Power Bars Recipe

Last week, the kids' swim teacher had his last day coaching/teaching, so the kids and I decided to make him some Power Bars as a thank you and going away gift.  I had saved this recipe from Heidi Swanson in my archive a couple of years ago, but just recently on another blog I follow, a girl posted it again.  You can find the original recipe here. So Little Man and I went up to the health food store right up the street and bought the ingredients to make them.  They are SO good! I will post the recipe as is, but it would be good to try adding some dried fruit, like dried cranberries, apricots or blueberries to the mix.  Enjoy!!

Big Sur Power Bars

1 tablespoon coconut oil (or regular butter)
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup slivered almonds
2/3 cup (unsweetened) shredded coconut
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups unsweetened crisp brown rice cereal
1 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
2 tablespoons ground espresso beans (I did not have this so we didn't put it in)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking pan with the coconut oil. If you like thick power bars, opt for an 8 by 8-inch pan; for thinner bars, use a 9 by 13-inch pan.

On a rimmed baking sheet toast the pecans, almonds, and coconut for about 7 minutes, or until the coconut is deeply golden. Toss once or twice along the way. Mix the oats, toasted nuts, coconut, and the cereal, together in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine the rice syrup, sugar, salt, espresso, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly as it comes to a boil and thickens just a bit, about 4 minutes. Pour the syrup over the oat mixture and stir until it is evenly incorporated.

Spread into the prepared pan and cool to room temperature before cutting into whatever size bars you desire.    Makes 16 to 24 bars.

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