Fruit And Nut Snack Bars Food

STARBUCKS CHEWY FRUIT AND NUT BARS

Steps:

• Ingredient note: look in your health food aisle for a healthy alternative to Rice Krispies. The brand I found is made by Enviro-Kidz and uses BROWN rice.
• Prepare 9x13 pan with non-stick spray (or line with parchment paper).
• In a large mixing bowl, toss all dry ingredients. Feel free to substitute your preferred nut or dried fruit.
• In a saucepan, combine brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil and allow to boil one minute. (Note: boiling the sugars is what helps the bars become firm and not sticky, so this step is important).
• After boiling, turn off heat; add vanilla and peanut butter. QUICKLY pour this hot mixture over the dry ingredients and toss to combine.
• Pour warm mixture into prepared pan. Wet your fingers and press the mixture down into the pan to compress the bars so they will slice evenly.
• When cool, use a sharp knife to cut into 18 bars (1 long lengthwise cut and 9 cuts across). Enjoy with a hot cup of Starbucks coffee for an authentic experience!
• Note: Starbucks does not list corn syrup in their ingredients, but the sweetener in their list is not readily available. I tried using Maple Syrup, but the bars were very crumbly and would not stay together in bars. Therefore, I found that Corn Syrup is the best ingredient that is readily available.

DRIED-FRUIT-AND-NUT HEALTH BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place dates in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a simmer. Drain reserving cooking water. Puree dates in a food processor with honey and 1/4 cup reserved cooking water until smooth.
• Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Mix oats or quinoa flakes, nuts, papaya, cherries, blueberries, bran, flaxseed, wheat germ, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix in date puree. The mixture should be moist enough to hold together. If necessary, add up to 1/2 cup more cooking water. Press mixture into pan.
• Bake until center is firm and edges are golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 bars.

FRUIT & NUT SNACK BARS

Steps:

• Blend flours, oats, seeds, salt and oil together with fingers until evenly mixed.
• Add fruit, nuts and water and mix in, pressing together with fingers (using only enough water to make it all hold together - more than recommended if needed).
• Press down very well into a greased 8x8 pan and cut into 16 squares with a spatula before baking.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 1/2 hour.

FRUIT AND NUT SNACK BARS

Steps:

• Grease 13x9-inch pan. In large bowl, combine all snack mix ingredients; mix well. Set aside.
• In medium saucepan, combine all syrup ingredients except vanilla. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.
• Pour syrup over snack mix; toss to coat. Press mixture firmly in greased pan. Cool 30 minutes or until completely cooled. Cut into bars. Store in tightly covered container.