That (Mostly) Paleo Girl: PALEO ACTIVE BARS

This is a very high-calorie, high-carbohydrate food, great for those who are active! As I was making them I was also thinking about how great they would be to toss in a backpack for a snack at school or you could even take them hiking and camping since they don't need to be refrigerated! Great Paleo snack for kids!

I used to be a huge energy bar person. They're convenient, they come in a ton of flavors and varieties, and they were reliable because I could toss it in my backpack or in the glove-compartment (at least during the fall and winter). A protein bar would leave me satisfied for a couple of hours and it fended of my grumpy alter ego.

Last night I was thinking about how to make a Paleo meal bar and I believe I succeeded! I buy my dried fruit and raw nuts in bulk so that the cost to make these really isn't bad at all. I cut mine into squares rather than bars which gives me a smaller snack rather than a meal replacement. There is no meal bar that will replace the desire for real meat and veggies in my heart.

You will need: parchment paper, a large loaf pan, a baking sheet, a 2 quart pot or larger

Preheat oven to 325

ACTIVE BARS:
2 cups nuts, unsalted
1 cup dried fruit
1/3 cup raw honey
3 scoops unflavored grass-fed whey protein (dissolve with a few table spoons of water)
2 Tbsp grass-fed butter
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves

Prep: I had whole cashews and sliced almonds, so I put those in a bag with my fruit and pounded at them with the side of a meat hammer until they were small pieces. The smaller the nut pieces, the easier it will be to cut your bars later. (In hind sight I should have pounded mine a little more)

#1: Place your butter, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves in your sauce pot over low-medium heat. Combine it well with a wooden spoon. You will see it starting to create tiny bubbles and turn lighter in color. Let it boil like that for about a minute or so. For those of you familiar with baking candy, we are approximating a soft-ball stage but it isn't critical. The longer you cook this, the harder your bars will be.

#2: Now toss in your dried fruit and nuts and stir vigorously until everything is coated. Reduce your heat, then add in your slurry of protein powder and stir again. I used goji berries, cherries and cranberries.

#3: Line your loaf pan with parchment and spread your mixture into the pan, use another piece of parchment to press your mixture down and pack it down into the corners. It's a lot like making rice crispy treats. Be careful, the mixture will be hot!

#4: Bake for 10 minutes in the oven, remove and let cool for about half an hour to set.

#5: Remove your mixture from the pan and place on a cutting board, cutting into your desired size. If you want them to be more firm, place your sliced pieces on parchment on a cookie sheet and bake them another 10-12 minutes on 275, then they will need to cool again before wrapping them.