Last week’s
low-carb protein bars were so good, they disappeared within a few days. We had them mostly for breakfast with a slice of avocado or some berries. V declared on Friday evening that he refused to go without them for breakfast this week! Obviously I was not going to repeat the same recipe, so I cooked up a different one.
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| Goji Berry Energy Bars |
Also, in the meantime, I have finished reading Unprocessed: My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food by Megan Kimble. I thoroughly enjoyed her very down-to-earth, funny and unpretentious tone. She is simply writing about her dilemmas, her experiences and her learnings, not dictating what is right and wrong. There are a million experts on food and nutrition who pontificate every day only to be proven wrong the very next day. She also has very concise takeaways for every food group at the end of each chapter which I found useful.
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| Goji Berry Energy Bars |
I made this week’s breakfast bars with
goji berries which I have never cooked with before. I had a Chinese colleague at work who would brew up a big mug of tea with dried goji berries and sip it all day long. He claimed that it was very good for the eyes. He was always willing to share a spoonful of the pretty red berries with me. I loved the taste of the tea and eating the berries softened by the hot water at the end of the mug.
So here it is, an experimental recipe again! Goji berry bars! I was at Whole Foods to pick up dried blueberries but spotted the goji berries and went for it. About 2 cups cost around $12, making this a pretty expensive ingredient.
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| Goji Berry Energy Bars |
Recipe for Low-carb Goji Berry Energy Bars
- 1 cup coconut flour (substitute with almond flour if desired)
- 3 Tsp raw cacao powder
- 1 Tbsp maca powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp raw hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup raw sprouted pumpkin seeds
- 2 cups dried goji berries (from the bin at Whole Foods)
- 2 pods cardamom, seeds removed and powdered <or> 1/2 tsp cardamom powder (optional)
- 1 tsp salt (optional)
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 cup water to make flax-chia egg:
- 8 Tbsp ground flax seeds
- 1 1/4 cup cool water
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup organic blackstrap molasses
- 4 drops liquid stevia
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| Making Goji Berry Energy Bars |
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 375C
- Dot a 9×13 inch pan with coconut oil and line with parchment paper
- Make the flax “egg” by mixing the ground flax seeds with 1&1/4th cup water. Set aside for around 10-15 mins. Add a bit more water if it thickens too much.
- Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. (As my pumpkin seeds had added celtic sea salt, I did not add salt. You may want to add some salt if you are using plain pumpkin seeds).
- Fold in the flax 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 bars. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container
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| Goji Berry Energy Bars |
V did not super love this new recipe as much as last week’s but was still pleased that his breakfast routine remained unchanged. I would go with almond flour and coconut sugar if I make this again. But both of us really loved the addition of the colorful red goji berries which gave a tart sweet taste to the bars!
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| Goji Berry Energy Bars |
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