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~ raw, vegan, gluten-free ~
I bet I caught you off guard with the name of this bar, didn’t I? This bar is part of my Long Haul™ series that I have created and dedicated to my dad, who is a truck driver.
I have shared a few of the recipes that I have made for him so far… the Long Haul™ Trail Mix Bar and Long Haul™ Banana Apple Granola Bars. You can read over those recipes and gain an understanding of why I created this line of bars. Dedicated Run refers to a driver pulling freight for one specific shipper week after week, with the same pick-up and drop-off points. My dad has hauled darn near everything, cows, oil, fish; you name it!
Dedicated Run refers to a driver pulling freight for one specific shipper week after week, with the same pick-up and drop-off points. My dad has hauled darn near everything, cows, oil, fish; you name it!
My goal with this bar was to make it nut-free and packed full of nutrients, and it all started with sesame seeds. Even though this bar has o wonderful flavors, the taste of sesame seeds is prevalent to me.
The seeds add a sweet, rich, nutty flavor. When toasted, they take on the flavor of roasted peanuts with unique overtones. I have read that toasting the seeds can release more of their nutrients, but I am still researching this. Raw is wonderful (!), but in the end, I aim to get the most and best nutritional value from all the foods we eat.
I LOVE sesame seeds, so I had to begin my journey by learning how they grow. If I had my way, I would travel the world to see how every food is grown and harvested. It is just that fascinating to me. The sesame seed plant grows to about 5 feet tall ( I see we have something in common hehe) and has bell-shaped flowers that vary in color; white, pale yellow, purple.
The pods contain white, brown, or black seeds depending upon the cultivar type, arranged in rows inside. Each pod (2-5 cm in length) is a long rectangular box like a capsule with deep grooves on its sides. A single pod may contain up to 100 or more seeds. Now come on, you have to admit, that is pretty darn cool. Most sesame seeds are still harvested by hand due to their fragility. The plants are cut into stalks with the pods intact, and the leaves are removed. After being bundled up, the stalks are left in a dry area until the pods go brown. At that point, the pods are crushed to gather the seeds. Ok, which one of you out there has a sesame seed orchard? I want to visit.
Sesame seeds are chocked full of zinc, which is an essential mineral for producing collagen and giving skin more elasticity. Zinc also helps damaged tissues in the body to repair. It sounds like I need to bathe in this stuff. Hehe Along with zinc, sesame seeds are high in copper, which is a mineral that is important for anti-inflammatory and antioxidant enzyme systems.
Sesame contains unsaturated fats, so they should be stored in airtight containers to avoid turning rancid. Properly stored dry seeds generally stay fresh for several months. Store hulled “white” seeds always in the refrigerator. Avoid old, offensive smelling (rancid) seeds. Now to make the bars and enjoy them!
yields 22 bars (1/4 cup each)
Bars:
Hardening Chocolate:
Hi Amie Sue, thank you so much for your wonderful recipes and information. I have learnt so much. I look forward to your emails. Alison.
Thank you Alison. I appreciate hearing that. :) Have a wonderful weekend and I hope you find time to play in the kitchen! amie sue
what a great dedication to your dad
cant wait to try this one to
I have been meaning to ask you this for quite some time now -what in the world are you doing with all this food???
I make all this stuff eat as much of it as I can freeze what I can for later but still end up throwing out a big amount of it LOL
constance
I feed my family and friends. :) It brings me the greatest joy in doing so. Have a great day Constance. amie sue
Happy Father’s Day to your wonderful Dad. Truck drivers are such a special group of caring individual’s, my Dad was a Trucker and a VERY hard worker too.God bless your Dad for all his hard work and dedication to his family and his profession and for being the back bone of America. I can see why you felt you wanted to make some recipes exclusively for Dad with added attention to high nutrients while being quick and easy to handle, such a thoughtful good daughter you are, your Dad raised you well. Also thank you for all that you shared about this very tiny yet mighty seed :) and lovely recipe and beautiful photo’s. I know I will enjoy these very much too. Thank you Amie-sue.
Thank you sooooo much Kathy! That meant a lot to read all of that. I will be sure to share it with him too, it will bless him. Love and hugs, amie sue
Hello Amie-Sue, I made the Long Haul bars today. One word ….. Y U M ! I don’t have a dehydrator so have them in the fridge and didn’t have the cocoa butter so they are naked without the chocolate, but still fabulous! Thank you so much for your website, have given it to 2 people today. xx
That is wonderful Sue… I really appreciate the feed-back. :) So many of the raw bars / cookies can be put in the fridge, skipping the dehydration process… they just need to be kept in the fridge or freezer so they don’t go bad. I just gave these bars to my dad last night for Father’s Day. He loved them. :) Have a blessed day. amie sue
Hello Amie! thanks for all the great recipes and insights on raw cuisine.
I would like to ask if we could use the date paste instead of the pitted dates that some recipes require. Or is it a matter of the final consistency of the bar that we need the whole dates?
Thank you!! :)
Hello Nastazia,
You can’t always just substitute the whole dates for date paste. It will depend on the recipe. Date paste is much “wetter” than whole dates. If a recipe needs a tight binder, you will want to use whole dates because they are so sticky when blended with other ingredients. Date paste can hold some recipes together but again it will depend on what the outcome of that recipe is. I tend to use date paste more as a sweetener than a binder. I hope that makes sense. If not, let me know and I will do my best to better explain it. :) Blessings, amie sue
I love these bars and they have become a staple in my diet. But i must confess that I don’t always soak the oats. When I tried soaking and re-dehydrating the oats I was greatly dissappointed in the end results as far as using them in a recipe. They where kinda clumped together and you really couldn’t measure them. I felt that they where only suited at this point to be used for flour. So Please help me, can I just soak and rinse the oats and some how alter the recipe so that I keep the proper consistency needed? Or what do you recommend? Love you to pieces Aimie Sue. And I really like my Monkey Brittle :-)
Hi Roxy, soaking and dehydrating oats is your call. I find it a must if you have digestion issues… but then, a person might need to stay away from them if they do indeed have digestion issues. They do clump together when they are soaked and dehydrated, no way to get around that. I use them in all my bars this way. After they are dehydrated I just break the clumps apart with my fingers and have no issues with them.
If you want to use wet oats in this recipe, just make sure that squeeze as much liquid out of them as possible. If the batter is just too wet to work with, maybe add a few tablespoons of ground flax, letting it rest for about 15 minutes after it is all mixed together. You will just have to see once it is all mixed.
So happy that you enjoyed the Crispy Monkey Brittle. :) Have a blessed day, amie sue
Thank you. I will give both options a try. I will need to make more soon!
Thank you,
Roxy
Hi Amie-sue
Can I use cacao butter in stead of coconut butter for the bars?
Thank you!
Irm
You can Irm but keep in mind… it will impart a bitter chocolate flavor so you will need to adjust the sweetness in the bar. Good luck! amie sue
Thanks!!
Hi, such great recips you are sharing with us. big thank you for that. I can’t use oats in this recipe and am wondering if I can use sprouted buckwheat, dried instead, would that work? Newbie Paleo girl. :-)
Hello new Paleo girl :) Sure, I don’t see why not. I will change the flavor and texture a bit but this will be your call due to your dietary needs. :) Let me know how it goes. Blessings and enjoy, amie sue
I made these tonight. Very easy and delicious! I put half in the fridge and the other half in the dehydrator so I could try them both ways. :) What do you recommend for storage for traveling?
Hello Holly,
So glad to hear that you are enjoying them. :) For traveling, you will want to use the dehydrated version so they can last a bit longer. I would wrap each one individually so they don’t stick to one another, and to keep them from air and odors. Then pack them in a hard container so nothing can squish them. :) I hope this helps. Keep me posted. Many blessings, amie sue