Veggievangelist: Recipe in Reverse

There are those who love recipes so much that they want to take something they like and then reverse engineer it for home use. I am not that person. But, I very much wanted to do that with this recipe. My friend Helen brought over some Five Seed Almond Bars from Trader Joe's for a snack one afternoon. They were marvelous. So much so because I felt certain that I could make them myself. So, I did what anyone else would have done, which is Google the title. Low and behold, a very talented "Lakata" had posted her version of the recipe.

Since then, I've made these a number of times. Some with great success, some with not so much glory. There's a trick to them, but not so much that you yourself couldn't do it. In fact, I encourage you to try these because they make an awesome snack for school.

Five Seed Almond Bars
Adapted from "Lakata," as published on Epicurious

Makes Three dozen

Ingredients:
1 1/8 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup quick oatmeal (not instant)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 stick melted butter (4 oz.)
1 egg
2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain flax seed oil (available in the health food section of Whole Foods)

1 cup of seed mix: flax, sesame, pumpkin, poppy and sunflower (1 oz. each seed, approximately 5 oz. total)
1/3 cup slivered, toasted almonds

Preparation:

Measure out the seeds and almonds in a small bowl and set aside. You will need to work with them quickly, so have them ready to go.

Put the first set of dry ingredients in a food processor and blend for 30 seconds, until the raisins are finely chopped. Add the liquid ingredients and process for about 30 seconds until the mixture forms a ball. Add the nut mixture and pulse the food processor a few times to lightly mix. This resulting mixture is very dense. Work quickly so you don't burn out the motor on your food processor.

Turn mixture out onto a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. Spread evenly using a wet spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees in the oven after about six minutes. The bars will firm as they cool. Cut using a pizza wheel, and allow to cool a bit longer before removing from the pan. Store in an airtight storage container, or freeze.