Apple and Date Energy Bars

ou could probably substitute any type of fruit to make whatever kind of energy bar you want. I based this one off of the Apple Pie Larabar energy bars that I am quite fond of. Their ingredients seemed simple enough, so I tend to crank these out in large batches and freeze them until I need a dozen or so for a weekend or weeklong hiking trip.

Here's the list of ingredients:

• 4 or 5 apples, cubed. More or less, depending on how big the apples are
• One package of Jaffa pitted dates
• Big handful of unbleached almonds
• Two cups, total, of a mixture of raisins and cranberries
• Smaller handful of walnuts
• 3 or 4 cinnamon sticks, or freshly grated cinnamon powder

Cube the apples, chop up the dates into manageable chunks, and add both to a big enough pot, along with the cinnamon, raisins, and cranberries. Simmer on low heat for about an hour or until quite soft.

Once everything is cooked nice and soft, fish out the cinnamon sticks if you used them, transfer everything to a food processor, and blitz to a pulp. Add in the nuts at this point, and just pulse a couple of times to roughly chop them - you don't want to lose the texture.

That was the easy part. The pain in the ass part is now, forming them into bar shapes so you can dehydrate them into something resembling an energy bar. I cheat. I line the bottom of a small baking pan with cling wrap, dump in some of the mixture, cover with cling wrap, and then use the bottom of another pan to push the goop into something resembling a brick. I dump them out, and then chill them in the fridge for a few hours. By then, they are firm enough to cut into bar shapes. Have a look at the photos to see what I mean.

Once in block shape, toss them in the fridge for a few hours. When they are firm to the touch, carefully unwrap them on parchement paper and using two knives, separate them into individual bars. I say two knives because I will slide both knives down the cut together and then push each half away from the other. This results in two smooth edges and helps maintain the bar shape. When you've got them all cut, put them in your dehydrator (or probably also an oven under low low heat) for 6-10 hours until they are quite firm.

Enjoy! These babies got me through a four day slog on the Fundy Footpath, in rain, biting insects, and huge changes in elevation! Fantastico!

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