My wife and I have had the privilege of living in Seattle for the past 3 months, and with almost 200 miles of weekend backpacking trips under our belts I’ve had plenty of time to work on improving my backpacking food bars. I think the current results are much better than the original and 2.0 versions.
As with the previous versions of the bars, my goals are:
1. High in calories, carbohydrates, and protein
2. Shelf stable for at least a week under high temperature and humidity
3. Sufficiently palatable to be eaten multiple times a day for many days in a row
4. Easily and cheaply made from readily available ingredients
5. The Holy Grail: something that even my ever-skeptical wife would be willing to eat.
My apologies up front for the poor lighting in some of the pictures. The lighting in my kitchen is pretty bad, which is made all the more embarrassing by the fact that I now work for a lighting company.
As with the previous versions of the bars, my goals are:
1. High in calories, carbohydrates, and protein
2. Shelf stable for at least a week under high temperature and humidity
3. Sufficiently palatable to be eaten multiple times a day for many days in a row
4. Easily and cheaply made from readily available ingredients
5. The Holy Grail: something that even my ever-skeptical wife would be willing to eat.
My apologies up front for the poor lighting in some of the pictures. The lighting in my kitchen is pretty bad, which is made all the more embarrassing by the fact that I now work for a lighting company.
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Signing UpStep 1: Tools and Ingredients
Tools:
• Mixing bowl
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoons (if creating one of the flavor variants)
• Rubber spatula
• Food processor (or knife and cutting board)
• Jellyroll pan
• Aluminum foil
• Oven (preheated to 250F)
• Plastic wrap
Ingredients:
• Sweetened condensed milk (2 cups)
• Nut butter of your choice (2 cups)
• Whey protein concentrate (1 cup)
• Glutinous rice flour (1 cup)
• Nuts (1 cup, chopped)
• Dried fruit (1 cup, chopped)
• Mixing bowl
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoons (if creating one of the flavor variants)
• Rubber spatula
• Food processor (or knife and cutting board)
• Jellyroll pan
• Aluminum foil
• Oven (preheated to 250F)
• Plastic wrap
Ingredients:
• Sweetened condensed milk (2 cups)
• Nut butter of your choice (2 cups)
• Whey protein concentrate (1 cup)
• Glutinous rice flour (1 cup)
• Nuts (1 cup, chopped)
• Dried fruit (1 cup, chopped)
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Sweeten condensed milk
1 cup powered milk
1/3 cup boiling water
2/3 cup splenda
3 Tablespoons butter.
Mix together in blender Start on low a minute Then on high until smooth.
I love this. I can't have sugar.
It would cut down the carbs and calories.
The net effect would obviously be to reduce carbs and calories, like you said, but as I envisioned the recipe and it's uses the carbs and calories are the point. Lots of energy in an easy to carry, shelf stable package. If you're just going for a desert bar though, regular condensed milk might work.
By volume, it's the same amount of calories, but the downside is that you're losing protein from the milk and adding carbs from the honey. I'd be willing to make that trade if it improves the shelf life, though.
A well-stocked natural food store will carry it in bulk bins. It can of course be web-bought. I bet this would be a great thing to add to your bars, making lunch and dinner bars in addition to breakfast-y ones.
A couple of suggestions: If you have a Kitchen-Aid (or other sturdy brand) stand mixer with a dough hook, use it! It makes combining the ingredients and kneading the dough a snap. And, if you went the hand-pressed route, use a pizza cutter to cut the baked dough into bars. So much easier than trying to keep a straight line with a knife. Happy baking!