Live Granola Bars
Many raw foodists call their cuisine "live" because their food has not been cooked over 116 degrees and because it consists of plants, not deceased animals. To be specific, though, a food is not considered live unless it was in the process of germination or growth when harvested and used. For instance, using almonds to make almond butter wouldn't be considered live because the almonds were in their dormant state when processed. However, if you were to soak the almonds overnight, you would have a different story. Soaking nuts or seeds causes them to release the enzyme inhibitors that protect the seed from germinating in unfavorable conditions. Once they are soaked, however, it's as if they now know they are ready to grow, so the enzyme inhibitors are released into the soak water and the nutrient content of the seed multiplies exponentially. I haven't actually figured out how this happens, but it does and it's amazing! Therefore, a soaked almond (having soaked for 4 to 8 hours) would be considered a live food because it is ready to grow.
Enter the live granola bars. These are amazingly healthy bars and astoundingly filling! After eating just half of one as an after school snack with the kids, every time I even looked at a bar later that evening, I suddenly felt so not hungry! Not that they tasted bad, mind you! It's just that they were so, so filling and I wasn't all too hungry the rest of the evening. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
So the thing that makes these granola bars living are the sunflower seeds that had been soaked overnight and the raisins (as long as they weren't heated over 116 degrees). And to add to the nutritional value, these bars are one quarter sesame seeds. Do you know how much iron sesame seeds have? 14.5 mgs per 100 gram serving (about 2/3 cup). A piece of steak with the same weight has only 2.8 mgs of iron. That was shocking to me. So maybe when my OB told me that I needed to go out and eat more hamburgers to help with my pregnancy-induced anemia (as an onmivore), he meant because of the sesame seed bun, not the patty! No, I'm just kidding, I'm just happy to have found something with so much iron, as that is a mineral vegans need to make sure they get enough of.
So here's the recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups raw sesame seeds
2 cups sunflower seeds (soaked for 8 to 12 hours)
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup nut butter (such as peanut, almond, cashew)
2/3 cup raw honey (must be raw as the solidity is important to the texture)
10 tablespoons coconut oil (slightly heated until it becomes a liquid (about 78 degrees))
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients expect the raisins and the chocolate chips. It may be easier to wash your hands very well and mix it by hand rather than using a spoon. Next, divide the dough in half into two smaller bowls, and add the raisins to one and the chocolate chips to the other. I do this because I love granola bars with raisins, but my kids love them with chocolate chips! To set the bars, line two casserole dishes with wax paper and press the dough into the pans. Chill in the refrigerator or freezer, then cut to shape. These can then be wrapped in foil and stored in the fridge or just kept in the fridge in the casserole dish to be picked at periodically throughout the day. That's what we do! Oh, and here's what they look like...
And guess what? This bar looks even MORE delicious if you click to enlarge!
If you try this recipe, let me know how your family likes it! Have a great one!
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16 comments:
Just found your blog and it looks great! I am an identical twin so I am always touched when I see mom's with twins. Being a twin is so special.
A question about the granola bars - did you use minute oats or old fashioned rolled oats? (I tried a batch that were baked and they just crumbled). Or does it matter, if they are not baked??
Saver Queen, I used quick oats, but according to the recipe, you can use either!
I found your blog awhile back and referred it to my Mom who has been cooking up a storm with your recipes. She loves your blog! I'm not ready for a vegan lifestyle but I really do love your recipes and appreciate you posting them.
nice.
Oh YUM! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I can't wait to try it!! :)
I'm trying it. I'll let you know how it goes.
These sound yummy! I was wondering about the protein measurements, though. Did you mean to put the protein levels for sesame seeds and beef both in grams or milligrams? Because you put the seeds in mg and the beef in grams. That would make the beef have 2800 mg vs. the 14.5 mg of protein of the seeds.
Salsa Mama, Ah hah! I shall go and fix that. I meant to put them both in mgs! Thank you!
I have got to try these. The recipe I have now uses corn syrup which I would love to get rid of
This looks interesting. I had posted a recipe on banana oat bars that you may be interested in:
healthy banana oat bars
where can you find 2 cups of sesame seeds? I've only seen the *little* size of McCormick sesame seeds in the spice aisle... I'd hate to think of the price to buy enough for 2 cups!
Candice, I buy mine at a health food store in bulk. I'm not sure how much they are, but, yes, they are A LOT cheaper than if you were to buy the little jars!
Mmmmm.... these bars look very tasty, I gonna try them one of these days. I enjoyed my visit at your blog :o)
When you measure soaked seeds and nuts, do you measure before or after soaking? I made these tonite and had soaked 2 cups of dry sunflower seeds which almost doubled after soaking. I measured out 2 cups of the soaked seeds and used that, but was wondering if that is how you do it. Thanks!
Hey Salsa Mama, actually, one should soak two cups of sunflower seeds, then use that total amount, which would be closer to four cups, for the recipe. Yes, they do really get much bigger! Having only used two cups after soaking, though, how did it turn out? I imagine it was still fine. Usually these raw recipes can have large variations in the ingredients and still turn out okay! Let me know!
Was re-reading this recipe and realized i never replied to your last comment, Jen! They tasted great but would not hold together. I am going to make them again and use all the seeds and see if they do better. :)
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