Add brown rice syrup, oil and vanilla.  Mix well. 

Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray.  Divide the mixture between two baking trays and spread out evenly.  Lay a piece of cling-wrap on top of the mixture and roll out with a rolling pin.  The goal here is to press the mixture across the whole tray to an even thickness. Remove cling-wrap and place in oven on bottom two racks.

Before rolling on the right.  After rolling on the left.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. 

You want the whole top to brown slightly.  Don’t worry if the edges get darker, you can cut these off before slicing.  Let cool and slice into 24 pieces per tray.  Can be kept on counter, wrapped for one week.  Also may be frozen.


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How did it go?  Any questions?  Let me know and enjoy!

xoxo
Nell

Baking Unsticky

In a former life I owned a cafe and baked on a commercial scale.  Yes, this meant being up at 4:30 a.m. to "make the donuts," so to speak.  (Oh, and the stillness of those mornings...)  But, in my case that meant, whipping up some delicious blueberry spelt muffins.  I knew that I had a gluten intolerance and spelt is an alternative flour that you can use in place of wheat flour that is much lower in gluten.

I have subsequently realized that it is better for my overall health to be completely gluten-free.  Even though I no longer own a cafe, I still love to bake and am always experimenting at home.  I have not been happy with any of the commercially sold gluten-free flour mixes---flavor or price---so I set to work developing my own.  I also really dislike the flavor of xantham gum, which is a frequent additive to gluten-free mixes to create the "stickiness" that is lost with the gluten removal, so the mix I came up with is sticky enough on its own and doesn't require the addition of xantham gum .

What I have come up with is, I think, a tasty and healthful alternative that anyone with access to a health food store can mix up at home.  I use a variety of flours---garbanzo bean, sorghum, brown rice, millet and coconut---all sold by Bob's Red Mill.  This combination lends a sweet and nutty flavor to the mix as well as making it a great protein source. 

What I do is mix up a big batch of flour and keep it in a large container (12 qt) in my pantry.  Now, I do a good bit of baking, so I go through it fast.  If you are not going to use it within 4-6 weeks, you might want to consider doing a smaller batch or keeping it in the fridge as flours are very susceptible to pantry moths.

Now, a note about price.  This mix ends up being about double what it would cost to buy Bob's Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat Flour.  But, it is less expensive than buying smaller quantities of pre-mixed gluten free mixes.  From my health food store, all these ingredients cost $34.30.  I checked out ordering bulk from Bob's Red Mill direct, but the shipping costs would override any savings.    

Nell's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

2 x 22 oz package Garbanzo Bean Flour
2 x 22 oz package Sorghum Flour
1 x 24 oz package Brown Rice Flour
1 x 23 oz package Millet Flour
1 x 16 oz package Coconut Flour
1 x 16 oz package Arrowroot Flour

This will make a little over 12 lbs of flour.











Enjoy!!  Next week...my pancake recipe!!

xoxo Nell