Chocolate Covered Alpen Muesli Bars With Sunflower Seed Pumpkin Seeds Goji Berries Recipes

SUPER SEEDY GRANOLA BARS

Steps:

• Toast your oats and almonds in a 350-degree F (176 C) oven for 13-15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
• Process dates in a food processor until small bits remain (about 1 minute). It should form a "dough" like consistency (mine rolled into a ball).
• Place oats, almonds and dates in a large mixing bowl. Add seeds and set aside.
• Warm agave and peanut or almond butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir and pour over oat mixture and then mix, breaking up the dates to disperse throughout. Use a spoon or your hands to thoroughly mix.
• Transfer to an 8×8 dish or other small pan lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper so they lift out easily. (Or use 2/3 of a 9×13 // as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size)
• Cover with parchment or plastic wrap and press down with something flat, such as a book, to get them really packed tight. This will help them from being crumbly. Chill in the fridge or freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden.
• Remove bars from dish and chop into 10 even bars (as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). Store in an airtight container for up to a few days. I kept mine in the freezer to keep them extra fresh, but it isn't necessary.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED APPLES

Steps:

• Insert wooden craft sticks or lollipop sticks into the cores of the apples at the stem. Place the roasted peanuts and candies on separate plates. Set aside.
• Place the chocolate into a metal or glass bowl and set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until melted. Remove from the heat. Dip apples into the melted chocolate, turning to coat completely. Dip or roll in candy or nuts, then place on a sheet of waxed paper. Repeat with remaining apples. Allow apples to set at room temperature until the chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes, before serving.

CHOCOLATE COVERED APPLES

Steps:

• Twist off the stems from the apples and push a Popsicle stick down into the core. Put the apples in the fridge while preparing the chocolate; they'll coat better if they're cold.
• Slowly melt the chocolate in a double boiler over hot water or in a microwave set on high for 2 minutes, stirring halfway through the heating time to smooth it out. Remove from the heat and stir until completely melted and warm, not hot. Dunk each apple into the chocolate, allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl. Roll the apples around in the chocolate, turning with the stick, so it's coated all the way up to the top. Use a spoon to baste any hard to get spots.
• Put the desired coating in a separate bowl and roll the dipped apple around so it is completely covered. Set the chocolate dipped apples on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set.

MUESLI BARS

Steps:

• heat the oven to 180C. Melt the butter, sugar and honey together with the cinnamon and simmer for 2 minutes. stir in the muesli, pumpkin seeds and dried apricots.
• pack the mixture into a lined baking sheet, cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges and turn out. slice into squares and serve cold.

CHOCOLATE COVERED ALMONDS

Steps:

• Place the granulated sugar and water in a large copper pot or 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the almonds and stir to coat them evenly in the sugar syrup. Your goal is to cook the almonds until the sugar crystallizes and caramelizes.
• When water is added to the sugar, the sugar crystals are dissolved. As it boils, the syrup becomes thicker as the water evaporates and big soap-like bubbles begin to form. Soon, all the moisture evaporates and the mixture becomes sandy. The sandiness is the sugar recrystallizing. It only takes the reformation of one sugar crystal to recrystallize the others. Keep stirring! Next, you see the sugar closest to the heat change from sandy to a clear liquid. The melted sugar clings to the almonds. When the sugar changes from clear to golden brown, the nuts are caramelized. Once this happens, pay close attention; the time it takes to pass from caramelized to burned is only a matter of seconds, especially when making smaller batches. You know the nuts are finished when most of the sandy sugar is gone.
• The first few times you make these, I suggest you try the following: When the sugar closest to the heat changes from sandy to liquid, remove the pan from the burner and continue to stir. The residual heat in the sugar and nuts will continue to cook the mixture while you stir it. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue to stir the nuts while moving the saucepan on and off the heat at 10-second intervals. This will give you more control as it cooks. When the nuts begin to caramelize, remove them from the heat and finish stirring.
• Use a wooden spoon to spread the caramelized nuts onto a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Do not touch the nuts as they are extremely hot. Let the nuts cool completely. If your freezer will accommodate the baking sheet, you can place the nuts in the freezer for about 30 minutes to speed up the cooling process. When completely cooled, break apart any nut clusters that may have formed. At this stage, you can choose to serve the nuts as they are.
• Place the caramelized nuts in the coating pan attached to the stand mixer. Spin at low speed. Use a ladle to add the chocolate to the spinning nuts. Add 1 ladle at a time until the nuts are coated to the desired thickness. If a thicker coat is desired, use more chocolate. If a thinner coat is desired, decrease the amount of chocolate. Finish by adding cocoa powder to the coating pan. Remove and serve.

SIMPLE CHOCOLATE-COVERED ALMONDS

Steps:

• Set a pot of water over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add a double boiler to the top of the pot and lower heat to a simmer.
• Add chocolate and coconut oil to the double boiler. Stir until chocolate is melted.
• Place a drip rack over a parchment-lined pan. Place almonds on top of the drip rack. Pour chocolate over the almonds. Allow chocolate to dry.
• Once dry, store almonds in a resealable container.