Chocolate Coconut Protein Bars Gluten Free

My friend Jeanie shared this recipe with me, I finally gave it a try yesterday. It was a fun new snack, that I enjoyed. I like that they are very filling, so you don't eat a lot at one time. Thanks Jeanie!

Ingredients:

1 C coconut oil

1/2C to 3/4 C honey or other sweetener

1/4 C oatmeal or oat bran

6 eggs (I used 4)

1/2 cocoa powder

1 T vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 C shredded unsweetened coconut

2 T chia seeds soaked in 3/4 C water or coconut milk for at least 15min

1/2 C chia seeds

3 scoops of protein powder

1 C coconut flour or (unsweetened coconut blended in blender till it turns to powder)

1 C chocolate chips (I used 1/2 C)

1 C chopped walnuts (I used 1/2 chopped up almonds

Directions:

1. Mix everything together (except chips and nuts), and pour into a 9x13 pan lined with parchment paper.

2. Sprinkle over the top nuts and then chips.

3. Bake at 375 for 15min. (Don't overcook. Will not look done, but remove anyway.

4. Cool and cut into bars!

6 Grain Rolled Oats Granola Bars

I am always looking for new ways to use oatmeal and nuts. Some of my favorite things to eat. I have been looking for a better way to make granola bars. I really liked these. In fact a little too much. =)

They are great wrapped up, so you can pack them for lunches or snacks. They are already to grab.

Ingredients:

3/4 C honey
1/2 C coconut oil
1 1/2 to 2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 C sesame seeds
3 C 6 grain rolled oats or oatmeal
1 C almonds chopped
1/2 C pumpkin seeds
1/2 C unsweetened coconut
1/4 C ground flax seed
1 tsp almond extract :)
optional* choc. chips or dried fruit

Directions:

1. In a pot on the stove on med heat, pour in honey, oil and cinnamon. Stir until all combined for 5 min. (I wanted it to thicken) .

2. Then pour in the remaining ingredients. except for almond extract. Stir on med low for another 3-5 min.

3. Then put on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or greased. Then press it down with a spatula. I put into the fridge to harden up.

4. Cut into granola size bars. Wrap in plastic. Store in the fridge till ready to eat! Yum!

Whole Grain Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

Valentine's Day is one of our favorite holidays around here! I love thinking about the people I love and I feel like it means spring is coming soon. We decided to dedicate some recipes to the holiday of love this week. We declared yesterday a day of cooking and I got two of my daughters involved in the fun. And, less you think cooking always goes right in this house, only two of our four recipes actually worked. Boo. But we did have two successes.



Our Whole Grain Oatmeal Bars were one of those successes. They have a nice granola-y crunch that is satisfying and hearty.

Ingredients

1 C 6-grain rolled oats (or plain rolled oats if that's easier)
1 1/2 C rolled oats
2 1/2 C whole grain flour (I used a mixture of spelt and Kamut and oats, equal parts)
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 C coconut sugar (or your favorite sugar alternative)
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C coconut oil, melted (or your fat of choice--the original recipe called for butter)
1 C raspberry preserves (or your flavor of choice) I had some frozen raspberry puree I used :)
1/2 C unsweetened flaked coconut

*A note about coconut oil and coconut sugar. They do not taste like coconut. They are simply fat and sugar alternatives that I feel are better for me.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Stir in vanilla and coconut oil until crumbly.

3. Set aside 1 C of crumb mixture and press the remaining amount evenly into a 9x13 baking pan.

4. Spread preserves over the crumb mixture. Mix coconut with the remaining crumb mixture and sprinkle over the preserves.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until coconut is lightly browned. Let cool before serving.

Chewy Mixed Grain Bars

I found a recipe for granola bars, and changed it around. It was fun to add some extra grains in. I also made them not as sweet. You can decide if you want to have them sweeter. I am trying to adjust my families tastes, as well as my own, to crave less sweet. By adding some spices to it, it adds another dimension that I really liked. My applesauce I used was some unsweetened homemade, I had made and put in the freezer. Yes, you can freeze applesauce! It works great.
These were the finished product. You could wrap them up individually, and put them in lunches. Airtight container would be best.
This is what the mixture looks like when I mixed the fruit, applesauce, and seeds together.
Then I added the whole grains, coconut and eggs and poured it onto a jelly roll pan.
Ingredients:

2 1/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1 C dried fruit (I used mangos, blueberries, and cranberries)
2/3 C sunflower
1/4 C pumpkin seeds
1/4 C sesame seed
5 T honey (you may want more?)
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
2 C six grain rolled oats (you could just use oats)
1 1/3 C whole grain flour (I used spelt, oats, kamut equal amounts)
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/3 C unsweetened coconut

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400. Grease jelly roll pan.

2. Mix in a bowl applesauce, seeds, and spices and stir together.

3. Then add the oats, whole grain flour, baking powder, coconut, and eggs to the fruit mixture. Stir until all mixed together.

4. Pour on to jelly roll pan spread evenly. Bake until golden, about 20-25 min. Cool and cut into bars. You could add your own variations, chocolate chips, raisins, other dried fruits, etc... Have fun with them.

Healthy Power Bars in a Ball

This is for some of you that are looking for something healthy to eat during the holiday week end. The other option is eat it after the weekend after you are sick of the candy. =) This is loaded with lots of great nutrition in one ball. It could be a great snack, quick breakfast, or alternative for dessert.

I had a free sample the other day of some kind of "Healthy" bar that felt like it was going to break my teeth. There are a lot of "Healthy treats" or "Power bars" that are not healthy--read the labels. I am finding it is a lot cheaper and safer to make my own. I like all the textures in these balls. I hope you enjoy it as well. The nice thing is when you eat ones of these, it is very satisfying.

Ingredients

3 C Dates
4 C 6-grain rolled oats or oatmeal (the oatmeal would make it gluten free)
1 C Unsweetened coconut
1/4 C Chia (optional)
1/4 C Ground flax
1/4 C Cashews, chopped fine
1/4 C Almonds, chopped fine
1/4 C Sesame seeds
1/4 C pumpkin seeds
2 T Peanut butter
1/2 C Coconut oil
2 T Cinnamon (other spices could be good too)
1/2 tsp Salt

Directions

1. Put dates in a bowl with enough water to cover them. I have some harder dates so I left them in about 20-30 minutes.

2. Drain water into another bowl and pour dates into a blender and blend. You want it to be a paste when you are finished. You can use some of the water you drained off to help make the paste if your dates did not absorb enough. Add a little at a time. You don't want it to be runny. The goal is a thick, smooth consistency.

3. Then pour the date mixture and all the remaining ingredients into the bowl. Mix until all combined. Roll into balls. The recipe made 28 balls. Put them in the freezer to harden on a cookie sheet. I freeze the ones I can't eat right away in zip lock bags.

Mixed Grain Apple Date Muffins ( Low Gluten)

These were a fun way to use the apples, that are in season right now. I was really happy with the way they turned out. They are so moist! There was no sweetener used other than the dates and orange juice. The end result was fantastic. I used Teff which is a fun grain, loaded with lots of nutrition. The spices were so good too. :) They are loaded with lots of grains. Daughter # 2 tried them and said "They are good and really moist". If you want them sweeter, you could add a little sweetener. I was excited to not add sweetener this time. :)

2 C Spelt Mixture*
1/2 C 6 Grain Rolled Oats or Oatmeal
1/4 Teff *
2 T Ground Flax
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
12 Pitted Dates and 1/4 C Water
2/3 C Rice Milk Or Milk of your choice
1/4 C Fresh Orange Juice*
4 T Coconut Oil or Oil of your choice
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 egg beaten
2 C Cooking Apples Finely Chopped (Sweeter variety)

1. I measured all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Then I sifted them to make sure all the spices were evenly distributed. Set aside.

2. Mix the dates in with 1/4 C of Water in the blender until all chopped into smooth mixture.

3. Mix the Date Mixture, Milk, Juice, Oil, Vanilla, and Eggs in a separate bowl.

4. Combine the two mixtures together. Don't over stir.

5. Pulsed the Apple cut up in pieces, in my blender. (With the peels on) Until they were small pieces.

6. Fold in the Apples into the mixture.

7. Scoop into muffin pans. I made mini muffins. It made 36.

8. Bake in preheated oven 350 for 10-12 min. Add time if you make bigger muffins.


* Spelt Mixture 5 C Spelt, 2 C Kamut 1 C Brown Rice 1 C Oat Groats. I ground up extra for other baking. :)
* I ground the Teff up in the Coffee Grinder.
*I squeezed it from a Sweet home grown orange. Thanks! Craig and Ellen

Happy Fall!

Healthy Apple Spice Dessert!

This picture makes my mouth water just looking at. It was so tasty. I loved all the spices and the vanilla Bean ice cream (Breyers can't be beat, and the purest ice cream out there) was perfect with it. It was a treat, I will make again. I usually don't like apple crisp that much, I don't like the big chunks of cooked apples. I decided to try something different, I shredded the apples instead of chopping them up in pieces. It was a wonderful way to have them.

3 1/2 C Grated Golden Ginger Apples (Golden Delicious would be great too)
2 T honey
1/4 C Pineapple juice*(I just drained it from some canned pineapple chunks)
1 tsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping
1/4 C Spelt flour (or flour of your

Choice)
2/3 C Sucanat or Brown sugar
1/2 C Old fashioned oatmeal
1 tsp Cinnamon*
1/8 tsp Cardamom * optional adds a great flavor
1 1/2 T Unsalted butter

1. Turn oven to 375, Place apples. xagave, juice, butter, and vanilla in an 8" square pan or 8" pie plate. Stir everything together. Place in oven about 6-8 min till the apples are softened a little.

2. While the apples are in the oven, make the topping. In a bowl mix together, spelt, sugar, oats, and spices. Cut in butter. (I ended up putting this mixture in the blender and pulsed it. The butter blended right in. If you want the oatmeal to stay in flakes, just cut the butter in with a pastry blender.)

3. Then take the softened apples out of the oven. You then can pour the topping on top. I opted to mix the topping into the apple mixture.

4. Bake 30 min or until golden brown. I did stir it a couple times. You won't want to, if you want a crunchy topping on top. My finished dessert was a combo between pie filling and apple crisp. I loved it. I wish I could have some right now. :) It"s all gone!

*You could use apple juice instead. The pineapple adds a nice flavor.
*I added the cinnamon and then decided to add pumpkin spice. You can add both or just the pumpkin spice, which has cinnamon in it all ready. I just love having lots of spices in it. :)