Sweet treats

I thought I'd share with you today a yummy protein bar recipe that I've rediscovered.  It's one of those gems you find in the weekend paper, cut it out, make it once, then stick the recipe in with all the others and forget about it.

The recipe originally came from Teresa Cutter , do check out her web site it has some wonderful recipes.

Protein power bars

1 cup rolled organic oats
1 cup slivered almonds (I used a combination of chopped up cashews, macadamia nuts, pecans, pepitas and sunflower seeds)
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder (I used almond meal instead)
2 dried bananas, chopped (not banana chips)
200g dried figs, sliced (I used 100g and made up the rest with dates)
200g dried fruit medley (today I used sultanas, raisins, dried apricots, dried cranberries and dates)
1/2 cup apple juice to combine (I juiced some mandarins instead)
Optional extra topping
1/2 cup of good quality, fair trade dark chocolate
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons of milk (you could use almond or coconut milk instead)

Preheat the oven to 200C
Spread the oats, nuts and coconut on a baking tray lined with foil or baking paper and place in the oven to lightly toast until golden, check and stir it frequently. Remove and allow to cool.

Melt the chocolate pieces and 1 tablespoon of the milk, either in the microwave or over a bain-marie, add the rest of the milk and mix till glossy.  Spread the chocolate in a thin layer over the base of a lined slice tin approx. 7" x 9", place in the fridge till set.

Once cool process the nuts till ground in a food processor or blender, set aside. Prepare your dried fruit, chop it into smaller pieces, process about a third of the amount at a time till finely chopped.

Teresa suggests putting everything together in your food processor. From past experience and unless you have a Vita mix or Thermomix I would recommend doing it in batches, nothing like burning out the motor mid way through ;-/

In a large bowl combine the nuts, dried fruit, protein powder and apple juice. Mix well, it needs to be completely combined and a bit like a thick paste add more juice if the mix is too dry.
Pat the mixture out over the chocolate layer, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. 

Remove the slice from the tin, cut into small bite-sized pieces and store in the fridge in an airtight container for about 3 weeks, if it lasts that long! Or you could wrap the pieces in greaseproof and freeze.

Be warned it's very moorish but rather filling, which is a good thing.

Another sweet treat for me

It was my birthday yesterday and these are the beautiful flowers my lovely Tony dropped off at work for me.  Isn't he sweet.....love ya baby!!

Till next time
Lisa