Saturday, April 01, 2006

molasses "treats"

I have been after a not-too-sweet sweet this past week, and also ran out of the homemade lara-type bars I made a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to design my own pan of "treats," thanks to inspiration from Leslie.

1. Melt together 1 tablespoon of Earth Balance, 1/2 cup nut butter of your choice (I used cashew so I can take them to work,) 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses, a pinch of salt, a few dashes of cinnamon, a few dashes of nutmeg, and a splash of vanilla extract.
2. Stir in 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, 1/4 cup flaked coconut, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup flaxmeal, 1/4 cup almonds, and 1/4 cup sesame seeds. Pat this mixture into a greased or parchment-lined 8-inch pan. Chill.
3. Pry the mixture out of the pan and cut it into 16 squares using a pizza cutter. Wrap each treat individually, and store in the fridge.

I had to sample one (okay, two -- I was hungry!) of these as they went into the fridge. They are yummy. The molasses flavor is very strong, but not quite overpowering. I may play around with this a bit next time, just to see if I can make them more palatable for the "general population."

Oh, and I already screwed up my dairy-free month idea, but it was an accident. Tonight, I had some Annie's Whole Wheat Bunnies at a friend's house. After a handfull went into my soup (Amy's No Chicken Noodle -- I didn't really care for it,) and the soup went into my belly, I discovered cheese is one of the ingredients in the crackers. I guess I should learn to read my labels better! Oh well. I suppose this means dairy-free month OFFICIALLY begins tomorrow. (An April Fool's joke played on me by the universe? Dunno.)

3 comments:

Eat Peace Please said...

Your treats sound good. I did yelp at the 1/2 cup of blackstrap molasses, but maybe you just need 1/4-2/3 cup instead. They sound wonderful and I like all the ingredients you used. Some of my best treats were with cashew butter (I made my own).

I'm going to read your post about no-dairy month... sounds WONDERFUL! You'll feel really good too, but be sure to check those labels!

Catherine Weber said...

Yeah, I should cut down the molasses next time. Maybe brown rice syrup instead?

I like cashew butter . . . but peanut butter is, hands down, my favorite nut butter. (With sunflower butter as a close second.) Unfortunately, my workplace is peanut-free -- so many kids are violently allergic to peanuts, so we accomodate.

Eat Peace Please said...

I know how schools have many rules regarding nuts. I would for sure go for the brown rice syrup. It's one of my favorites to work with (ingredient wise). Ooh, I've never had sunflower butter, I should grind some.