Coconut Super-Power Bars

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Here shown with chocolate drizzles…

I was reorganizing my kitchen cabinets the other day, (can you associate with this?) and found that the recesses of the cabinet used as pantry hold much more than can be readily found by me on any given day. Some needed to be tossed 🙁 had been lost in the depths too long, there were things I didn’t know I had anymore but had been looking for and then of course there are the quadruplicates , I mean, duplicates.

Several (open) bags of extra dark chocolate chips, about 4 different ‘grinds’ of unsweetened coconut, all opened too, of course, and several jars with 3 or 4 tablespoons of honey or brown rice syrup were retrieved from the depths of my cabinet. I did promise myself to not get so ahead of myself again, let’s see if it holds next time I face a sale at the store…

So after my botched attempt at making coconut butter (I think the very fine Indian store coconut I had, was a just a bit too dry) I came up with plan B, and a fine plan it turned out to be. My boyfriend who is training to run the NY City Marathon this year, swears it’s those bars that made him finish the last couple of 15 mile training runs with ease. He swears they gave him super-powers, hence the name, they previously were ‘just’ power bars 🙂 And I’ll let you in on a secret, he doesn’t even like coconut ;P but if you bake it until the bars get brown, careful it’s right before the ‘too much’ stage, the coconut gets a taste similar to dark chocolate, add a handful of morsels and the deal is fixed. Just to calm your conscience, yes, he does know there’s coconut in there.

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Vegan, gluten free and grain free and if you don’t count the coconut as nut (they really are considered one of the largest seeds, or technically a drupe, says Wiki) it’s nut free as well 🙂 Oh and don’t forget the power of the sprouted lentils.

image See the little sprout poking out? And I think I spot a lentil too…

And please don’t be discouraged by the seemingly long ingredient list, it is totally worth making and there really isn’t that much effort required.

Since the sprouting takes some time, you want to start this several days before you want to make the bars. In the summer it only takes 2 days in my kitchen, but in the colder months, it could be three or four. Or if your kitchen is highly air-conditioned

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Ingredients

  • 4 cups finely shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 3/4 cups red lentils, sprouted, divided (makes about 2-2 1/2 cups sprouted)
  • 3/4 cups date pieces
  • 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
  • 1/2 cup tapioca flour*
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips (make sure they are vegan or the recipe is not…)
  • (optional: 1/2 cup sliced almonds: not nut free anymore, but super yummy)
  •  1/4 cup chia seed
  • 1/4 cup flax seed meal
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • (optional: a handful of chocolate chips to melt and drizzle over top)

*I am sure other gluten free flour would work as well

Directions

  1. Sprout the lentils until the little shoot is about 1/2″ to 3/4″ long (more details on sprouting here), reserve 1 cup,image
  2. Preheat oven to 350ºF
  3. Mix the chia seed and the flax seed meal in a medium bowl with 1 1/2 cups water, set aside for 10 minutes
  4. Blend the coconut and dates until finely mixed, then add all but the reserved 1 cup of lentils, blend until you have a sticky mass (or mess)
  5. Add the chia mix and the brown rice syrup, pulse until mixed in
  6. In  a large bowl,  combine tapioca flour and 1/2 cup water, the reserved sprouted lentils, and scrape the mixture from the blender into it, stir until incorporated.
  7. Add the oats, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips (and almonds if using) and evenly spread on a silicon mat lined baking sheet (Make sure you use a baking sheet with sides)
  8. Bake in the 350ºF oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Or until nicely browned. Remove from oven, let cool for about 1 hour then cut into bars. Spread the bars onto two (2) baking sheets, preheat the oven to 250ºF and bake for an additional hour, I sheet on the lower rack, the other on top, switching position after half an hour. This step is more to firm up the bars and kinda make them drier and more portable.
  9. Cool on wire rack and enjoy! I store mine in the freezer so I can just grab a couple at a  time.

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© 2012 SimpleHealthyHomemade

Granola Power Bars

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Hiking or kayaking was on my list for the past weekend, but the weather has been a little , shall we say, un-cooperative. Since last night it literally thunderstorms every hour. So I have been limited to moving out onto the deck with book, cookie and tea, then back in, then back out with juice and book, then back in…  My poor kitty ‘Einstein’ is terrified of thunderstorms. He runs into the basement and hides. He’s been there pretty much all day 🙁 saw him once, I think I will take some water and food down to his little corner… Poor fellow.

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But on the upside of things, being limited to close to the house, I had plenty of time coming up with something that would be yummy (criteria number one), give me some sustained energy (i.e. complex carbs) and would be portable enough to take along, you know on hikes and such. Like a power bar. And since I really, really liked the granola I made recently (and this one), I started there with my ingredient list… And as an added bonus I supplemented with sprouted lentils for protein. To try lentils was an idea I got from Leanne’s Beach Bum Trail Mix Doesn’t that just look awesome? Heck, if they can go into trail mix, imagine how they would be sprouted and put into bars!

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Ready for outdoor adventures! If only it stopped pouring…

imageEven my boyfriend, who’s not all that concerned with healthy eating, loves these!

imageSprouted Lentils, before drying

Ingredients

  • 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup popped amaranth grain (buy or do it yourself)
  • 3/4 cup sprouted (and dried*) red lentils
  • 3/4 cup date pieces or chopped dates
  • 1/2 cup sweet brown rice flour
  • 1/4 cup flax seed
  • 1/4 cup flax meal
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup apple sauce
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup rice syrup
  • 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar

* to dry the lentils after sprouting, preheat oven to 350F and place sprouted lentils out on a baking sheet. Cook for about 25 minutes, until crunchy. imageOk, so I got a bit picture happy. Did I mention, it was raining all day?

Directions

  1. Mix oats through brown rice flour in a large bowl, set aside
  2. Mix flax seed, flax meal, chia seed, water and apple sauce, let rest 20 minutes. Then add the sweeteners and the peanut butter and mix until well combined.
  3. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients in the bowl and stir until incorporated.
  4. Spread on a lined baking sheet (a US quarter sheet or half of a bigger cookie sheet works well) until about 3/4″ thick
  5. Bake at 350 for 60 to 65 minutes, checking and turning the sheet after 40. Then turn oven off and leave them in the oven overnight.
  6. In the morning, cut into rectangles roughly 1″x 4″, makes about 24

imageI used one side of a US half sheet size. Spread it out, it won’t go anywhere. And makes for some odd shaped bars at the end, you know, the ones YOU have to eat right away, to make it neat 😉

imageCopyright © 2012 Simple Healthy Homemade. All rights reserved