Recipe Review: Cinnamix Powerbar

I tried another powerbar recipe that I got from an e-book called Healthy Snacks to Go (from Kitchen Stewardship.com) .  We had it for a treat at our Monday night family night.

The Cinnamix Powerbar

I keep trying new flavors hoping to find one that Jimmy will like. 

The Cinnamix has:

2/3 c. almonds & 1/2 c. cashews, blended up.  You add 1 c. dates, and 1/2 c. raisins, then 1 tsp cinnamon, and blend all together.

This was fast & easy, and it was a nice consistency that turned into bars easily.  I'm going to start rolling them into bite size balls, though.  I don't really like how they look as bars ( a little too much like....#2).

I liked this powerbar a lot, but not as much as the first one that I made (see post HERE).  I give this bar 4 stars out of 5.  As for Jimmy?  He ate one this time and actually came back for seconds, but they were all gone.  This recipe is a keeper!

Homemade Larabar Recipe Review 2

Yesterday's snack was supposed to be trail mix that had banana chips in it, but my bananas were still dehydrating & needed more time.  So I decided to try another recipe in my Healthy Snacks to Go e-book. 

I loved the first recipe I tried a week or so ago (see post HERE), which was a basic larabar, but my husband thought they were way too chocolaty.  This time I decided to make one without the cocoa powder, the "Coco-shew" bars.  The recipe is so basic, and sounded really good to me because I like cashews. 

Coco-shew Bars Grind: 1/3 c. cashews
Add: ½ c. raisins, ¼ c. coconut
Stream in: ½ tsp. vanilla

The author recommends making these bars in a food processor, but I don't have one so I used my Vitamix.  It worked fine, but it was hard to get down into the bottom of the blender picture & scrape out the sticky mixture around the blades.

Verdict:

Not nearly as good as the basic bars that I made last time.  They turned out WAY too sticky, so I kept adding more & more cashews to try and make them dryer.  I couldn't even really form them into bars or balls well.  The taste was alright- nothing to shout about.  The even more frustrating part?  I couldn't even get some of my family to try them. 

Lesson learned:  I need to remember that as I try these new foods some of my family will hesitant to try them, but I need to keep trying.  Maybe sometimes they'll be pleasantly surprised.

I give these bars 2.5 stars out of 5.
** I just had to update this.  I had put some of the leftover in a bag & put it in the fridge and just ate a little, and it is LOTS better!  The fact that it's not mushy... it's more solid, and the flavors had blended more or something.  It would raise my rating to a 3.5 stars out of 5 if refrigerated.

Recipe Review: Powerbars (Reverse engineered Larabars)

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?