Fruity Nutty Bars

On Friday (tomorrow) I have a product review and giveaway to tell you about from an excellent company.

Swanson Health Products sells a wonderful range of high-quality, competitively priced & mostly organic products.

From vitamins to shampoo to organic flour to oils and nut butters. They have it.

Caroline of Sweet Caroline introduced me to Swanson Health Products through her bell pepper & onion crostini with pesto post.

Linda of Spice Girl Fla posted a wonderful recipe for date-walnut bread using Swanson Health Products.

I really, really like this company! Many organic products are hard to find in my area. Sure, I could drive to Whole Foods or Sprouts (both of which are in another city) and probably find these items, but something about shopping in my pajamas really appeals to me. It might be the sloth (not the animal)

This is a cute sloth, not to be confused with me being lazy in my pajamas.

but it’s most likely that I just really hate wasting gas driving all over town. Maybe it’s a little of both.

I received 4 items to try and review. These 4 items were sent to me free of charge.

The first item I am going to tell you about is Organic Unsulphured Coconut Shreds. I use a lot of coconut. Since I make granola (cereal), coconut macaroons and fruity nut bars, just to name a few things, I’ve had the chance to try many brands and types of coconut.

I’m a little bit in love with coconut water, but that’s for another post. 😉

This coconut product is wonderful. I really like that it is organic, the price was very reasonable. It is flavorful and easy to work with.

I made fruity nutty granola-ey bars with it.

Hello tasty goodness...

Here is what you need to make these tasty goodies.

• 10 ounces of white chocolate chips
• 6 ounces of sliced almonds
• 6 ounces of dried apricots
• 16 ounces of pitted dates, chopped
• 1/2 cup of Swanson organic coconut shreds
• 1/4 cup of wheat germ
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup of apricot-orangey marmalade syrup

Using a food processor, chop up the chocolate chips and almonds. Chop them into a fine mixture.

Place them into a mixing bowl and add the coconut and wheat germ to the mixture.

Use the food processor to chop up the apricots and dates, then add them to the mixture.

Mix really well.

Add the marmalade. Mix well.

Line a baking dish with wax paper, add the mixture to the baking dish and press the mixture down as flat as you can get it.

Allow to chill overnight, or for at least 2 hours.

Cut into bars, store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. These bars are sweet, like candy, and very tasty.

I also used a muffin pan with wax paper to make the cute little disk sized bars.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the review of the remaining items and information on the giveaway I will be hosting.

A big, huge thanks to Swanson Health Products and @SwansonBlogBen for the opportunity to try these amazing products and host a giveaway.

To check out the recipe contest that Swanson is hosting, click here.

• Posted in: blogging ♦ Cooking ♦ desserts ♦ Family ♦ food ♦ Frugal living ♦ Fruit ♦ Giveaway ♦ grocery shopping ♦ homemaking ♦ just thinking ♦ meatless ♦ snacks ♦ things that make you go Yum
• Tagged: Baking and Confections, blogging, Cereal germ, Coconut, cook, Cooking, Family, food, frugal living, Fruit and Vegetable, Grocery store, Home, homemade, Homemaking, Mixture, Recipe, Sugar, Swanson Health Products, Sweet Caroline, Tablespoon