Tahini Energy Bars

When I was growing up, my dad sometimes made British flap jacks as a treat for us. He died without giving me his recipe, and I’ve never been able to make them the way he did!   That’s probably because he never used a recipe, he just made them up out of his head as he went along.

These tahini energy bars grew out of my attempts to make healthy flapjacks.  This recipe is imprecise. It’s more like notes for something I’ve experimented with rather than a tried and true recipe. The combination of tahini and molasses is a real winner. I’m just not yet fixed on the exact quantities. Same goes for the rest of the ingredients, so I offer this to you as an ongoing experiment. Not a recipe for someone who follows recipes exactly, rather a sketch for those of you who like to experiment.

If you play with it, please let me know how it goes and what you did!

Melt together, over low heat:

• 3/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine ( I use olive oil margarine, butter would definitely give an amazing flavor boost)
• 1/2 tsp salt, table
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract

Bring to a bubble, just for a moment, you want to get a sticky toffee-like consistency rather than a fudge.  You definitely don’t want it turning into hard or chewy, pull-your-fillings-out toffee. If you know flapjacks, that’s the kind of consistency you want, but maybe a tiny bit stickier.  You need a consistency to stick all the healthy bits together.

Mix in the healthy bits:

• 1/2 cup large flake rolled oats
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds
• 5 brazil nuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup Thompson raisins
• 1/8 cup Golden Linseed

Press this mixture into a wax paper lined cookie sheet and chill. Then cut with a knife into bars.

Good luck! Let me know!