Super Power

Go ahead and roll your eyes: I made my own granola bars. Do-It-Yourself Power Bars, actually. I need to find something to do with my time now that I'm in the dreaded taper period of marathon training. And while I'll gladly tear into a PowerBar after an 18-mile run, the fact remains: they taste like crap.

Not so for these delicious homemade treats. The recipe is from Heidi Swanson's beautiful Super Natural Cooking, and calls for tasty ingredients like dried cranberries, toasted walnuts and candied ginger. The method is easy and similar to making granola. You stir together all the dry ingredients, simmer the liquid ones, and then mix the two.

I will not be making my own Gatorade or knitting my own running socks anytime soon, but could somebody hand me one of these DIY Power Bars somewhere along 1st Avenue?--S

Do-It-Yourself Power Bars

1 T coconut oil (I used grapeseed oil; it's just to grease the pan)
1 1/4 c rolled oats
1 1/4 c walnuts (toasted and chopped)
1/2 c oat bran
1 1/2 c crisped brown rice cereal
1 c dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
3 T finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 c brown rice syrup
1/4 c unrefined cane sugar
1 t pure vanilla extract
1/2 t fine grain sea salt

1. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan with the oil (I used an 8" x 8" pan so I'd have thicker bars).
2. In a bowl gather the next seven dry ingredients.
3. In a small saucepan stir together the remaining ingredients over a medium heat until they start to bubble and boil and thicken slightly (about 4 min.).
4. Pour the hot liquid in with the dry ingredients and mix until they are fully coated in the syrup.
5. Press down the mixture in the baking pan and leave to cool. (I coated a spatula with nonstick spray to pat down the mixture because it's very sticky.)
6. Cut into bars before serving

Recipe courtesy of Super Natural Cooking