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With reward to the cyclist and their need for "power snacking" here is the following "power bar" recipe which was originated by a fellow named Bill Paterson. Bill is from Portland Oregon. The odd ingredient in the bar, paraffin, is widely used in chocolate manufacture to improve smoothness and flowability, raise the melting point, and retard deterioration of texture and flavor. Butter can be used instead, but a butter-chocolate mixture doesn't cover as thinly or smoothly.
Spread oats in a 10- by 15-inch baking pan. Bake in a 300 degree oven until oats are toasted, about 25 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent scorching.
Meanwhile, place sesame seed in a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over medium heat. Shake often or stir until seeds are golden, about 7 minutes. Pour into a large bowl. Add apricots, raisins, coconut, almonds, dry milk, and wheat germ; mix well. Mix hot oats into dried fruit mixture.
Butter the hot backing pan; set aside. In the frying pan, combine corn syrup and sugar; bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat and quickly stir in the peanut butter, orange extract, and orange peel. At once, pour over the oatmeal mixture and mix well. Quickly spread in buttered pan an press into an even layer. Then cover and chill until firm, at least 4 hours or until next day. Cut into bars about 1 1/4 by 2 1/2 inches.
Combine chocolate chips and paraffin in to top of a double boiler. Place over simmering water until melted; stir often. Turn heat to low. Using tongs, dip 1 bar at a time into chocolate, hold over pan until it stops dripping (with paraffin, the coating firms very quickly), then place on wire racks set above waxed paper. When firm and cool (bars with butter in the chocolate coating may need to be chilled), serve bars, or wrap individually in foil. Store in the refrigerator up to 4 weeks; freeze to store longer.
Makes about 4 dozen bars, about 1 ounce each.
Each Bar Total Calories: 188 Carb Grams: 29 Protein Grams: 4.4 Fat Grams: 9.8 Cholesterol: 0.6 mg Sodium: 40 mg
These are another inexpensive replacement for commercial energy bars, which tend to taste better to boot.
Chop raisins (using a food processor if possible). Cream butter, sugar, molasses and egg.
Combine flour, dry milk, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger. Blend into creamed mixture with liquid milk. Stir in oats, raisins, and half the almonds (if desired). Pour into greased 13x9x2 inch pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle with remaining almonds (if desired).
Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 30 minutes. Cool in pan and cut into 1x4 inch bars.
Yield: 26 bars
Recipe: Total Calories: 3670 Fat Grams: 130 (49 grams in almonds) Carb Grams: 612
Per Bar: Calories: 141 Fat Grams: 5 Carb Grams: 23.5
Beth Boomer shares her own personal recipe:
"Burn fat faster" claimed an energy bar manufacturer in a recent magazine advertisement. The ad described me to a tee -- living on a low-fat, high carb diet, and typically "bonking" about 80 miles into a century ride, even though I had been gulping bananas and fig bars throughout, and loaded up on pasta the night before. An 800 number appeared at the end of the ad, so I called. What was described to me by the gentleman on the other end of the phone was a diet containing 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat -- the 40/30/30 plan. By eating two of their energy bars daily and maintaining the 40/30/30 ratio with every meal and snack, one could train his or her body to use body fat rather than carbohydrates as fuel.
We next discussed two problems that I saw with the diet -- number one, as vegetarians, it appeared that it might be difficult to get 30% of our calories from protein, and number two -- the energy bars were outrageously expensive at $40 for a one-week supply. The first problem was solved easily enough, with Mike and I finding plenty of meatless high protein foods - tofu, beans, and peanut butter to name a few.
Knowing that the energy bars would not fit into my budget, and using a little math and chemistry (it is my profession), I determined the amounts of the various ingredients, which are listed on the wrapper, required to make an energy bar that is 40% carb, 30% protein, and 30% fat. Before I reveal the secret recipe, I will tell you that the "40/30/30" plan works! Mike lost several pounds of body fat, and gained muscle mass. Beth the bonker has ridden several centuries eating only two of these 250-calorie bars per ride -- one before and one during -- with energy to spare at the end. We also recently set a "PR" (personal record), riding the Endless Summer Watermelon Century in 4.5 hours, each bettering our previous best time by nearly 30 minutes!
And now, here's the recipe (this makes 30 bars):
Mix the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Stir in protein powder until the mixture becomes too stiff, then use your hands to mix. Add in oats; at this point upper body strength is required. The dough will be very stiff.
After mixing, spread onto a 11.5" X 15" jelly roll pan coated with non-stick cooking spray. Refrigerate for at least one hour; cut into 30 bars, and place each into a Ziploc bag or store them somehow.
They will remain fresh longer if refrigerated. Happy eating!
Each Bar Total Calories: 253 Fat Grams: 15.6 Carb Grams: 25.6
You may note that there are no dairy products in this recipe. You could easily replace the soy milk powder with the cow equivalent, but then you'd definitely have to include some maltodextrin (unless you use a soy drink which already has some in it when riding). One could replace about half the honey with maltodextrin, and if you prefer cocoa to carob, you can easily substitute.
Mix well, then add to:
Stir and knead (I knead in more Oat Bran or Rolled Oats) until thoroughly mixed. A cake mixer works well for this. The bars can be reasonably soft, as a night in the fridge helps to bind it all together.
Roll or press out about 1cm thick and cut.
This recipe makes 16 bars of about 1 cm tall by 1.5 cm wide by 6 cm long.
Each Bar Total Calories: 186 Fat Grams: 6.8 Carb Grams: 34.7
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS Add figs, honey, orange juice, and 2 tbsp. lemon juice to food processor and mix on "chop" setting until fig bits are finely cut. Set aside. Put all other ingredients (except oat bran) in mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer for 3-4 minutes at medium speed. Add fig mixture and beat until everything blends.
Roll 20-24 balls and coat with oat bran poured on a plate. Place balls on pan and bake at 350° for 10 minutes, or until they are warm and a bit puffy. Place in refrigerator to harden. For a crunchier texture, bake 2-5 minutes longer, or until dough is thoroughly cooked.
SNACK - COST - CARBO (g) - FAT (g) - PROTEIN (g) - CALORIES
Bank Ball (72g) - $0.17 - 44 - 1 - 4 - 191
Banana (large) - $0.21 - 30 - 0.6 - 1 - 118
Energy Bar (67g) - $1.69 - 40 - 1 - 10 - 225