Apricot, Plum, Date and Almond Sticky-Bars

In the midst of moving in and getting acquainted with the kitchen, our local produce stand was about to close for the season, so we unpacked our food dehydrator and bought a bunch of ripe apricots and plums to dry before they were gone. After I got the kitchen drawers and cupboards filled with the basics, I set to work rinsing, slicing and pitting the fruit for drying for later enjoyment.

When dehydrating pitted fruits, be sure to pop the back so they will dry evenly and flat. Dry time will vary depending how much fruit you are drying at one time, but your dehydrator guide will give you the suggested temp and time for the particular food you are drying.

Later enjoyment came sooner than later, as one of the cookbooks I unpacked, Fresh - The Ultimate Live-Food Cookbook, opened to a recipe for Peach Cobbler Bars on page 112.

I adapted the recipe to accommodate what I had in the kitchen... my apricot, plum, date and almond bars turned out very nutritious, moist and tasty.

Here's my recipe... I chopped and mixed by hand. I find that a blender often pulverizes nuts, try as you might not to, and when it comes to mixing sticky ingredients in a blender, the mixture often is to "gummy" to blend properly and the effort can burn out the motor.

Ingredients:

1 pound medium to finely-chopped Almonds
1 cup dehydrated Apricots and Plums medium to finely-chopped and soaked for 5-minutes in Apple Juice
1/2 cup pitted Dates, medium-chopped
2 tablespoons Agave Nectar
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon powdered Cinnamon
1/5 teaspoon Sea Salt
Peanut or Canola oil to coat muffin tins

Directions:

1. Lightly oil a couple of muffin baking pans.
2. Drain the hydrated apricots and plums, reserving the rich nectar to drink. Yummy!
3. By hand, blend all the ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl. 
4. Take a heaping tablespoon or so of mixture and press flat into the bottom of each muffin tin.
5. When all the mixture is pressed into the muffin tins, place the muffin pans in the freezer.
6. When chilled, remove the round bars and place two-by-two into ziplock snack baggies. Return to the freezer until ready to enjoy.

The bars have a lot of texture and moisture, making an excellent and satisfying snack to boost energy and stave off hunger mid-day.

We took a break from unpacking to check out the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race in our town. I put together a small snack bag to take along that included the apricot, plum, date and almond bars... perfect solution! 

Oh, here's just one of the participants with his crazy kinetic sculpture gizmo - a gnome working something of a gerbil cage, moved only by physical human energy down the road, into the water, across the sand and through a mud bog. 

I wish we hadn't eaten all the bars we had with us; bars that even gnomes and gerbils would love!

Gorilla Bars

My 20-month old grandson, Leif, misunderstood "granola" calling his family's latest version of GF granola bars, Gorilla Bars. And yes, Leif, these Gorilla Bars are "yummy!"

Dry Ingredients

2-1/2 cups organic rolled oats
1/4 cup GF flour mix: 2 cups white rice flour, 2/3 cup potato flour/starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour
3/4 cup ground flaxseed (automatic coffee bean grinder works great)
1/2 dry protein powder
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sliced almonds*
1 cup craisins*

* alternative ingredients to consider are: dried apples or apricots chopped fine, raisins....

Wet Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup creamy almond butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven 325-degrees. Lightly oil a 9"x13" baking pan with olive or canola oil.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Wait to add the dry fruit until the wet ingredients are ready to mix in.
3. In a small saucepan, stir together all the wet ingredients over medium-low heat until warm and well-blended.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, adding the craisins, mixing quickly until well-combined.
5. With lightly oiled hands, pat the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan.
6. Bake at 325-degrees for 20 minutes.
7. Let the bars cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting. A pizza cutter works best.
8. After the bars are cut, let them continue to cool before removing from the pan. You can cover them with plastic wrap overnight to keep the bars moist.
9. Store in an air-tight container up to a week, if they last that long!

Makes 24 bars

My daughter, Effie, is now contributing their family recipes to Cook Around the Block - experimenting, discovering and creating new recipes they are enjoying, having made a radical change to their lifestyle and eating habits to address food allergies, gluten and lactose intolerance, and to improve their health and fitness for their very active lives.