Apple Pie Protein Bars

Maybe I should have used brown rice syrup... but I didn't have it.  You see all kinds of recipes with it included rather than, say, corn syrup.   I wondered is one any better than the other?  I decided to do a little reading on it.

It's interesting to read about whether or not brown rice syrup is any healthier for you than brown rice syrup.  It really isn't.  Your body does not know the difference.  Both read as sugar.  But if it is about where it comes from, say GMO corn than that's a bird of a different feather.

Brown Rice Syrup

To make brown rice syrup, manufacturers digest amylose into a blend of maltotriose, maltose and glucose. The maltose is about 40 percent as sweet as table sugar and the maltotriose is about 30 percent as sweet as table sugar, explains the Amano Enzyme Company. Brown rice syrup doesn't taste as sweet as table sugar, but because all sugars — regardless of how sweet they taste — have identical caloric content per unit mass, brown rice syrup contains the same number of calories per gram as high fructose corn syrup and table sugar.

Source:  Livestrong article,  Brown Rice Syrup vs. High Fructose Corn Syrup.

But remember that there was a big scare about brown rice syrup and arsenic? This is an interesting article about brown rice written by a blogger, To Live and Diet in LA.   Also, read more about it through this article from Dartmouth.

Also, did you know that there is a difference between corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup?  Well, at least for now, anyhow.  When I go to the Amish Market near me there are two different bottles of corn syrup. One is called "corn syrup" and the other is called, "light corn syrup".  If  you look at the list of the ingredients on the light one, it says high fructose corny syrup.  The other one just says corn syrup.  If you are an average consumer, seeing the 'light' would probably indicate to you less calories.  Or, somehow, better for you.  Right?  Read your labels.  Always read your labels.  Be a sleuth sometimes. If there is a word you don't understand, look it up on the internet.  You would be amazed what is in some of our food.

Like wood in bread or wood in cheese.  How else are they suppose to get fiber in there for the bread and still have it taste like white bread?  Well, I guess wood is natural, right?  But how about Parmesan cheese.  Read this article at The Daily Meal about wood in cheese.  Seriously.  When I buy cheese, I want pure unadulterated cheese.  But I do fork over the big bucks for the better stuff.  It tastes way better.  I guess, now I know why. At least one of the reasons anyway.

It really all comes back to the same things, the more you use whole, unadulterated foods, the better off you are.  Especially if you know where they come from.

Apple Pie Protein Bars

2 cups oat flour*
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup protein powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup almond butter or another nut/seed butter
1/2 cup corn syrup or brown rice syrup
1/2 cup applesauce

Mix all the dry ingredients together and combine thoroughly.  Add in the wet.  Be patient, it takes time for everything to come together but it will.  If you mixed and mixed and there is now way it will come together add a tablespoon of applesauce...  You want this mixture to be dry enough to shape into bars.  

Once everything is incorporated then pat down into a large square and cut into bars.  I made ten bars out of this.

* You can totally make your own oat flour.  Just grind it down in a food processor or a coffee/spice grinder.