2009 February 05 | dinner with Julie

Archive for February 5th, 2009

Eatmores

OK. This has nothing to do with dinner, and I didn’t even make them today. I was going to take advantage of it no longer being 2008 and skip a post, holding off on any renegade thoughts for Friday, but all this enthusiasm over the prospect of Eatmores reminded me that I actually do have a recipe for these chewy, chocolatey energy bars (for lack of a better word – energy really refers to calories, but I can’t call these granola bars, nor really cookies or squares) – these are no-bake cereal bars held together with a chocolate and peanut butter goo that closely resembles our beloved Eatmores. More so than the previous peanut truffle fudge recipe, which is soft and chocolatey without the requisite chew (“a good chew – and peanuts too“) of an Eatmore.

So here’s a Free Stuff Friday Eve freebie for all. If you wanted to, you could eliminate the dried fruits and grains and everything else, leaving only the peanuts, and boosting their quantities. (Of course because these are relatively good for you, you can Eat More of them.)

I really adore these. They are perfectly portable too – ideal for wrapping individually and tossing in your bag to take with you wherever you need to go.

Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

3 cups Rice Krispies or Special K cereal
1 cup oats
1 cup chopped dried fruit (such as raisins, cranberries & apricots)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup ground flax seed (optional)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup light peanut butter
1/2 cup honey

In a large bowl, toss together the cereal, oats, dried fruit, peanuts and flax seed.

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, cocoa, peanut butter and honey over medium heat and stir until completely melted and smooth. (Alternatively, you could do this in the microwave.) Pour over the fruit and cereal mixture and stir until evenly coated.

Press into a 9” x 13” pan and chill until firm before cutting into bars. Makes 18 bars.

Per Bar: 173 calories, 5.1 g fat (0.9 g saturated fat, 2.3 g monounsaturated fat, 1.6 g polyunsaturated fat), 31.3 g carbohydrates, 0 mg cholesterol, 4.1 g protein, 2.6 g fiber. 25% calories from fat