Recipe Redux Post #26 Ginger Apple Walnut Bars

September's Recipe Redux theme is "Get Your Dehydrator On" and we were asked to show how we like to dehydrate food or develop a recipe using dehydrated fruits or veggies.  Sadly I do not own a dehydrator and don't seem to be home long enough to do an all day low temp oven dehydration method so I decided to go with creating a recipe using store bought dried apples- my favorite dehydrated fruit!  I have also come to adore ginger over the last year so I decided to do a snack bar recipe that married apples and ginger together with some crunchy walnuts thrown in. If you are not a big ginger fan you can omit it and then these will simply be apple walnut bars which are delicious as well. The neutral almond butter base works great with these bars and the chewy apples and oats plus the crunch of the walnuts it an awesome combination.  So try them out to eat for breakfast, snack or dessert and check out the other cool dehydrator creations from the other Recipe Redux bloggers too!

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy or crunchy almond butter (I used Trader Joes Crunchy Salted)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup pure maple syrup  
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

¾ teaspoon ground ginger (optional- then these will just be apple walnut bars!)

3/4 cup oats (old fashioned, not quick, use a gluten-free oats such as Bob's Red Mill if you are on a gluten-free diet)

½ cup chopped dried apples 

¼ cup chopped walnuts

Wax or parchment paper

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Press mixture into an 8 by 8 inch pan. (Lining the pan with a large rectangular piece of parchment paper, placing the mixture on one side and then folding the paper over to press down works nicely. The dough will be a bit crumbly, but will come together nicely as you continue to work with it and pat it down into the pan.) Chill in the fridge for an hour or more (if you can wait that long!) and cut into 8 bars and serve. Wrapping the individual bars in wax paper and storing in baggies is great for convenience.  Store in the fridge. These bars also freeze well!

Makes 8 bars

Serving size: 1/8th of recipe  Calories 300 Protein 10 g Carb 25 g Fiber 4 g Sugars 15 g Fat 20 g Saturated fat 1.5 g Sodium 20 mg

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