Nutty Fruit Seed Bars

So these bars I made last Saturday. They are from Joanna Chang's Baking with Less Sugar. I have to admit, this is the third recipe I've made from the book, and while I wasn't super impressed with the other two, this one is definitely keeper!




Ingredients
75g/ 3/4 cup of walnuts, coarsely chopped
75g/ 3/4 cup of sliced almonds
75g/ 3/4 cup pecan pieces
40g/ 1/2 cup dried apple slices, chopped
60g/ 1/2 cup dried cranberries
60g/ 1/2 cup dried apricots, diced

60g/ 1/2 cup sultanas (golden raisins)
60g/ 1/2 cup raisins
50g/ 1/2 cup almond flour
60g/ 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
100g/ 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant or quick cooking)
40g/ 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100g/ 1/2 cup vegetable oil, such as canola
115g/ 1/3 cup honey
1 super-ripe banana, mashed (optional)
40g/ 1/4 cup flaxseed
35g/ 1/4 sunflower seeds
50g/ 1/4 cup millet

Instructions:
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. Put the walnuts, almonds, and pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
3. Put the dried apples, cranberries, apricots, sultanas, and raisins in a medium bowl and pour boiling water over the fruit to cover. Let sit for 30 minutes.
4.  Decrease the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. In a large bowl, combine the nuts, almond flour, buckwheat flour, oats, coconut, salt, cinnamon, vegetable oil, honey, banana (if using), flaxseed, sunflower seeds, and millet. Using a wooden spoon, stir well until thoroughly combined.
6. Drain the fruit into a medium bowl, reserving 1/4 cup (60mL) of the soaking water and discarding the rest of the liquid. Divide the fruit roughly in half, place half in a food processor or in a blender and add the reserved soaking water. Process until you have a chunky jam. Add the jam to the nut mixture along with the remaining whole fruit. Stir well to combine.
7. Press the mixture evenly on the prepared baking sheet into a rectangle about 12 by 8 inches. Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle in half lengthwise and then cut each half into 8 pieces widthwise so that you have a total of 16 bars. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown throughout. Reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees and continue to bake for another hour. Turn off the oven and let the bars sit in the oven until completely cool. They will get pretty dark but that is okay.
8. Remove from the oven and, using a sharp knife, recut the bars along the marks to separate (they will have joined slightly during baking). The bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.





My notes:
1. It's not the most appetizing thing in terms of looks, which is probably why I neglected to take pictures of it.  It's delicious, though.
2. I did not use the coconut (blech) or the apple slices or the apricots. Instead I used dried mangoes and dried blueberries and I added some sesame seeds as well. I also added extra spices (allspice, more cinnamon)
3. I used a blender to make the fruit jam and needed more than the recommended 1/2 cup of soaking liquid the process. I think this made the overall mixture a little more "wet" than it should have been, because the "precut" marks I made didn't not at all stay.
4. I also totally neglected to lower the temperature to 250 degrees and bake for an hour-- but I did let the bars completely cool after the 45 minute bake. The resulting bars were moist and chewy, and crumbled. I wonder if I had followed through, would the bars have been crunchier or perhaps less crumbly?
5. The millet was a really nice addition-- it made for a nice texture punch!