Homemade Clif Bars (Round 2)

Week 20 is finally here. In 6 days, what I've been training, spending most of my money and thinking of for the past 19 weeks will be taking place. The Rohto Ironman 70.3 Hawaii (Honu). I'm pretty excited to be doing it but at the same time feeling really stressed/nervous about the whole ordeal. I know I should view this as practice for next years race (Achilles tendon issue set me way back on my running ability) and try to relax and have fun. Oh, if you're wondering, my AT is feeling a lot better. Decided to give acupuncture a shot and it seemed to make it feel better. Will write about that experience later. 

On with the Clif bars. I have to be honest. I love Clif Bars. When it's on sale I buy a lot. Let's put it this way, last time I bought, the cashier said "you must really love Clif Bars". However, sales on Clif Bars are not to frequent and buying them on regular price ain't cheap. Being the cheap but thrifty triathlete. I figured some cute food blogger in Foodbloggerland has probably attempted making a knock off of the bars. After a quick search on Foodgawker I found this recipe by Camilla @ Enlightened Cooking and decided to give it a shot. 

Homemade Cliff Bars

1. 1 1/4c crushed crispy rice cereal (ex. Rice Krispies or something similar)

2. 1c finely chopped uncooked quick-cooking oats 

3. 2T ground flaxseed 

4. 1/4 finely chopped dried fruit

5. 1/4 finely chopped nuts

6. 1/2c brown rice cereal

7. 1/3c nut butter (I used natural peanut butter not Skippies or Jiff)

8. 1t vanilla extract (fake is fine)

Using a non-stick spray or wax paper, cover the bottom of a 8in square pan. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, combine 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Mix it up.

In a microwave safe dish, combine 6 and 7. Start off with 30sec on high heat, take out, stir well, nuke another 30 sec, stir, nuke 30sec more.Add in vanilla. Basically, you want to get it to bubble to ensure a good stick when mixing it with the dry. 

 

Pour mixture over dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon till coated. Caution, mixture may still be hot so let it cool till you can work with it. Mix with your hands to get everything incorporated with each other. 

Place mixture in 8in pan and press down to cover the bottom of the pan. Place a sheet of wax paper on top of the mixture, using something flat and hard, give the mixture a good press down. Chill for 30 min or more. Once chilled, cut into bars and wrap tightly. 

*Reason for round 2 is that the first attempt didn't really come out. It was too dry and crumbled once you tried to eat one. For round 2, I crushed the crisp rice cereal and pulsed the oats in a food processor. I also added more BRS and less PB (round 1 was way too peanut buttery for me). I think that tweaking it this way allowed it to stick together better. 

I won't lie, I did the math, it would be cheaper to buy the original bars since the ingredients isn't too cheap. However, if you do make it again, I think you make out cost wise in the long run.

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