These are basically traditional granola bars that are made with nutritious and high energy foods to keep you healthy and stay energized. They are mostly used as supplemental bars to get some extra energy. They can be used as a mid day snack but not replaced with a meal.
“Panjeri” is a highly nourishing traditional sweet snack given to pregnant and nursing women or convalescing patients in India to help them heal and regain their strength. It is usually made with nuts, seeds and grains such as wheat flour or semolina and sweetened with jaggery or cane sugar. But I had to modify this to suit my daughter’s taste and tried to make it as healthy as possible by using only nuts, seeds and dry fruits and no grains. So by adding dried fruits like figs, apricots, dates and cranberries which have natural sugars I was able to cut down on the sugar considerably.
Here’s the Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup almonds
1 cup walnuts
1 cup dates
1/2 cup figs
1/2 cups apricots
1/2 cup cranberries
1/4 cup *gum arabic
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup melon seeds
1/4 cup lotus seeds
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup packed organic brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
Instructions:
1.Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Fry the gum arabic in 1 tbs butter till it puffs up. When it cools down grind it to a fine powder.
3. Pulse the nuts till they are crumbly. Process dried figs, dates, cranberries into small pieces.
4. Melt butter and combine with honey, brown sugar and vanilla essence.
5. Add the wet mixture to the dry fruit and nut mixture. Combine everything well.
6. Press it on a baking dish and bake for 25-30 mins
7. Cut into squares or bars and enjoy!
Gum Arabic
Notes:
There are different kinds of edible natural gums which are used in Indian cooking especially in sweets and desserts.
*Gum arabic also called *”chaargoond” in hindi and gum acacia in english is a natural edible gum. *”Gond katira” is another kind of edible natural gum which is called tragacanth gum in english can also be used in this recipe. Both have good health benefits. For more details about these edible gums please check the links below. These are available in any Indian grocery store everywhere.
*Gum Acacia/gum arabic/“Chargond”
Recipe
Energy Bars (Panjeri Style)
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup dates
- 1/2 cup figs
- 1/2 cups apricots
- 1/2 cup cranberries
- 1/4 cup *gum arabic
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup melon seeds
- 1/4 cup lotus seeds
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup packed organic brown sugar
- 3 tbs or 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Fry the gum arabi in 1 tbs butter till it puffs up. When it cools down grind it to a fine powder.
- Pulse the nuts till they are crumbly. Process dried figs, dates, cranberries into small pieces.
- Melt butter and combine with honey, brown sugar and vanilla essence.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry fruit and nut mixture. Combine everything well.
- Press it on a baking dish and bake for 25-30 mins
- Cut into squares or bars and enjoy!
Wazir Mohsin Abbas
I’m facing an issue the color of the bars are getting white. I need the orange-red color of apricot in the bars. Would you please tell me the reason behind it. thank you.
Wazir Mohsin Abbas
I think its because of Arabi Gum
Fouzia
No arabic gum is hardly visible when mixed. You should use the dehydrated apricots which are yellowish orange in colour. Thank you.
Fouzia
Hi Wazir,
The colour depends on the type of dried apricots you are using. There are some that retain their original colour even when dried and there are others which look brown or beige. This is due to the drying method used. Thank you.
Starr
This sounds really good. I’m unfamiliar with gum arabic, melon seeds, and lotus seeds. Will I find them in the ethnic isle of my grocery store? Also, what is the purpose of the gum arabic (flavour, nutrition, binder)?
Fouzia Husainy
Thank you for commenting. The melon seeds, lotus seeds and the gum arabic are all available in Indian grocery stores only. The gum arabic has various health benefits, has no flavour, but is added in some indian sweets for binding. Please click on the links at the end of the recipe for more details.