Five Seed Almond Bars Recipes

ALMOND BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Cream together the butter and the sugar. Add the egg and the almond extract and then mix until light and fluffy. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until combined.
• Press the dough into the bottom of a well-greased 9x13 pan. Press with your fingers or a pastry roller to smooth the top of the dough. Using a pastry brush, brush a tiny bit of milk across the top of the dough. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and very lightly press them into the top of the dough.
• Bake for 18-20 min, or until just barely beginning to brown around the edges. Do not let the bars brown at all. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then cut into bars. If they are too soft to cut, let them cool for a few more minutes. Carefully transfer the bars to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
• To make the icing: Add just a tiny bit of milk at a time to the powdered sugar. If the consistency is too thick, it won't drizzle nicely over the bars. If it is too thin, the icing will just melt into the bars. If you are unsure, test a bit of it on the edge of one bar before drizzling the icing over the entire batch.

ALMOND POPPY SEED BARS

Steps:

• In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, milk, oil, extracts and butter flavoring. Combine the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt; add to the egg mixture and mix just until combined. Spread into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. , Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack., In a bowl, combine the frosting ingredients; beat until smooth. Frost bars.

FIVE SEED ALMOND BARS

Steps:

• Measure out the seed and almonds in a small bowl, so that you can quickly add them later. Put the first set of dry ingredients in a food processor and blend for 30 seconds, until the raisins are finely chopped. Added the liquid ingredients next. Be sure to use melted butter, otherwise the mixture will be too stiff. Processor for about 30 seconds until a ball forms. Immediately add the nut mixture and lightly blend to mix (rather than pulverize). If you let the mixture sit too long, the mixture will get too dense and the food processor will not be able to turn the blade anymore! Time is of the essence. Place mixture on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Spread evenly to the corners of the paper. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes. It will be very soft and harden as it cools. Let cool a bit, then cut into bars and let cool completely. Option A: save the almonds until the end, after you have spread the mixture on the cookie sheet, then spinkle them on top and press gently into the mixture. Option B: Add 1/4 cup of white sugar to the dry ingredients. This will bring the sugar level up to the Trader Joe's level. I don't think it is necessary. Option C: If you want light "cakey" cookies instead of dense ones, use 2 eggs instead of 1. Option D: For extra moist bars, bake at 325 for 15 minutes.

SEED BARS

Steps:

• preheat oven to 325F (300 F if electric oven)
• Mix the seeds and salt together in a medium bowl. Stir in vanilla and warm honey, until uniformly combined.
• Place a piece of parchment in an 8 x 8 baking pan ( all the way up the sides too) . Spray lightly with oil.
• Pour seed mix into lightly greased, parchment-lined pan and using a wet metal spatula, spread it out, into corners and edges and press down firmly until you have a compacted, smooth surface at a uniform depth.
• Place on the middle rack in the oven for 40-55 minutes. Check at 25 minutes adjusting heat down to 300F, if edges seem too brown. For a chewy consistency, take out at 40-45 minutes, for a crispier crunchy consistency, let it cook the full 50 -55 minutes. Keep in mind, all ovens are different, so heat may vary. The key is....You want to take them out when they are perfectly golden, before they get too dark. So keep a close eye on them after 40 minutes. If you take them out too early (before they are golden) they may be too chewy and sticky. Pay attention to the color.
• For example, I've cooked these in two different ovens. In the gas oven, 50-55 minutes delivered perfectly golden bars. In the electric oven, 40 minutes were enough for perfectly golden. 55 minutes would have totally burnt them.
• Remove from oven, and cool completely. You could place in the fridge to cool faster. When it's completely cooled, take the parchment out of the pan, turn it over and remove parchment. Flip back over and cut into desired shapes or bars. Store at room temp.

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.

FRUIT AND SEED BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• In a food processor, pulse the first 6 ingredients until finely chopped (it's ok if there are few coarsely chopped pieces).
• Add the honey and sunflower and pulse until starting to combine.
• Pour the mixture into a 9 x 9 inch pan, greased then line with parchment and press down into the pan until completely even.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Let the bars completely cool before cutting with a serrated knife into bars.
• Serve.

ALMOND POPPY SEED BARS

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, milk, oil, extracts and butter flavoring.
• Combine the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt; add to the egg mixture and mix just until combined.
• Spread into a greased 15 x 10 x 1" baking pan.
• Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Cool on a wire rack.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the frosting ingredients; beat until smooth.
• Frost bars.