Last week I bought an ebook from Kitchen Stewardship.com called Healthy Snacks to Go. I'd been looking for some good whole food snacks that I could have my personal chef make for my family when she comes next time, and this seemed like it would be a great book.
It was only $6.95, so I bought it. It has 21 recipes of things that are fairly easy to make, and good to have on hand. I've quit buying junk food, and I want to have healthy snacks on hand for my family. If they enjoy them, even better. I want to show them that eating healthy isn't torture, it can be great, and worth the trade off.
On Saturday I bought the ingredients for Power Bars (Reverse engineered Larabars). [I have no idea what "reverse engineered Larabars" means in the title. If any of you know, let me know.] I made them that afternoon, and they were a HUGE hit with me & the kids! Jimmy, not so much (he doesn't like that dark chocolate taste).
Here are the instructions & ingredients:
In food processor, grind & add together: (I don't have a food processor, but it's now on my wish list. I used my Vitamix, and it worked just fine. They don't recommend doubling the recipe if using a blender, but I did with no problem).
1/8 c. walnuts
1/4 c. almonds
Add
1/2 c. dates
1/8 c. raisins
Stream in
1 Tbs coconut (I used flakes)
4 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 Tbs coconut oil
+ pinch of instant coffee (We don't drink coffee so we left this out... It was fine!)
optional: 1/2 tsp mint extract (I didn't have any, but sounds really good!)
Form the final product. You can form them into bars, or balls. I made them into smaller bite-sized balls.
I give this recipe 5 out of 5 stars! They were SO good. I didn't tell my picky eaters that they were eating blended dates & raisins. They tasted the chocolate, and knew that they were eating a yummy treat. My 12-year old thought they weren't sweet enough, but she did go back for seconds (she knew they were made out of dates & was more hesitant). Oh, and by the way- I'm not supposed to eat most of the things in these power bars, but just HAD to try them. I'm starting to do that a little more here & there.
I've ordered some bulk nuts from Azure Standard, and when my order comes the next type of bars I'll try is Coco-shew bars. They're made with cashews, coconut, raisins, and a little vanilla. I think Jimmy will like something like that.
Have you tried Larabars before? What's your favorite flavor?
No comments:
Post a Comment