Health Bars that really are healthy for you...

Ever wonder just how healthy energy bars are?  Yes many of them contain granola, oats, dried fruit and a variety of nuts.  All those ingredients are great but most if not all of them contain they following...

• Soy Protein Concentrate
• Soy Lecithin
• Sugar
• Salt
• High Fructose Corn Syrup

All these ingredients defeat the purpose of the bar actually being healthy for you.

These bars are so appealing to people who are on the go because advertisements say the calorie count is only XXX per bar and gives you hours of energy.

We know you don't want to listen to us complain about the false claims these bars make and the unhealthiness of them.  So we won't.  Instead we will give you a recipe that really is healthy for you, will give you energy, and satisfy those hunger pains between meals.

BUT, because we cant help ourselves, here are a few links as to why you should stay away from these bad ingredients.

Why soy is bad for you... wellnessmama.com
Why High Fructose Corn Syrup is bad for you... drhyman.com/blog
Why refined sugar is bad for you... globalhealingcenter.com
Why salt is bad for you... livestrong.com

Health Bars

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup roughly chopped nuts and seeds (I always have on hand almonds, sunflower and pepitas)

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup millet

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/4 tsp salt (I cook with Himalayan Sea Salt... always) 

1 cup combination of dates, prunes and raisin.

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 tablespoon coconut oil

• Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper.
• Mix together oats, nuts and seeds, coconut flakes, millet, flaxseed and salt into a large bowl. 
• Puree the dates, prunes and raisins in a food processor.
• In a medium saucepan, combine the pureed fruit, brown rice syrup, peanut butter and coconut oil over medium heat. Stir until well incorporated. 
• Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix well. 
• Dump the mixture into the prepared pan. 
• Grease hands with butter and press mixture into pan firmly. 
• Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes. 
• Let cool completely in the pan, then remove and cut into bars. 
• Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

What is great about this recipe is it is easy to experiment with.  Change up the ingredients to make the bars the way you want them to be.  Use different nuts or different dried fruit. So many possibilities.