Sunday, March 4, 2012

Maple Strawberry Walnut Bars

I came up with this recipe after seeking a granola bar recipe that didn't use a bunch of butter. Thanks to Jolene, who introduced me to Kinako (soy bean flour).

1/4 cup walnuts (finely chopped)
3 1/2 cups rolled oat
1/2 lemon
3/4 cup of diced strawberry ( I used frozen, but fresh should work similarly)
1 1/4 tspn flour
3/4 cup of maple syrup
2 tbspn of water
1 tbspn vanilla extract
1 tspn salt
1 tspn Kinako
1 tspn sugar ( I used locally grown Hawaiian Turabindo Sugar)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread diced strawberry chunks onto a baking sheet and bake for about 5-7 minutes--just enough for some of the syrup to separate. Spread the oats on a baking sheet and sprinkle with nuts to lightly roast.


Bake oats and nuts about 7 minutes, stirring half way through. When you take strawberry chunks out of oven, sprinkle with lemon juice from a scored half-lemon. Stir gently.

Add oats and nuts to a bowl and add flour. Stir.

Get a saucepan and put in maple syrup, water, honey, vanilla, and salt. Melt together and then combine with oats and nuts. Once this mixture is done, add the strawberry chunks and stir gently.

Then press the mixture into your prepared pan - make sure to press firmly so that the bars aren't crumbly. Bake at 300 degrees for 25-35 minutes (depends on oven).

When you remove the mix, sprinkle with a mixture of the kinako and sugar to bind the bars together. Let mixture rest in pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove and cut.



Store in an airtight container. Makes 10-15 bars.