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It's the first week of AP exams. My mini garden of potted plants is thriving. I've been getting a tan on my left arm from driving. Summer is coming more quickly than I had expected, but I'm definitely not complaining.
I am old enough now to understand now that summer - and the excitement that comes with warm weather - comes every year. Frankly, this summer will not be much different from the other seventeen summers I've lived through. But each year summer feels like a new experience, and I find myself thinking: surely, the sun has never shone this brightly. The yard has never been so green. The frogs have never croaked so loudly. It has never been quite so warm before. Maybe it's just because I am a teenager, and I'm never doing one thing long enough to get used to it. Or maybe it's because I have only lived through a few summers that I can vividly remember. Either way, I appreciate the excitement and energy I get from anticipating summer.
I am old enough now to understand now that summer - and the excitement that comes with warm weather - comes every year. Frankly, this summer will not be much different from the other seventeen summers I've lived through. But each year summer feels like a new experience, and I find myself thinking: surely, the sun has never shone this brightly. The yard has never been so green. The frogs have never croaked so loudly. It has never been quite so warm before. Maybe it's just because I am a teenager, and I'm never doing one thing long enough to get used to it. Or maybe it's because I have only lived through a few summers that I can vividly remember. Either way, I appreciate the excitement and energy I get from anticipating summer.
Now you ask, "Felicity, how do this recipe for energy bars fit into the your anticipation of summer?" As the days get longer, they also seem to get fuller. I have more energy to drive around the city, clean out my room, tend to my plants, and just keep moving. Because of that energy I have, I don't spend nearly as much time in the kitchen in warmer weather a I do when it's cruddy outside. Therefore, I use my time to prepare foods that I will ear later: pre-washed vegetables and salads, frozen fruit, and my most recent favorite, these energy bars.
They're packed with wholesome energy from raisins, flax seeds and peanut butter, plus the cocoa powder, which boosts the rich flavor and the antioxidants. These are my go-to snacks during these weeks of AP exams, because they taste great and give me energy.
What's better than chocolate paired with peanut butter?
They're packed with wholesome energy from raisins, flax seeds and peanut butter, plus the cocoa powder, which boosts the rich flavor and the antioxidants. These are my go-to snacks during these weeks of AP exams, because they taste great and give me energy.
What's better than chocolate paired with peanut butter?
Chocolate + Peanut Butter Energy Bars
(makes 8-12 mini bars)
Ingredients:
Directions:
(makes 8-12 mini bars)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon of flax seeds
- 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
- For extra crunch: 1 teaspoon of peanuts or cacao nibs
Directions:
- Put all of the ingredients together in a blender. Blend until sticky.
- Smooth the 'dough' out on parchment paper. Refrigerate this for at least 20 minutes.
- Cut the flat dough into small bars.
- Optional: wrap the bars in small pieces of parchment paper an tie with cooking twine.
