Low-carb Grain-free Coconut Flake and Multi-Seed Protein Bars

Ever since I heard about Unprocessed: My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food by Megan Kimble I wanted to Here’s why.  I constantly worry about the amount of processed, packaged foods we consume these days.  The reason is two-fold:  One, because of the toll it takes on our body due to all the chemicals and two, because of the toll it takes on the environment due to amount of packaging that is used, and the distance food travels to be processed and then shipped to us.  However, I get overwhelmed at the thought of making everything on my own every single time – things we consume regularly like hummus, tofu, nut milk, nut/seed butters, protein bars, as well as things we consume occasionally like roasted chestnuts.

 

 

My dear friend, K, is quite amused at my predicament, and says that it is absolutely not difficult to make everything on your own if you wanted to. But then K is a super woman, truly one of a kind, the kind who will roast and peel chestnuts when they are in season at great anguish to her fingernails.  But me (and others like me) have to deal with using packaged foods for the sheer convenience of it, and keep swatting that worry at the back of our minds.

That is why it is so refreshing to read  “Unprocessed“.  I am still in the middle of it, but I was relieved to see that the first thing Megan Kimble does is to spell out what unprocessed means. At a high level, it is just stuff that she “theoretically” cannot make in her own kitchen.  Phew!!!!  What a relief.  By that definition, I don’t have to worry about buying hummus now as long as the ingredients are basic.

Here’s something that we usually pick up at the store that I whipped up in our kitchen.  V is on a low-carb diet these days and cannot eat most of the store-bought protein bars, which either have too many carbs or too much sugar (same thing by the way).   Hence, this (rather successful) experiment in making them.  I whipped up my own recipe as most of the recipes online had oats or quinoa or some grain as the base

Recipe for Home-made Coconut Flake and Multi-seed Protein Bars

[Printable Recipe]

Dry Ingredients:

Wet Ingredients:

  • 1 cup water to make flax-chia egg:
    • 6 Tbsp ground flax seeds
    • 2 Tbsp chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup organic blackstrap molasses

Method:

  • Pre-heat oven to 375C
  • Dot a 9×13 inch pan with coconut oil and line with parchment paper
  • Make the flax-chia “egg” by mixing the ground flax seeds and chia seeds with 1 cup water.  Set aside for around 10-15 mins.   Add a bit more water if it becomes too thick.
  • Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.

(I did not add any salt as the Go Raw Sprouted Pumpkin Seeds I used had celtic sea salt added.  You might need to add some if you are using plain pumpkin seeds).

  • Fold in the flax-chia “egg”, coconut oil and molasses until well-combined
  • Pat the mixture in to the tray and smoothen the surface with a flat spatula

  • Bake for 20 minutes
  • When it has cooled a bit, scour in to squares.  Let cool completely and store in an airtight container

It was pretty simple to make, except for the fact that I brought out the whole pantry and used up every healthy ingredient I laid my hands on!  V loved it and meticulously calculated the number of carbs in each bar.  (Turned out the coconut sugar had more sugar than the carbs in all the other ingredients combined.)   However, I expect it will serve as quite a substantial snack after a strenuous hike.  It would also be great for a mid-afternoon snack craving or a grab-and-go breakfast!

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