Paleo Power Bars

(As featured in the April 2010 issue of Practically Seeking)

Paleo Power Bars

Just over a year ago we had a recipe for Hard Tack Trail Bread as our Skill of the Month. (FYI, one of those cakes is still sitting out in our kitchen and doing just fine over a year after it was made!)
This spring we've decided to take the idea one step further and show you how to make your very own Paleo Power Bars.

By adding vitamin- and mineral-rich wild ingredients that we gathered and dried very thoroughly, we have made our own "Primitive" Power Bars that are tasty, healthy, and will last and last and last with no packaging or refrigeration.

As with the Trail Bread, these will get quite hard with time, but can easily be softened by re-warming or dipping into a hot drink, or just enjoyed as is. We left our batch sitting on the counter since making them a few days ago, and even as they've hardened, these tasty bars and cookies have been a big hit with students and friends. The fact that they are already almost gone is a big "thumbs up" indicator on this one — folks can't seem to get enough!
Here's how you can make yours…

 

Step-by-step Instructions on How to make Paleo Power Bars:

  1. Using a grain mill, blender or food processor, grind each of your chosen WELL-DRIED materials as close to a powder consistency as possible, for a total of 1 cup. For the Paleo Bars shown in these photos, we have added 1/4 cup each of well-dried wild violet and dandelion greens, acorn flour, mixed walnuts and almonds, and beef jerky. (The greens and jerky were both dried to the point were they would snap when bent by hand.)

    2. Dried Ingredients

  2. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and gather your base ingredients of 3/4 cup white flour, 3/4 cup wheat flour, 3/4 cup cornmeal and 2 cups of honey. Feel free to experiment with different types of flour, just be sure they contain enough "binding" agents (e.g. gluten) that your finished product will not crumble.

    3. Flours, cornmeal and honey

  3. Mix together your 3/4 cup each of white flour, wheat flour and cornmeal.

    4. Add flours and cornmeal Three-quarter cup of each

  4. Add your additional dried ingredients into the flour/cornmeal mixture.

    5. Adding acorn flour Adding powdered beef jerky Dried, powdered ingredients added to flour mixture

  5. Carefully heat 2 cups of honey until it has become thin enough to run easily off of a spoon. Do not allow the honey to boil!

    6. Pour 2 cups honey into glass container for heating Warm until honey runs easily

  6. Add the warmed honey to your dry ingredients and combine thoroughly until your mixture has a consistency similar to cake or brownie batter. If the batter is too thick, add hot water a little at a time to loosen.

    7. Mix in warmed honey Combine honey completely into mixture Should have cake batter consistency

  7. Grease a jelly-roll pan or cookie sheet that has sides, and pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Spread evenly over the pan, as with brownies.

    8. Pour batter onto graesed cookie sheet Spread batter on pan

  8. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until the cake has turned a golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

    9. Turns golden brown Toothpick comes out clean

  9. Allow to cool, then slice into bar-sized portions and enjoy!

    10. Cut into bars Enjoy!

  10. COOKIE OPTION: Alternatively, you may choose to make a thicker batter by adding about 1/2 cup of additional flour/dried ingredients OR by reducing the amount of honey used by about a 1/4 cup. This thicker batter is ideal for making cookies instead of bars -- just spoon the batter onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes. Delicious!

    11. Spoon onto greased sheet Bake 6-8 minutes Golden brown cookies

     

A great trail snack, mid-afternoon pick-me-up or filling breakfast on the go.

Make them using whatever flavors appeal to you,
just make sure your ingredients are well dried before using!

Until next time, Be Well and Have Fun!