Almond bars

[cjsmith]

OK, I'll be honest and state up front that these things taste like sawdust. But that's not the point. They're full of protein and "good fats"; that too is not the point.

They are a baked snack using no grains or sweeteners. THAT'S the point.

I adapted a recipe from Gourmet Nutrition v1.0. Some of the ingredients were problematic. But hey, BAKING is EASY. Substitute, switch, omit, make up off the top of your head, and voila. What I wound up with was a big honkin' pile of almond meal, three eggs, a handful of walnut pieces, and an ingredient I have never before purchased for my kitchen: whey protein powder (sorry, abqdan!).

This is the first time I've ever baked without using any form of flour whatsoever. Massive breakthrough for me!

Now that I've eaten some of these bars, I know exactly what I'd do to them. Unlike the target audience of Gourmet Nutrition, I'm not aiming to become the fittest person on the planet. I'm just aiming to survive Lyme treatment. So: I'd add a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring and 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter. After that go-round I'd see whether I still liked the egg proportion, and I'd try some with unsweetened cocoa powder added, and some with cinnamon and nutmeg. I might decrease the whey protein if it doesn't hose the texture -- the whey protein is sawdust, no question, and it ain't cheap stuff either. Variants I'll probably have when I'm done: chocolate almond bars, chocolate peanut bars, and "spice cookie" bars.

After that, if I can manage it, I'll start trying to figure out how to make a thin cracker kind of thing I can use to scoop up hummus. Nut meal probably doesn't make a good base for that, but you never know 'til you try.

I can BAKE again!

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

OK, I thought they were somehow different, but just wanted to make sure. Bummer about liking the taste! It's not so bad being allergic to something you hate, but being allergic to something you like is no fun.