Almond & Apricot Oat Crush : A Low-GI Energy Bar Recipe
A healthy energy bar
Convenient energy usually comes in the form of high GI carbs like breads, rice, noodles, potatoes and junk food in bags. The problem with eating a high GI diet is that it sends your blood sugar levels sky high, forcing your pancreas to create more insulin to fix the glucose surge. According to the doctors who wrote the The New Glucose Revolution
Here’s a delicious and healthy low-GI bar I created today that you can make at home in no time. A perfect healthy snack to share with your friends and family!
Makes 10 bars | Prep. Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 15-30 minutes
P/S: I’ve used mostly organic ingredients in this recipe but you don’t have to if you’re only interested in the GI/GL factor.
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 120gm Organic Rolled Oats
- 80 gm chopped Almonds
- 50 gm chopped Macadamia nuts
- 50 gms chopped dried Cranberries
- 50 gms chopped dried Apricots
- 2 tsps of wheatgerm
WET INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 large ripe Banana (mashed)
- 6 teaspoons of organic raw honey
(I used N.Z. Kamahi Raw Honey but you can substitute with Agave Nectar or Fructose Syrup) - 2 egg whites (emulsifier)
- 2 teaspoons of lecithin granules (emulsifier)
- 3 tbsp of Canola oil
(Or melted butter, but I didn’t want it to taste buttery as it would overwhelm the taste of the nut oils) - 1/4 cup of hot water (to melt the lecithin)
METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) for 15 minutes.
2. Whisk the hot water and lecithin granules in a bowl with a fork. Once the granules have melted and emulsified, add the eggwhites, mashed banana, honey, vanilla, canola oil and continue whisking for about a minute until even.
3. Baste the tin foil with a bit of butter or cooking oil.
4. Mix all the dry ingredients together evenly, then add the wet ingredients in Step 2. Make sure the mixture is not too dry, and not so wet that it is lumpy. You can control the moisture by adding water by 1/4 cup ratios. If it becomes too wet, just add a bit more oats to dry it out. The dry ingredients need to be thinly coated evenly with the wet mixture.
5. Taste for sweetness. (You can make it sweeter if you want by adding more honey but I like it mildly sweet.)
6. Spread and compress the mixture on a flat baking tin or tray like the picture below. Be sure to make it as even as possible. You can use a spatula but to get the right shape on a baking tray, you’ll need to use your fingers to press and shape it. Think pottery skills!
Spread and compress!
7.Shape it into a square and ensure that the surface is even and packed nicely.
8. Depending on how much of a baked taste you want, you can either bake it for 30 minutes (dark) like the one below, or 15 minutes (light). The darker variety toasts the nuts more so you get more of a baked taste whereas the lighter variety doesn’t cook and release the nut oils as much. Most commercial bars do them light.
8. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
9. Cut bars into desired sizes (like the picture below), and let cool for another 15 minutes.
Cut the bars before it completely cools.
10. Voila! It is now ready to eat.
Let it stand on a cooling rack so that most of the moisture goes before you store it. Kept out it can keep for 2 days but kept in a Ziploc in the freezer it technically keeps for much longer.
Disclaimer: The above information is for entertainment purposes only. Not suitable for those with allergies to the above ingredients.
