Ok, so the photos aren't that pretty, but just to show that I did indeed try making the fruit and nut energy bars I mentioned the other week, and they turned out great. I based it on the Enlightened Cooking recipe but added some coconut and used brazils and cashews for the nuts. Pretty damn good, although very much on the sweet side - next time I make up a batch I'm thinking of including lemon/lime/orange zest to give it a bit more of an edge, and maybe trying combos with a slightly higher nut:fruit ratio, as the dates and cherries are both super-sweet. 
Best part of these is I added up the costs of all my ingredients and worked out each little square cost me less than 20p. Compares favourably with chocolate bars (even from my subsidised work canteen) and very favourably with Lara bars.
Unfortunately, having one of these in my lunchbox everyday hasn't completely ridded me of my tendency to make impulse cupcake purchases mid-afternoon - still working on this...
3 comments:
I made my own lara bars this past winter...they became an instant hit!
Do you have a food processor? If you don't can you send me the recipe you used please. I think I will try these.
J - they have become a bit of a hit in my household too. So easy to make and to take for lunch and so on.
K - I used a handheld blitzer thing but it got so stuck in the dates it wasn't that much use - when you chop them they get all sticky and mushed up anyway so you don't need it for that. However, you do need to grind up the nuts (I used a little coffee grinder, though it struggled with the brazils a bit).
I used:
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped fine
1/4 cup each cashews and brazils, ground
about 1/8 cup desiccated coconut
a pinch of salt
I think!
I think a ratio of about 1:1 nuts:fruit is about right - mine was slightly too sweet I think partly because too much dates and also the cherries were quite sweet. I think just about any nuts would work. Let me know how you get on!
Post a Comment