Peace, Love & Lentil Breakfast Bars

Green lentils are not the sexiest member of the legume family.  They are brownish greenish in color and earthy in aroma and taste.  My girls pointed the aroma out to me more than once this past weekend when I was cooking up the lentils for this recipe.  “Mom, what is that horrible smell!”  I didn’t really notice.  I like lentils.  Who doesn’t like that 1 cup of these buggers provides 16 grams of fiber, 17 grams of protein, folate, magnesium and vitamin B6?  Green lentils may not be the supermodels of the food world, but they certainly are a superfood!

I didn’t start experimenting with lentils until 2010, when I wanted to enter the National Lentil Festival Cook-Off.  I created two recipes: a salad and a breakfast bar.  Neither were winners in the contest.  After the fact, I noticed the breakfast bar recipe I had submitted had glaring errors, so I corrected, adjusted and doubled the recipe to meet our needs.  Ever since, the breakfast bar has become a favorite of friends and family.  It’s a tasty, moist bar that is packed with protein and fiber.  I make a double batch of the bars, individually wrap and freeze them.  You can take one out of the freezer the night before to have with your coffee in the morning, my favorite way!  Or you can throw one in your bag on the way out the door in the morning to have a healthy breakfast or snack on the go!

I created a new flavor of lentil breakfast bar recently.  It’s a vegan version with pumpkin, pecans, coconut, coconut oil and dark chocolate.  A friend requested some vegan recipes for the blog.  So this one is for you Karen!!  I hope you like it (and I hope it’s properly vegan!)

For both recipes you need to start with cooked lentils.  They only take about 20 minutes to cook and they don’t need any presoaking like other legumes.  Just simmer them in water.  I like to do them ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator.  One cup of uncooked lentils yields about 2-2 1/2 cups of cooked lentils.

Peace, Love & Lentil, Cranberry and Ginger Breakfast Bars:

Gather your wet and dry ingredients, your “add-ins” and your lentils.

Mix the dry ingredients with the add-ins.  Combine the lentils with the wet ingredients.  Stir both together.

Spread in a pan that is greased and lined with two layers of foil across the wide side of the pan.  Leave the excess foil hanging over the side of the pan. This will make for easy removal of the bars.  Once cool, you can lift the entire batch to a cutting board.  Ever have trouble neatly cutting nutty, chewy bars like these?  Try an electric knife.  Works like a charm!  Add a little drizzle of white chocolate.  YUM!

Peace, Love & Lentil, Pumpkin and Coconut Breakfast Bars:

For this version of the lentil breakfast bars I swapped out the butter for coconut oil.  I substituted the applesauce and the eggs for pumpkin, exchanged the almonds for pecans and added some flaked coconut.  I also switched the drizzle from white chocolate to dark chocolate.  This version is vegan and super delicious!!  I keep going back and forth trying to decide which is my favorite!  I’d love to hear which you like best!!

Once they cool and the chocolate has set, I wrap them individually in waxed paper and store them in a zip top bag in the freezer.  They don’t take long to thaw, so they are great to grab & go!

Peace, Love & Lentil Breakfast Bars

Delicious homemade breakfast or snack bars that you can individually wrap and freeze!

Tina Verrelli - epicuricloud.com

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Servings: 16 Bars

Ingredients

Peace, Love & Lentil, Cranberry and Ginger Breakfast Bars

• 1/2 cup butter (plus extra for greasing pan), melted
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup whole almonds chopped
• 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger finely minced
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten
• 2 cups green lentils cooked and cooled to room temp
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Peace, Love & Lentil, Pumpkin and Coconut Breakfast Bars (Vegan)

• 1/2 cup coconut oil (plus extra for greasing pan), melted
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar (if prefer your bars a little sweeter, you can add ¼ cup more.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup pecans chopped
• 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger finely minced
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut preferably unsweetened
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
• 2 cups green lentils cooked & cooled to room temp
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions 

Peace, Love & Lentil, Cranberry and Ginger Breakfast Bars

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease 9” x 13” baking pan.  
• (For easy removal: Line pan on long side with a double sheet of foil, overhanging the sides of the pan.  Grease under and over the foil.  When cool, just lift them out to a cutting board.)
• In large bowl, combine and mix well flours, oats, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.  Stir in cranberries, almonds and ginger.  
• In medium bowl, combine and gently stir together ½ cup melted butter, applesauce, eggs, lentils and vanilla.  
• Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until just combined.  Add mixture to prepared baking pan and gently press to make an even layer. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and cooked through.
• Let cool completely and cut into 16 bars.
• Melt white chocolate chips in double boiler or microwave and stir until smooth.  Drizzle over bars.  
• Store any leftover bars in refrigerator or freezer.
• You can wrap the bars individually in waxed paper and freeze them to grab when you need a healthy breakfast or snack on the go.

Peace, Love & Lentil, Pumpkin and Coconut Breakfast Bars (Vegan)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease 9” x 13” baking pan.  
• (For easy removal: Line pan on long side with a double sheet of foil, overhanging the sides of the pan.  Grease under and over the foil.  When cool, just lift them out to a cutting board.)
• In large bowl, combine and mix well flours, oats, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.  Stir in cranberries, pecans, ginger and shredded coconut.  
• In medium bowl, combine and gently stir together ½ cup melted coconut oil, pumpkin, lentils and vanilla.  
• Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until just combined.  Add mixture to prepared baking pan and gently press to make an even layer. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and cooked through.
• Let cool completely and cut into 16 bars.
• Melt dark chocolate chips in double boiler or microwave and stir until smooth.  Drizzle over bars.  
• Store any leftover bars in refrigerator or freezer.
• You can wrap the bars individually in waxed paper and freeze them to grab when you need a healthy breakfast or snack on the go.

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