Guest Writer: Allison from No Carb Left Behind

I am a Central Illinois farm girl that is stuck in the craziness of Southern California.  I love to bake/cook and spend WAAAY too much time searching cooking blogs for my next project!  My blog started out simply to create a record of my recipes and to share them with my family back in Illinois.  It also gives me the convenience of looking up the ingredients needed if I find myself at the grocery store without a list!  Now, after a year of blogging, I just love getting to know others with the same passion as I.  I am so excited to do my first guest post and can’t wait to feature someone’s great recipes on my blog sometime!  Thank you to Amanda for inviting me to post!

My Blog: No Carb Left Behind

Name: Allison Moffitt

Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA

  
What's your favorite recipe?    Wow, this is tough one....I have had a serious relationship with mac & cheese my entire life.  My all time favorite recipe for this is my Mac + Cheese (Lottie & Doof style)  

        

What's your favorite kitchen tool?  I love making my own pasta, so I would definitely pick my pasta roller/cutter

What do you live by in life? "For those who have, give....for those who have and don't, shame on you!" - Edd Butch

Aspen Power Bars

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons rolled oats
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Heaping 1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (4 ounces) nuts or sunflower seeds
3/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup (2 ounces) raisins
1/2 cup (2 ounces) dried cranberries
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon peanut butter (chunky is best)
1 1/8 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon raspberry jam

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, coconut, salt, nuts, powdered milk, raisins and cranberries.

Note: You can substitute some of these ingredients to your liking.  For example - I did not use raisins and added some chopped white chocolate that I had in my cupboard.  Just make sure that the total amount of your substitutions, equal the original amounts.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the honey, peanut butter, vanilla extract and jam until melted and fully incorporated. Remove from heat.

Pour the melted ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until fully mixed.

Press the mixture into the pan, compressing the mixture as much as possible. Bake until golden , 12-19 minutes.

I have found that 19 minutes create a bar that holds together better and has a nice crunch to it.

Remove from heat and cool completely on a wire rack.  Once cooled, run a knife along the edges to loosen from the sides.  Then invert the 9x13 inch pan onto a large platter or cookie sheet.  Cut into bars with large knife. 

Each of 16 bars: 262 calories; 7 grams protein; 33 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams fiber; 13 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 7 mg. cholesterol; 22 grams sugar; 108 mg. sodium.

Recipe from the LATimes

If you're interest in doing a guest post here's all the info! I'd love to have you post!!