Hello sunshine!
So, it turns out that 11 weather records were broken around BC this past weekend! What a glorious May we’ve been having in Vancouver. Were you one of the thousands of Vancouverites to flood to the city’s sunny beaches over the weekend? I had a pretty busy schedule but made it out for my first beach picnic of the year!
All this unseasonal summertime weather is making me dream of fair weather trips and long, meandering adventures. Is the sunshine making you feel inspired as well? I started to do some brainstorming and came up with a list of places I’d like to visit once the good weather is here to stay.
My Summer 2013 Adventure Bucket List
- Hike the Chief one sunny day
- Pack a picnic and climb Mount Gardiner with friends
- Camp out on Sombrio Beach and wake up to the surf
- Cycle a portion of the ancient Kettle Valley Railroad and tent under the stars
- Kayak through the Gulf Islands and moor here for the night
- Hike into the alpine Elfin Lakes and visit a marmot
What are your favourite summer activities? Are you going to adventure anywhere new this summer? I can’t wait to put these trips into action!
With all this summer daydreaming, I got a little ahead of myself and baked a batch of dayhike granola bars. I thought, why not make some of my favourite homemade granola bars and freeze them for future “grab and go” adventure snacks? These granola bars are the kind that put a zing in your step and keep you going all day.
The bars are packed with energizing seeds, nuts and grains along with chewey raisins, decadent chocolate and gooey peanut butter that make for a tasty hike snack or afternoon energy boost. Incredible, right? Shelley Adams’ Whitewater Granola Bar recipe is wonderful on its own, but I altered it with a slight tweak (coconut oil and almond butter) so that it could be made as a vegan bar as well. Also delicious!
Whitewater Granola Bars
yield: 1 cookie tray of bars time: 1 hour bake temp: 350 F
Ingredients *1 cup butter 1 1/2 cups peanut butter (or almond butter) 2 cups brown sugar 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla 1 cup corn syrup (or 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup c.s.) 6 cups rolled oats 1 cup coconut, toasted 1 cup sunflower seeds, toasted 1 cup sesame seeds, toasted 1 cup organic raisins 1 cup chocolate chips *Vegan option: Substitute butter for 1 cup coconut oil.
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a deep sided cookie tray with parchment paper (do not use wax paper in place of parchment). 2. Toast coconut, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds in a large skillet until golden and nutty and set aside to cool. 3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter (or coconut oil), peanut butter (or almond butter), vanilla and brown sugar. Add corn syrup/honey blend and then mix in remaining dry ingredients. Add cooled toasted seeds, mix together evenly. 4. Spoon mixture into prepared cookie tray lined with parchment paper and gently press down into place. Take a piece of parchment paper or wax paper and press mixture firmly down into tray. (use your body weight!). One the mixture is firmly pressed and flat, slide tray into preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. 5. Let tray cool slightly then deeply score bars with a large knife in vertical pieces. Once bars are cool, cut bars and place on a tray or tupperware to store. Note: If you’d like to freeze the bars for future day trips, hikes or outings (like I’ve done!) simply wrap each bar in saran wrap until sealed, place all wrapped bars in a tupperware and freeze bars in tightly packed tupperware. They should be good for a couple months and taste über fresh for your early morning start one sunny summer day. Enjoy!
These bars are so delicious, I’ve been finding it hard to keep them in the freezer. They’re great as on the go snacks when you need an mid-day boost, as brekky on the way to work in the morning or as a pre-workout energy bar (my sister munched on one of my bars before she ran a marathon this past weekend!). If you like the look of this recipe, I recommend you look into Shelly’s cookbook Whitewater Cooks. Shelley Adams is the co-owner of Whitewater Ski Resort in the Kootenays and head chef at the resort’s Fresh Tracks Café. Talk about a woman on a mission! There are a handful of savoury and sweet gems in her cookbook and I call her cookbook one of my favs (remember that delicious Apple Cake? It was also Shelley’s recipe!)
Enjoy your granola bars. Good luck keeping them hidden away!
I hope you have a wonderful week full of summer yearnings, healthy snacks and maybe your first picnic of the year!
Blue Owl Treats 
these look amazing!
Thanks J!! :)
Looks great!
thanks!
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