Chrisabars

I originally called this post, "Homemade Larabars" but then I remembered the resistence by certain family members not to call them this as my name is not Lara and, really, Larabars bears no significance on the actualy ingredients, so why not make up a name?  Consequently, in a bout of ingenuity, Chrisabars was the name that was suggested and I'm trying my darndest to make it stick. 

These bars are actually different from the ones I shared with my family a few weeks ago.  Those ones were amazing, but for them I had followed a recipe exactly from Homemakers magazine (recipe at the bottom).  My only complaint about them is that they are very messy.  My food processor is not leak-proof and so everytime I make them, the orange juice drips everywhere--and I have a very large (12cup) processor!  For the Chrisabars, I made up the recipe--in fact, I don't even have precise measurements.  But that's the beauty of these bars, the room for creativity and personal preferences.  The measurements below are approximate.  Add more dates or walnuts as needed to get the consistency you like.  Feel free to add more or less coconut or extract as desired too.  My only suggestion is to use honey dates, as I've indicated in the recipe.  They puree much more easily than regular dates--your food processor will thank you! 

Once you have tried this recipe, or the one from Homemakers, feel free to get creative and find your favourite flavour!

COCONUT CHRISABARS

1 1/2 c. honey dates
1 1/2 c. unsulphured dried apricots, soaked for a bit in boiling water
3/4 c. walnut halves
1/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2-1 tsp coconut extract

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended and chopped, then turn on processor and let it all blend together until a nice paste is formed.  Scrape into a parchment lined 8-inch square pan.  Bake in oven for 1.5 hours to dry out slightly and set.  Cool completely.  Cut into squares to eat.


DATE WALNUT ENERGY BARS (from Homemakers magazine, February/March 2011)

750g (1.5 lb) pitted dates
1 orange rind, finely grated
1/2 c (125mL) orange juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 cups walnut halves

In a food processor, puree dates, orange rind, juice and salt.  Add 2 cups of the walnuts and pulse until finely chopped.  (If food processor has a small bowl, do this in batches to avoid a mess).  Add remaining walnuts and pulse until coarsely chopped with some larger pieces remaining. Scrape mixture into parchement paper lined 9-ince baking pan; smooth top.  Bake in centre of 200 degree oven until no longer sticky and fairly dry, approximately 3 hours.  Let cool completely.  With moistened knife, cut into bars.

A new twist on an old grain

In keeping with my efforts to cook a mainly gluten-free diet through the week, I have discovered a number of new grains, which are, in fact, very old grains that have just happened to fall out of mainstream cooking and baking here in North America.  Many of these grains are actually making somewhat of a comeback as people try to replace the wheat in the diets with other grains or simply wish to incorporate a wider range of grains into their diet.  One of these grains is millet.  I know, most people tend to associate millet with birdfeed, but it's actually a very tasty, very nutritious grain, especially when served at breakfast.  It also is extremely nutritious, being very high in B vitamins and easily digestible.

I cook some kind of porridge a few times a week to have in the fridge so that my little family can quickly heat it up in the morning.  This morning we had a little more time than usual so I made my cereal right before we ate it.  And this morning, as I mentioned above, millet was my grain of choice for the porridge.  I really must say that I have yet to cook a porridge that my family hasn't liked, and that includes my toddler!  This morning's was no different.  However, what was different was that I made this one up (!) and I thought it was too good not to share.

Millet Porridge

1 cup millet, rinsed well
1 cup whole milk
1 1/4 cup water
handful of honey dates (important that these are honey dates as they break down nicely in the porridge)
1/4-1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 Tbsp coconut oil

Combine rinsed millet, milk, water and dates in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil and turn heat down to simmer for approximately 15 minutes, or until desired texture is achieved.  Stir occasionally during simmering to ensure even breakdown of dates.  Remove from heat and stir in cardamom and coconut oil until all oil is melted.

Serve and enjoy!

Brownie cooks... brownies!

I know, kind of corny that I'm writing a post about brownies, but I made these brownies today and had to share them with you.  These are definitely NOT your run-of-the-mill chocolate fudgy or cakey brownies.  These are special.  For starters, there is no flour in them.  Secondly, there are no added refined sugars.  Thirdly, they have black beans in them.  Sounds crazy, you say?  Well, I myself was skeptical, until I tried them.  Now I am *slightly* hooked and ate a whole row for dessert tonight. 

You are probably wondering why I ever wanted to mess with brownies.  They're so good, you say.  Well, that's true, but when you live with someone who tries to avoid flour and sugar while you still need your sweet fix, baking a whole pan of old-school brownies would mean you'd HAVE to eat them all yourself...  So, in search of a compromise, you learn to be creative.  Luckily, I didn't have to be too creative.  Pattycake.ca did that for me.  In my search for "alternative" brownies, I came across her recipe for "Really Awesome Black Bean Brownies" and thought I'd give them a try.  Here's her recipe: http://www.pattycake.ca/node/370.

I made a few slight adjustments, the main one being the substitution of cooked dates for the carob syrup mainly because I had tons of dates on hand and had never even heard of carob syrup.  Here's my recipe below.  Give them a try and tell me if you can stop yourself after just one...  but hey, these are relatively guilt-free so maybe having a couple, or a whole row, isn't so bad after all!  I have to warn you -- these are not for the faint of heart nor are they very kid-friendly.  With the addition of coffee, tons of cocoa, and lack of sugar they are the equivalent of an 80-90% cocoa chocolate bar, compared with regular brownies being like an Aero or Dairy Milk :) 

Really Awesome Black Bean Brownies (adapted from Pattycake.ca)

 

1 can black beans, rinsed
2 large eggs
½ cup dates cooked in a little water and stirred to make a paste
1/4 c honey
1/4 c brewed coffee
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 c cocoa
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c chocolate chips

In a food processor, combine beans, eggs, dates, honey, coffee, vanilla, and melted butter.  In a large bowl, sift together cocoa, corn starch, cinnamon, and salt.  Fold liquid ingredients into cocoa mixture just till combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Grease and dust with cocoa an 8-inch pan.  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 till set - about 20 min. Allow to cool to room temperature and transfer to the fridge – they are best cold.