I kind of found the treasure chest for Paleo treats: a new cook book called Paleo Indulgences. The Primal Parent gave a great review, here, and Robb Wolf wrote the forward. Needless to say, I was excited to get this in the mail!
With the help of Snooze, we tried our first recipe yesterday and it was a huge success: "Granola" Bars. {They are already all gone - GREAT substitute for Larabars!}
Wet Ingredients:
1/4c coconut oil
1/4c pure maple syrup
1/4c unsweetened almond butter {I only had Justin's Maple on hand so we used that}
Dry Ingredients:
1/3c raw pumpkin seeds
1/2c roasted, salted sunflower seeds*
1/3c roasted, salted almond slivers*
1/4c mini chocolate chips {Enjoy Life brand - her suggestion - though I just chopped up 100% unsweetened chocolate. I only used 1/8c}
1/3c raisins
*I never used roasted nuts, only raw. Roasting nuts at temps over 240 degrees F causes acrylamides to form, a chemical that is a known carcinogen. Keeping the temp below 140 degrees F is safest, however food in its raw form is always most nutritious.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper and grease with coconut oil. Then...
Oops - forgot to let the wet mixture cool for 15 minutes, so it melted the chocolate...
Tammy, the author, says to place a sheet of waxed paper on top and press down firmly to flatten, though I did not.
Bake 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly and golden. {Mine only needed 20 minutes}
Ready!
Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Cut into bars.
{This did not work for me and they started to fall apart, so I placed in fridge to cool for an hour and then cut them. I was still not able to take them out completely - still crumbly - so I cooled for another 4 hours and then they were hard enough to fully cut into bars}
The recipe is a cinch and they were SO DELICIOUS! These might be a daily creation in my kitchen from here on out.
