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Peanut Salvage Bars Recipe
May 2, 2006 | by Heidi | Filed under
Jeff Cox's Organic Cook's Bible
Over the course of a year many bibles cross my desk - but probably not the kind you're thinking of. I see wine bibles, berry bibles, spicy food bibles, cook's bibles, food substitution bibles, and as of last week, Jeff Cox's Organic Cook's Bible.
The Organic Cook's Bible is an encyclopedic, 500+ page volume that attempts to cover the who, what, how, and whys surrounding the world of organic edibles.
What to expect: When I said this book was encyclopedic, I meant it. While there is a bunch of information in the front of the book about the benefits of buying, eating, and producing organically - the bulk of the book (and the largest percentage of the book's page count) is the ingredient profiles. For example, if you are in the fruits chapter and reading about peaches, you would get historical, nutritional, varietal, shopping, storage, and usage information. Anchored by a couple delicious-sounding peach-centric recipes. Logans, litchis, loquats, pork, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, and pistachios - all covered.
The Organic Cook's Bible also has some cool, useful features and sections that I haven't seen before. In the back you'll find a huge list of Jeff's favorite varieties of produce. For example under artichokes he writes the following:
Kiss of Burgandy: Considered by some the best-tasting full-sized artichoke. Entering commerce in California. A two-tone burgundy and green choke.
Purple de Jesi: Produces lots of small heads of fine quality. Reddish purple in color. Sweet enough to be eaten raw if sliced thin.
Purple Romanesco: Greenish violet and spineless, makes many small buds on lower nodes of this herbaceous perennial. Excellent for marinating.
...and on from there. He covers apples through zucchinis and writes up over 900 varieties to look for. Really great reference.
The recipes look tasty, and there are 250 of them. Most span less than half a page, and look straight-forward - very much in the spirit of other Farmer's Market-esque Cookbooks. A few of the recipes that really jumped out at me, the one's I've tagged for next time, include: Tacos of Creamy Braised Chard, Salsify Gnocchi, Cherimoya Agua Fresca, and Citrus Panna Cotta. The book covers a lot of territory. There are chapters on organic meats, dairy, nuts, grains, coffee, and wine - plus a robust back-of-the-book with lots of sources listed. Photos are grouped in a handful of blocks through out the book.
Today's recipe? I've been on a homemade powerbar bender recently. They are quick and easy to make, typically from whole ingredients, and taste much better than their mylar-wrapper supermarket counterparts. There is a recipe for Peanut Salvage Bars in Jeff's book, so I decided to give it a go.
Peanut Salvage Bars
Jeff Cox says: They're called "salvage" because they'll save you when you need a burst of energy and nutrition. Heidi notes: These taste delicious, but they came out pretty dry. Sweet, peanuty goodness with a nice puffed rice crunch. Getting them to stay in a bar shape was a bit of a challenge. I did a second batch and increased the ratio of sweet peanut-butter "glue" to dry ingredients by quite a bit which helped - put them in the refrigerator and really let them set. Let me know how you fare, my adapted version below.
1/4 cup raw or toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup shelled peanuts
salt
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups 1-minute rolled oats
2 cups puffed rice cereal (hs note: I used puffed brown rice cereal)
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
If using raw wheat germ, spread it on a baking sheet and toast for a few minutes until fragrant.
Spread the sunflower seeds and the peanuts in an even later on separate baking sheets and toast in the oven - the sunflower seeds will take about 6 minutes and the peanuts will take 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and let cool; salt the peanuts lightly.
Mix the wheat germ, sunflower seeds, peanuts, raisins, oats, and puffed rice in a large bowl. In a separate bowl that fits your microwave, mix the peanut butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup; microwave on high for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and stir until well blended. Pour over the dry ingredients and fold in until everything is evenly coated.
Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan and transfer the mixture from the bowl. Cover the surface with waxed paper and press it down firmly. Refrigerate until completely cool. Cut into eight 2x4-inch bars.
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Your Comments
tian said:Hi Heidi,
I have all the ingredients in the pantry, so this recipe is perfect. Is the 1 cup of peanut butter the increased amount you used for your second batch? thanks!
Yes Tian,
That is the increased amount - the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of each: maple syrup, peanut butter, and brown sugar. Let us all know how it goes when you try it. -h
What is the difference between putting the seeds on a baking sheet in the over and dry roasting them in a pan? Does it affect the flavor differently?
That should read "oven"
Wonderful review, Heidi! I hadn't heard of this book before your post but I'll keep my eyes open for it.
I happen to work with a peanut fiend so I'll be sure to pass this recipe along. As always the photos are too delicious!
Does anybody have a good idea for storing these for consumption on the go? I've made homemade powerbars before, and I know they're good, but how can I take them with me on a bike ride? Seal them in wax paper?
Hi Heidi,
These look great! Do they need to be stored in the refrigerator? After cooling, I mean... until you've eaten them all, which might not take too long after all.
Cheryl
With the other granola/power bars I make, I wrap them individually in a piece of waxed paper. They slip right into a purse or pocket.
Mara, you could absolutely dry roast them in a pan if you didn't want to heat your oven. And Cheryl, I kept these in the refrigerator and cold because it seemed to help keep them together, as they get warmer the "glue" loosens its grip on the oats and peanuts.
Interesting, Heidi. Thanks. I usually tend to shy away from "organic" cookbooks because I feel like it implies that if you buy organic you can't use regular recipes. But this one sounds like it's very focused on the ingredients and possibly worth buying.
The cookbooks sounds wonderful, thanks for the review. I've been on a bit of a powerbar/wholegrain bar kick myself. I'm going to try this one but alter it to be peanut free due to allergies in our house. I'll likely try almonds as we have almond butter in the fridge. I'll let you know how it goes. It strikes me that pumpkin butter/pumpkin seeds might be tasty too.
I love this recipe, and thanks for the great cookbook review.
I'm always on the lookout for wholegrain bar recipes, and this looks pretty stellar.
Rachel Cole said:Two cups of sweetener for 8 bars seems like a lot, certainly not a powerbar I would want to munch on and even too sweet for dessert I think. That's 1/4 c of sugar/maple syrup in each bar!
Yeah they are huge bars based on that size - almost an inch thick. I would say you could cut them in half and maybe in half again and have a good bite-sized snack.
its look delicious
Heidi,
They probably, taste delicious. I haven't tried, so I wouldn't know. Could I serve it along with ice cream, if she which flavour. And tips on presentation, please?
Hi Heidi,
Well I finally got around to making the bars today. They are soo yummy! Here are some changes I made and they are still good. I used organic Weetabix I had in the pantry instead of the wheatgerm. Its already "toasted". I used 4 biscuits for the recipe. I also used honey and maple sugar as the sweeteners in exchange for the brown sugar and maple syrup again, substituting what I had in my pantry. I used approximately 1/2 to 2/3 cup honey and 1/2 cup maple sugar. I heated the peanut butter mixture in my microwave for 2 1 minute intervals as not to reck the taste of the honey. Anyway, they turned out fantastic - great recipe again, thanks as always!
Oops, my bad - I meant "wreck" lol. Sometimes to me honey in the microwave can get a strong burnish taste if overcooked.
Carey
I solved one problem. Getting them out of the pan. I cut two pieces of parchment paper and laid them in the pan. ( Lay them across the pan one way, and the other piece over the other sides.) I made sure the parchment paper came out and over the pan sides. I used the overlap to press down the ingredients. When it was time to remove them from the pan, I used the parchment that was hanging over the sides to lift the entire pan of bars out. Also, I used dried cherries instead of raisens. They are excellent.
Heidi,
Is there any chance you might post some other homemade bar recipes that you've had success with? I suppose I could start a thread in the forum. I am always looking for a bar that is healthy, satisfying, and not too sweet.
Stephanie
I love peanut butter, but only the natural kind--just ground up peanuts, no salt. I've found this doesn't work as well in recipes though. So for baking I use grocery store type like Skippy that has the shortening in it. I always use chunky even when the recipe calls for creamy.
I made them this weekend, and even with the doubled sticky glue, they tend to fall apart. Doesn't matter though, they are delicious. I used dried cranberries instead of raisins. No reason, I just like them.
For sure I'll make these again.
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