Stevia Sweetened Energy Bars

Stevia Sweetened Energy Bars

Stevia Sweetened Energy Bars
Author: Dogpatch
Ingredients:
  • 1½ cups whole rolled oats
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • ¾ cup slivered almonds
  • 3⁄4 cup dried fruit
  • 1 cup dried coconut
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp stevia (equivalent to 1 cup sugar)
  • 4 Tbsp butter, softened
  • 2 egg whites
  • ¾ cup almond butter
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup raw amaranth, cooked and cooled (see below)
Instructions:

Note: Cook amaranth in 2 cups water for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally towards the end to prevent sticking. Let cool and then proceed.

Preheat oven to 350*. Oil lightly or spray with cooking spray a 9×13 or 10×15 pan and then line with parchment paper.

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients separately. Add wet to dry and mix. Press mixture evenly into baking pan, making sure to pack it tightly. Use a spatula dipped in water for this.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are golden.

If your pan is a low, jelly-roll type pan, you can invert it fairly soon after removing from oven. If it’s a deeper pan, you’ll want to wait until it’s cooled completely, to avoid breakage.

~With homemade items try to eat your product within 3-4 days of baking it. Most homemade items can be frozen safely in advance (cut into individual portions, wrap, and store in large freezer bags.). Most frozen items are good for 1-2 months in a freezer.

Notes:
This recipe is a re-do of our popular you-can-make-them-your-way-bars where a couple forum members at http://www.NWHikers.net decided to play with it. I love their concept! One member, Navysalad, had toyed with it first, then Dogpatch got into it: “Hey, the stevia version turned out great! I did a bunch of tinkering (of course) so I’ll post the whole recipe. Navysalad: I was intrigued by your use of amaranth–I’d never used it before. It seemed to give a nice texture to the bars, plus it’s got the protein boost. I reverted back to whole wheat flour, though, instead of the ground flax (too lazy) and used dried fruit instead of fresh berries. Also used almond butter, since I prefer it. As for stevia, it looks like there’s a bunch of different preparations out there. I use Sweetleaf brand, dry, in the shaker bottle. Could also use liquid stevia, just check what the equivalent is for sugar.”
For the dried fruit, Dogpatch used golden raisins but according to them dried apricots are lower in sugar. Use what you like as usual.
Amaranth can be found in natural grocery stores.