Power it up!

Flaxseeds

I really love granola bars and power bars for a quick breakfast or a post-run snack. I was used to just buying Cliff bars for this purpose and then I ran across about a million recipes online for homemade power bars and granola bars, so I decided to riff off of my favorite of the bunch (seen here, in on an old post from 101 Cookbooks, a fantastic resource for healthy, lively vegetarian fare). I changed it up a good bit, and it was delicious. Heidi's original recipe is delicious as well, and the whole thing is endlessly adaptable.

Cranberry Chocolate Power Bar (adapted from Heidi Swanson's Big Sur Power Bars)

There are lots of possible substitutions and additions that you can make here, and as long as the foundation of the bars (the cereal mix and the sugar mix) stays close to the same it'll work out just fine.

1 tbl. Coconut oil (or regular butter)
1 c. pecan pieces (you could use whole pecans you roughly chop, I like smaller pieces)
1 c. walnut pieces (same as above)
2/3 c. dried cranberries (any favorite dried fruit would be good, or a mix)
1 1/4 c. quinoa flakes (or rolled oats)
1 1/2 c unsweetened crisp brown cereal (or any crisp rice cereal like Rice Crispies)
2/3 c. flax seeds (or sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds, whatever appeals to you)
1 c. brown rice syrup (you could probably use corn syrup here, but I think you'll miss out on some seriously rich flavor)
1/4 c. agave nectar (you can use sugar if you like a crunchier bar, I love really chewy and sticky power bars)
1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt
2 tbl. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cranberry Chocolate Power Bar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and use the oil or butter to grease a baking pan (8x8 for thick bars, 9x13 for thinner).

Toast the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet until fragrant (for pieces this might be 4 minutes, for whole try closer to 7). Mix the quinoa flakes, toasted nuts, dried fruit, flax and cereal all in a large mixing bowl.

Combine the rice syrup, agave nectar, salt, cocoa and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir as it comes to a boil (bump up your heat if you need to). Let it thicken to your liking (I let mine get fairly thick to get my consitency). This will take between 4 and 10 minutes, so stay with it. Pour the syrup over the cereal mix and stir until it's all incorporated.

Spread into your prepared pan and let cool completely before turning upside down and cutting into desired sizes. Wrap in waxed paper and store in air tight container.