Sun Bars Recipes

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.

NO-BAKE SUNFLOWER BARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the sunflower kernels, coconut and rice cereal. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar and syrup. Bring to a boil; boil and stir for 2 minute. , Remove from the heat; stir in peanut butter until well blended. Pour over sunflower mixture; stir until coated. Press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. pan. Cool; cut into bars.

SUN BARS

Steps:

• Toast seeds in a small non-stick skillet over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until they're tan in color and fragrant. Some dark spots are fine.
• Remove the skillet from heat and stir in the honey.
• Return the skillet to the stove and stir constantly. Cook until honey thickens and begins to caramelize, about 3-4 minutes.
• Remove from heat and press to desired thickness, either in a cooking pan* or silicone mold. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the top.
• Allow to cool completely.

SUN BARS

Steps:

• Place the sunflower seeds and walnuts in a food processor and grind until homogeneous; set aside.
• Chop the dates into pieces your blender can handle.
• In a blender place honey, apple juice, cinnamon, vanilla and chopped dates. Blend until a smooth texture is reached.
• In a large mixing bowl combine raisins, and nut mix. Then stir in the date mixture (you may have to use your hands).
• When the dough is completely mixed, you can either roll in balls and freeze for later (tastes like cookie dough), or you can shape dough into 2 inch balls, roll in coconut and place on dehydrator sheets. Dry in dehydrator for for 8-10 hours at 125 -130°F.
• Another option is to take two 9 x 13-inch glass baking pan and sprinkle 1/2 cup coconut in each pan. Press 1/2 of the dough in each pan, top with remaining coconut and bake in a oven for 2 hours at 150- 200°F.
• If you use an oven, you need to keep an eye on the bars during the last 30 minutes so they don't burn.