Bars.

I haven’t been making vegan muffins lately, have you missed them? Me neither. Oh, I like them just fine but I have a bad habit of eating breakfast in my car and muffins tend to crumble all over the place, even the…moist…ones (oh how I hate that word). And they take two hands to eat. Too much trouble, says I. Well, for the moment anyway. I am sure I will go back to them at some point. But not now, no sir. Because I discovered the vegan energy bar mix…and quickly dismissed it for being too expensive. Don’t get me wrong, they were really good, but I couldn’t find them in the grocery stores and once you add shipping from the manufacturer…wayyyy too expensive. Ah well.

But wait…I can cook. I know how. I know what goes in…food. I know ingredients and stuff! And all the ingredients are listed on the box, so all I need to do is figure out proportions, right? So what’s in these things? Rice Syrup Solids, Oat Bran), Vital Wheat Gluten, Fructose, Non-GMO Soy Protein Isolate…oh.

Ok, so I thought about it and though about it and it was really easier than I thought. Once I started flinging things into the bowl it all started to make sense. And it was easy. Really easy. And good. And, as far as I can tell, good for you. Here’s what you do:

Mix together in a large bowl:

1c. whole wheat pastry flour
1c. rolled oats
½ c. soy flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons whole flax seeds

add:

1c. fat free soymilk
¼ c. canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

mix until blended and add in
nuts, dried fruit or chocolate chips…I’d say to taste but then it would just be all chocolate chips and nothing else, wouldn’t it? Let’s say start with a ¼ c of each and see what you think.

Bake in a lightly oiled 8x8, 9x9, or, if you are like me, some weird sized pan from Ikea, I think it’s about 7x9. Small enough to fit in the toaster oven, at 350° for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and springy to the touch.

Let cool before cutting into 8 pieces and wrapping indivudally and storing in the fridge. I wrap mine in wax paper and then put them all into a plastic bag and that seems to keep them nice and fresh.

I am not a nutritionist but I think we can safely say that these have a reasonable amount of fiber and some protein. The fruits and chocolate add some antioxidants and are yummy so, you know, it’s a decent meal. It’s got all the important food groups, fiber, protein and yum.

I have made these twice now and the first time I used 2 eggs instead of canola oil. It worked but I was really surprised when I used the canola oil because they came out much fluffier with a more tender crumb.

The only caveat with these is kind of…well it’s fine, it doesn’t hurt you or anything but whole flax seeds don’t really digest in your system. The ones that get chewed will fill you with lovely omega 3s but the ones that stay whole will pass right through you…so don’t think that it was a clot or something…it’s just the flax. Sorry, I know, I know…I just wish someone had given me that kind of warning the first time I ate fresh beets. So, I thought I’d let you know.