Coconutty Bars

This little bar I came up with today was a total winner. I love bars--last week found me making Kind bars. Do you know the bars I'm talking about? I love them, but yes, they are a tad spendy. Ends up they are crazy easy to make. Just like Lara bars, which I like, but they're more like a breakfast bar, whereas Kind bars are more of a treat. And I like treats, as you know. Here are two links, among so many, that I liked:

Homemade TRIO and Kind Bars: The recipe I worked from for the Kind bars I made.
Lara Bars:  I loved the thoroughness of this post from The Kitchn.

But I was in search of a coconutty kind of bar. That's what I thought to myself: I need something coconutty. Do you live your life like that? Thinking of what you are craving and finding a way to cook it? It doesn't always come out well, you may know, if you are like me. There is a moment I have when I'm mixing something, and I say to myself: This is going to be so good! But I'm not always right. This time, I was right. I was inspired by this recipe for Almond Coconut Bars by The Paleo Mom, which doesn't look far off from my final product, but mine's a bit different.

I mistakenly said hashtagged these as Paleo today on Instagram, and the way I made them (with brown rice syrup) they are not. They also won't work with a GAPS diet, for the same reason. Somehow, I don't think these would hold together well with honey, but it might be worth a try. Let me know if you do! I wonder how these would come out without any sweetener at all? Brown rice syrup does have this magical glue quality when baked. I think without the syrup, you could just chill the pan, and call it a Lara bar kind of thing.

Coconutty Bars

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8 square pan with olive oil.

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 cups mixed nuts (I used a mix of almonds, walnuts, and pecans)
1 cup deglet dates
1 tablespoon of olive oil or liquid (warmed) coconut oil
1 tablespoon of brown rice syrup

Put coconut, nuts, and dates in a food processor, and run it until they are all very finely ground, a minute or two. Then, while the machine is on, slowly pour in the oil. I used very good olive oil, but I'm sure coconut would be tasty. Then, because the brown rice syrup is so gloopy, stop the machine, add it, then turn it on to fully blend. Tip: Use the oil-slicked tablespoon for the brown rice syrup--it will slide right off the spoon. Then, pat the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for fifteen minutes, or until the sides are golden. It will have puffed up a little, too. Take it out and let it cool a good fifteen minutes or so. To get it out of the pan, I gently covered it with wax paper and inverted it on a cutting board, then flipped it again, so it was right side up. Do this gently! Let it cool.

For the chocolate layer on top, chop up about two ounces of dark chocolate and heat slowly until liquid. Use a double-boiler, or a microwave for a minute or two, if you have one. Spread it on top of the bar "cake" with a spatula, and let it cool and harden in the fridge for about an hour.

British Flapjacks

Disclaimer: This was a big fat fail. To be fair, the original recipe said they would be soft. Code for falling apart? My flapjacks were delicious, though very sweet, but fell apart like so much oatmeal covered in sugar. Was it my substitution of old-fashioned oats? The clementine syrup? (I can't imagine.) Or should I have baked it longer? Let it cool longer? Ah, the mysteries of life. All is not lost, however, I will gladly bake them into another incarnation and eat them eventually. I think they will make a lovely topping for a plum crisp I've got rolling around in my head...But still, I feel so obviously off-kilter. I'll have to slog through a bit of this, I think. So: my apologies.

While I was sick, I received a wonderful package in the mail from Shae. She sent me clementine confits (!) that she had made and as an extra bonus a jar of clementine syrup, a byproduct of the confits. She asked me to think up ways to use it. Well, first off a goodly amount went into my many cups of tea a day. That was a no-brainer. I had a few ideas for her, we'll see if they come to fruition on her blog. In the meantime, I happened across this recipe in Bon Appetit from Molly Wizenberg for British Flapjacks. The recipe is not for pancakes but a sweet oat bar that goes by the name of flapjacks in the UK. It is an incredibly easy recipe, and Wizenberg likens the recipe to rice krispie treats. It also calls for golden syrup, a British product. I thought, well, that clementine syrup looks just like golden syrup. Don't you agree? Who doesn't want a crispy little oat bar with loads of butter and gorgeous clementine syrup in it, and takes all of ten minutes to make (minus baking time)?

1 stick of butter, sliced into eight pieces

1/2 cup golden brown sugar

1/4 cup golden syrup or clementine syrup

2 1/3 cups of oats (recipe calls for quick oats, not instant and not old-fashioned. I used old-fashioned but pulsed them in the processor a few times)

pinch o'salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a square 8x8 pan. Melt butter with sugar and syrup until all is dissolved and looks gorgeously buttery and saucy. Pour the oats in with a pinch of salt. Mix it all up and toss in the pan, patting down neatly. In the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. The edges will be a little darker, as these things tend to go. Let cool in pan for a bit. Don't be hasty! Cut it up into cute little triangles. (Which I forgot to do and made boring little squares.) Let cool completely. (They'll fall apart if you don't let them fully cool. Take it from an impatient baker.) Pour a cuppa tea and enjoy.

Granola Bars

I've been wanting granola bars for a long time. Every time I make granola bars the traditional way they turn into granola bark, then granola crumble. What I wanted was something that kept its shape even when I bit into it. Something to take in the car that wouldn't explode into sticky crumbs all over me when I took a bite. I realized I had to make a cookie-style bar. I was inspired by some leftover granola from the holidays. I had made a batch that was a little too done, and less than happy with, and therefore never gave it out. With an excess of granola, which almost never happens, I ventured forth and discovered The Granola Bar. (Where's my little "TM" symbol?)

These were, as per my style, easy to make and intensely satisfying. Not too sweet, not crumbly at all, good crunch level, and filled with nuts (because that was the kind of granola it was). With a cold glass of whole milk, local and from grass fed cows, it made a perfect snack. On the road or not.

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch o' salt

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1 egg

Whisk sugar and oil together, and then add beaten egg. Add mixed dry ingredients to beaten wet ingredients. Add 1 1/2 cups of granola. Bake in a greased pan (mine was 10.5 x 7 inch) at 350 for 30 minutes.

Lime in the Coconut Bars

Awhile back, I made some Lime Marmalade (even though I called it jelly, it really wasn't), and at the time I wasn't completely fond of it. It was a bit bitter, which is not surprising. Upon opening it the other day, in hopes of being inspired and getting it out of the fridge, I took a deep whiff and was transported to Mexico, because every time I smell a great lime scent I am there. It made me think of Old Mazatlan and Bebidas de Julietta (rum and fresh squeezed tangerine juice), Oaxaca's cozy zocalo, Puerto Escondido's tanned surfers, Merida's pumpkin seed sauce, Vallodolid's chopped bbq'd pork with red onion relish, Tulum's endless beers and haunting cenotes...And now I'm getting completely off track daydreaming about Mexico. So. Ahem. Back to the bars.

My pal Dane suggested something with coconut, and so here I oblige. I am thrilled with the outcome and now I'm glad I have another jar of this marmalade. I was going to give it away! Perish the thought. It's mine, mine, all mine!

This recipe is sort of a riff on a streusel bar and a lemon curd bar recipe. I'm sure you could use any jam or marmalade. I know I will. Instead of streusel (which called for another (!) stick and a half of butter) I put some coconut cashew granola (which I made recently, and had a little bit left of) on for the topping, after chopping it up a little in the processor. The buttery bar offsets the bitter lime, and the citrus notes marry well with the coconut. I'll have to give these away because I could eat them all.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 1/2 sticks of butter

Whiz up the butter in the dry stuff (or if you are cool, do it by hand, I applaud you!) until small pea sized crumbs form. Pat mixture into 13x9 inch pan. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Slather lime marmalade all over the hot bar. Sprinkle with chopped up granola. Bake another twenty minutes. Let cool completely! Then you can remove it from the pan and chop into little squares with a big knife.