As I sit here typing this, Seattle is still recovering from yesterday’s big snow storm. This is a fairly unusual event in this neck of the woods—at least for the quantity of snow we got (some six plus inches).  Yes, I know if you come from other parts that’s nothing, but you need to remember it’s all a matter of what you’re used to.  In any event, as I was low on my favorite store-bought snack bars I figured what a great opportunity to try and make my own. I certainly wasn’t driving to the store!

 

I used Nature’s Path Flax Plus Granola Cereal  for my bars as I wanted to keep my recipe simple. This organic cereal already contains oats, brown rice flour, pumpkin seeds and flax seeds. Now, it also contains evaporated cane juice (i.e. a type of sugar), but the amount is fairly low per serving as these things go. You could easily add these other ingredients separately and avoid the extra sugar altogether, if you prefer.

 

I also added Benefiber to this batch of bars. You could do that or not, but getting the recommended amount of fiber in your daily diet is actually fairly difficult for most people. One of the things I like best about this fiber product is that it’s tasteless and can easily be added to all kinds of recipes. That allows me to up my overall fiber without a lot of fuss. By the way, if you’re curious about the amount of fiber and calories you should be eating on a daily basis, check this University Of Maryland Medical System calculator. It asks your age, weight, sex, height and frame type and then gives you your numbers.

 

Let’s Gather The Ingredients

 

For today’s snack bars we’ll need:

 

1/4 cup almond butter (or peanut butter)

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup shredded roasted coconut

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla

1 tablespoon Benefiber

1 cup Flax Plus Cereal (pressed)

 

Preparation

 

Let’s start with the coconut. You can sprinkle it on a piece of foil and roast under the broiler for about a minute or so (until it starts to turn brown), or do it the way we suggest in yesterday’s “Instant Presto Roasted Coconut” post. Really, you’ve got to try this roasting method which takes advantage of the microwave. However, no matter which way you go, you’ll want to watch the coconut carefully as once it starts browning  it can quickly go from a nice toasty brown to burnt black.  Believe me, I know.

 

 

Let’s Break It Down

 

Measure out the almond butter and chocolate chips and combine in a microwave-safe dish. Heat the bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments and then stir. You want the mix to cream together so you’ll probably need about a minute to minute and a half total in the microwave. Note: My almond butter contains no extra sugar and many nut butters do, so take a look at the label if it matters to you.

 

Scoop the almond butter/chocolate mix into a medium size mixing bowl. Now add the rest of your ingredients. This includes the toasted coconut, vanilla, Benefiber and Flax Plus Cereal. Note: before adding the cereal you may want to press it with the bottom of a glass to break up the larger clumps.

 

Combine everything and then place in a pan or on a sheet that will fit in your freezer. It works well to cover the pan with parchment paper first as you can avoid dirtying up the dish. Press into a flat shape.

 

Put the pan in the freezer for about 10-20 minutes. This will help the chocolate set up. When you pull the pan out, cut or break into bars and serve. This recipe makes about 5 to 10 bars depending on the size you end making.

 

I was surprised how good these tasted. I’m sure if you have a sweet tooth you might want to add a tablespoon of honey or agave nectar, but in my book they don’t need it. I did find these tend to break apart fairly easily. If it matters to you, dipping them in chocolate to give them an outer coating would certainly help with that. (Note: If you want to try dipping see our post  Chocolate Dipped In Chocolate).

 

Enjoy!

 

By Bob Anderson
© 2012 Javabird LLC. All rights reserved.

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If you enjoyed this recipe you may also want to see:
Bliss Bars: Yum!

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