A chick and a pea hop into a bar…

Current Music – Florence & the Machine • Cosmic Love (It took me some time to get into the rest of the album but after a few days, I cannot stop listening to it.)

Current Book – Just finished The Lost Dogs (Highly recommended!), now reading Rescue

I thought I wouldn’t be big on these granola bars when I prepared them a week or so ago, but it turns out they are absolutely delicious and make for a perfect breakfast or snack. With agave replacing the honey, and the notion that whoever gets 24 servings out of this isn’t feeling the slightest bit peckish, you can also rest assured that the garbanzo bean flavor remains under the radar far more easily than when its flour is used. I keep these bars in the fridge because they are tender and rather, dare I say, moist.

I’m posting the recipe here because I made a few changes in procedure, ingredients and wording, but also because I have seen too many keeper-recipes get lost in cyberspace leaving me heartbroken. All by myself. Don’t wanna be.

Chickpea Granola Bars:

1 heaping tablespoon ground flax seeds
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/4 cups cooked chickpeas (drained and rinsed if from a can)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 cup crunchy natural peanut butter (or other nut/seed butter)
1/4 cup agave nectar
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 1/2 cups quick oats (I used these, they’re terrific)
1 cup puffed kamut (or other puffed cereal)
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
2 dates, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Combine flax with water, let stand to thicken.
Combine chickpeas with sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Place in an 8-inch square baking pan.
Bake for 8 minutes, stir well. Bake for another 8 minutes.
Combine peanut butter, agave, oil, and flax mixture.
Mash chickpeas until none are left whole.
Combine chickpeas, oats, kamut, dried fruits, and remaining cinnamon.
If you own a stand mixer, now would be a good time to use it. Also, if your peanut butter and chickpeas contain no salt, consider throwing in a pinch to enhance the sweetness. Add wet ingredients into dry and stir well to combine.
Press the mixture into an 8-inch square baking pan lined with wax (or parchment) paper. Press down hard, just like you would do with puffed rice treats. Use an extra piece of wax/parchment paper to do so.
Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours before slicing. Store in the fridge and gobble up within a week.

Yield: Not 24 bars. Maybe 16 at the most. But really, 12 is more like it – I am an ogre!