I am tinkering with the breakfast bar recipe that I posted last week. Thought I would try eliminating the shredded coconut and adding more protein powder. They are baking at this moment, so will let you know. I am concerned about the texture, as I hope they don't come out dry and crumbly.

1 ¼ cup blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 scoop plus 1/3 scoop vanilla protein powder (enough to equal 4 blocks of protein)
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup almond slivers
¼ cup raisins

In a small bowl, combine almond flour, salt, protein powder and baking soda
In a large bowl, combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla
Stir dry ingredients into wet
Mix in pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almond slivers and raisins
Grease an 8x8 baking dish with grapeseed oil
Press the dough into the baking dish, wetting your hands with water to help pat the dough down evenly
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes

Serve

Makes 12-16 bars

calories: 158 carb g: 10 fat g: 12 protein g: 6 Fiber g: 2

The fat count didn't change much with this recipe. Next time, I will try eliminating the oil and replacing it with egg whites. I didn't change out the nuts on this version, but certainly one could use a more favorable variety of nuts (heavier on almonds). I am picturing a blend of almonds and pistachios, and using almond extract instead of vanilla extract--yum!

Too crumbly, but they taste awesome!

CC

Why not add some beaten egg whites next time to bind the mixture.

The major downside to these bars, and to me it's an even bigger issue than the fact they are loaded with unfavorable carbohydrates (raisins, nut flour or meal/agave surup, etc.) and lack a good P/C ratio, is the abundance of omega 6 fat they contain (re: the seeds and grapeseed oil). I know you (CC) realized this because you mentioned it in yrou first thread abut this recipe. I'm posting this info let others know that the Zone is not simply about making P, C and F add up on paper. It's of the utmost importance for lowering cellular inflammation to avoid eating omega 6 fat as much as possible. And, for the readers here who are interested in the Zone mainly for wt loss, keep in mind that lower inflammation levels mean better wt loss results.

I understand, Sue.

Absolutely, it is not about getting it all to add up on paper. It is about the glycemic response.

But, for me personally, I like having food that is whole food coming out of my kitchen, rather than a manufactured processed product with ingredients that I can't obtain on my own (and in some cases can't even pronounce the words).

And, in my opinion, if you read the ingredients on the label of a zone bar, it really boggles my mind that there are all kinds of unfavorable ingredients in the bars... and their selling point is that they use a term called "molecular baking" to make it all good. (haha)

My glycemic response to official zone bars has been questionable, and I only use them on occasion for the sake of convenience (for lack of a better choice, in some cases). Personally, trialing the home-made bars, I see no appreciable difference in my glycemic response.

As for the raisins and/or dried cranberries, they really don't contribute very much carb (and zone labs puts raisins in bars, too). 1/4 cup of them spread across 16 servings does not add up to much.

As for the agave, glycemic load has been advertized to be quite low (although I can't provide an actual figure).

As for the carb in the almond flour, that has also been advertized to be quite low.

Thanks for sharing the information, though. I am sure that others can read and learn, and make their own educated decisions.

Thank You Sue, you said it ALL.

And thank you,Tech! (my typo adjustment)

LOL, this conversation is so funny, it is ridiculous that it is even happening!

Has anyone looked at a zone bar wrapper?

How about any of the zone muffin recipes that are in zone books?

How about MANY of the "zone-approved" recipes that are out there that contain UNFAVORABLE ingredients?

And yet, no one puts those things under a microscope, as this (and the other) recipe has been done to?!?

As zoners, we need to be aware of favorable/unfavorable ingredients, and of balance. Most importantly, we need to pay attention to our hormonal response to food, regardless of how favorable it might appear, on paper. These member-submitted recipes are not zone-approved, and if each recipe that is submitted is cut down and dissected to this degree, I would guess that no other member would even dare to post a recipe, in fear of the negative feedback that may come of it.

(stepping off of my soapbox, now)

Hear hear CC!!!!! Remember that was my gripe with the Zone recipes on the old site? I made an oatmeal bar that was submitted by a member and both you and Sue said you couldnt believe how many carbs were in it! This was put on the site and not checked by anyone to see if it was actually a Zoned recipe. I sent an email and the response was we are a small company and dont have enough resources to check the recipes ...

Margaret, thanks for the support, I was referring to the recipes that Dr. Sears has published in his books, and not member-submitted recipes. Those who are picking my bar recipe apart should focus their attention on other recipes that are in the Zone books, such as the muffin recipes, which obviously contain a HIGH amount of unfavorable carb (oat flour, as the main ingredient).

How about the fact that the old "7 day meal plan" contained selections that included things like pineapple? How is anyone supposed to get in the Zone with unfavorable ingredients?

Well, quite honestly, the answer to that question is that all foods are "allowed" and no food is banned. That is why I offered up the breakfast bar recipe, in the first place, and made some more zoneful suggestions to make it better, albeit not perfect. But, those who want to tear down my bar recipe, please keep in mind that there are few foods in the world that are truly perfect foods, and my only hope was that this would be a decent option for those who wanted a bar that is gluten free and "somewhat" zoneable.