Thursday, July 27, 2006

Fruit & Nut Bars

These bars contain no oil and no sugar; they get their sweetness from dried fruit. They are also chock full of walnuts, which contain lots of those fabulous omega-3 fatty acids. These bars are wheat and soy-free -- great for those with allergy concerns.

makes 16 bars

1 cup whole spelt flour
1 cup rolled oats
¼ cup prune purée or one 2.5 oz container baby prunes
½ cup currants or finely chopped raisins
½ cup dried apricots, chopped fine
1 cup walnuts, chopped
⅓ cup water


Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Lightly coat an 8-inch x 8-inch pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and knead with your hands until a good, stiff dough forms. Add a tablespoon of water if the mixture is too dry. Press dough firmly and evenly into the prepared pan. Cut into squares with a sharp knife before placing in the oven.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until baked through but still soft (don’t overbake them or the bars will be tough). Store leftover bars in the refrigerator.

20 comments:

Watty said...

oh these sound awesome! (and much healthier AND cheaper than these ones I just got last week from the store)

TY

Anonymous said...

Our school just outlined a "no peanut or tree nut" policy. These sound delicious. Any sub for the walnuts?

Anonymous said...

I made these this week, and they are soooooo good. Seriously. I've been looking for a good granola bar recipe for ever -- and I've finally found it! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I made these yesterday with my 2 year old and they were awesome! We call them "shmoo bars" and now she prefers a shmoo bar to her beloved "snack bar."
thank you so much!

Jennifershmoo said...

"Shmoo bars" -- I love it! Glad they were a hit!

Jennifershmoo said...

>>Could whole wheat flour be substituted for spelt?
Likewise, could dates be substituted for the apricots?

Absolutely -- substitute away!

Anonymous said...

I'm a bit late here, but these sound delicious and remind me of a new addition to Starbuck's line of goodies: their Fruit & Nut bar. They have pumpkin seeds (raw) instead of walnuts, but that seems to be the only difference.

size.ten said...

Great recipe! The prunes are a great idea for a heathy binder in this recipe. Can't wait to try them!

Anonymous said...

Hi. these look great, but I wanted to clarify something...if one has a true reaction to wheat (allergy, celiacs), they will have it to spelt as well. Thanks for the great recipes

Anonymous said...

Hi, from a reader in the UK. I was looking back over your recipes and these shmoo bars sound delicious! However, I am wheat and gluten intolerant, including not being able to take oats. Would these bars work with rice flour? What could I sub in for the oats? Thankyou!

Anonymous said...

hi. if you are allergic/intolerant to wheat and/or gluten, you could use barley flour, and maybe use millet flakes or other suitable grain flakes instead of oats. just find a good health food store for ideas.

Anonymous said...

These sound great. Can you substitute pumpkin puree instead of prune puree? Would that work? Been craving pumpkin lately and looking for a recipe like this that it would work with.

Jennifershmoo said...

Give it a try! It might not be as sweet, but it would probably still be good. Perhaps you could add a bit of pumpkin pie spice?

And to the anonymous above who recommended barley flour for the gluten-intolerant: barley contains gluten.

Anonymous said...

These are very good and very healthy. I substituted half oat bran for half of the flour, mixed super tart inca berries, dates and apricots for the apricot portion, and cranberries and raisins as directed, with a dash of coconut. Turned out great! I recommend leaving them in for at least 20 minutes--they don't get too dry but the flavors toast together. mmm. Next time I might add a bit of chocolate to spice things up.

Krista said...

Hi, just wanted to leave my two cents.

Some people have sensitivity to wheat but can tolerate spelt or kamut. This is because wheat has more chromosomes than kamut (and I think spelt as well). One group of people with wheat sensitivity is people with autism. Usually, though, they can tolerate spelt or kamut.

Gluten intolerance is different, and excludes anything with gluten (obviously). Oats are included in this because even those oats don't have gluten they are usually processed in a plant with gluten-containing grains.

To substitute gluten flours you can use these flours:

rice
quinoa
millet
garbanzo bean
fava bean
garfava (a mixture)

The bean flours are great because they provide a lot of nutrients and proteins not found in grains. If you mix bean flours with grain flours you yield a complete protein in one product.

Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

NIKE NIKE运动鞋 NIKE跑鞋 妮可鞋岛 阿迪达斯

阿迪达斯
nikedao
nikedao.com
www.nikedao.com
NIKE
ADIDAS
PUMA
NIKE板鞋
运动鞋
NIKE跑鞋
ADIDAS板鞋
ADIDAS运动鞋
ADIDAS跑鞋
板鞋
运动鞋
耐克
NIKE板鞋
NIKE运动鞋
NIKE 跑鞋
ADIDAS板鞋
ADIDAS运动鞋
ADIDAS跑鞋
休闲鞋
PUMA运动鞋
妮可鞋岛

Anonymous said...

Thank you for these great ideas - it's lovely to find some recipes for sugar-free and gluten free bars to substitute for those exepensive shop ones!

Anonymous said...

Sohbet Sohbet odaları Sohbet istanbul Sohbet sitesi Sohbet siteleri chat chat sitesi chat siteleri chat odaları chat chat odaları

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
men's clothing said...

Your article is great,here i tell you some discount online stores
Ralph Lauren polo shirts
discount polo shirts
cheap men's clothing
Columbia jackets
Spyder jackets
Burberry polo shirts
cheap polo Ralph Lauren

cheap polo shirts
nike air max tn
polo shirts on sale
nike air max
nike 360 air max
buy cheap polos
mens clothing
nike shox shoes
discount men's clothing
polo shirts
wholesale polo shirts
polo clothing
cheap polos
mens polo shirts
men's polo shirts