A Rough Guide to Buckwheat Molasses Bars

I suppose one of the advantages of checkout lines that stretch clear to the back of the store is that you become rather well acquainted with the inventory of the aisle in which you must wait. On a recent grocery run, I stood patiently with my scant 10-items-or-less shopping basket, only enduring a delay so long for grocery so little because a good half of my haul was bulk items, and I can only assume that they'd have been disposed of if found abandoned beneath the bread display. Bravely, I resisted the urge to make the wait feel worthwhile by indulging in rampant impulse buys. There was, however, one particular treat which caught my attention: a raw buckwheat energy bar of some sort, notable mainly for the the combination of the words raw and buckwheat. I was, you see, previously unaware that the buckwheat groats I had stashed away at home were edible in their raw state. I'm hardly a raw foodist, but we Firestone folk tend to be curious and adventurous eaters, and I found myself inspired to replicate the buckwheat bars on my own.

Fortunately, homemade granola-type bars are one of those remarkably robust and endlessly variable creations which demand, rather than a proper recipe, only a very general technique and which, once you see how effortless and customizable they are, will become an indispensable addition to your culinary arsenal. Say, for instance, you want to whip up some raw buckwheat energy bars on the fly? Totally doable. Here's the rundown:

Basically, you're just getting a bunch of pebble-sized or smaller pieces of food to stick together with a sweet, sticky, syrupy concoction. For the dry ingredients, I went with roughly equal parts buckwheat, toasted oats, and sunflower seeds, and then some sesame seeds (about a quarter as much as the other dry ingredients). My syrup was about three parts honey, three parts molasses, two parts peanut butter, and one part neutral oil (vegetable or the like). These are very rough estimates. Then, simply combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and heat the wet ingredients to a gentle simmer in a saucepan. Once it's hot and mixed, pour over the dry ingredients, stir until there are no dry patches, and then spread out on a baking sheet or casserole dish, and refrigerate until cool! Easy peasy, fresh and breezy. 

But the beauty, again, is the flexibility. You just want to keep the ratio at about 3 parts dry to 1 part wet. I really like molasses, so I've used quite a bit of that, but anything in the greater sugar family should do it; honey, agave nectar, maple syrup, corn syrup, brown sugar (when combined with liquids), etc. You can also include pureed dates or prunes, or  more nut butters, to cut down on the sugar a bit. The dry ingredients are the real fun part. Just make sure that they're in tiny little pieces, and if you'd like, toast them a bit by cooking over medium heat in a dry pan until fragrant. Some things to try:

Nuts/seeds
peanuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower, pumpkin, flax seeds...

Dried fruit
apricot, cranberries, raisins, cherries, pear..

Rolled or flaked grains (Often available in bulk sections)
oat, barley, rye, quinoa...

Etc
chocolate chips, crystalized ginger, orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves...use your imagination!

If, however, you're more of the "real recipe" type, here are some good looking ones to check out. I imagine these would make great snacks for anyone planning a nice long hike. Perhaps in some exotic locale? Hmmm....