Homemade Fiber Bars

People often run screaming when you start talking about fiber. They think it'll taste bad.  They think it'll be endless hours of chewing.  They think of Metamucil.

But the fact is that Americans aren't getting enough dietary fiber - the fiber naturally found in foods (including yummy fruits and veggies!).  And we need that dietary fiber.  Aside from our overall digestive health, fiber helps us maintain our weight or lose weight.  Don't believe me?

Okay, so fiber isn't glamorous.  Nobody's going to look at a high fiber food and go, "Wow!  Look at that!  It's just amazing - the presentation is impeccable!" the way they would with a three-tier chocolate cake piped with intricate flowers and frosting designs.

Or would they?

Perhaps, if fiber looked a little something like this:

A coworker recently shared her recipe for homemade fiber bars, and I finally got around to making them.  Take my word for it - there's tons of fiber-filled ingredients, but they taste awesome!  And they're so easily personalized to your taste preferences.



Homemade Fiber Bars
Ingredients

• 1/4 cup flax seed
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup Grape Nuts cereal
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 and 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 and 1/4 cup steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate mini chips
• 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• Cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites
• 1 and 1/2 cup water, divided
• 3/4 cup natural peanut butter

Method

1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Mix olive oil, honey, vanilla and egg whites together in a medium bowl until well incorporated.
3. Add 1/2 cup of water to the wet ingredients and blend.  Add a second 1/2 cup water and mix until well blended.
4. Add peanut butter to wet mixture and mix well.
5. Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and mix together well.
6. Pour the third 1/2 cup of water over the combined mixture and mix well.
7. Grease a 9 by 13 inch metal pan and press mixture into pan with a spatula.  Make sure it is pressed down well.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
9. Let cool (can be eaten warm), then cut into squares and store in the refrigerator.

You can add more chocolate or more peanut butter - whatever you want to change up the flavors.  I'm debating using maple syrup instead of honey next time.

Anyway, because they look so beautiful, in addition to tasting so good, I thought I'd share some more pictures.  Enjoy!