One That Worked Out: Carob Chip Apricot Bars

This was our backyard yesterday. Something about the frozen ocean, cerulean light trapped under ice, waiting to break out.

Phil and Tom flew home yesterday, two days earlier than expected: it's good to have them back. Phil and I then drove to Anchorage this morning for appointments and errands, through yet another blizzard. This is a brief post from a friend's computer, but I'll share some pictures of Alaska's monochrome wintry majesty when we get back home. Snow berms above my head in town here, but there's rain in the forecast: February bringing some warmer weather after weeks in single digits or below zero.

Today, I want to share a recipe that's a keeper. It's a dehydrated apricot and carob chip bar, somewhere between an energy bar and a blondie--but of course it has carrots in it, too! It's inspired by several recipes I've looked at or made at one time or another, by my recent experiments in carob chocolate making, and my current appreciation of dried apricots. In Israel, dried apricots and bright orange apricot fruit leather are staples. I always hated them. Then, one day, someone persuaded me to try an unsulphured dried apricot--brown, like a date, not that pretty bright orange (which wasn't pretty to me, even orange food lover that I am, because it tasted so bad to me). And those "real" dried apricots are just delicious, were just a revelation.
OK--quickly, I said! How about that recipe?

Carob Chip-Apricot Bars (gluten free, vegan, soy free, low sugar)
Mix together dry ingredients:
1 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour (I ground both freshly in the Vitamix)
1/2 cup potato starch (not flour; can use tapioca or arrowroot starch instead)
1/2 cup erythritol
1 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup flax meal
1 tb cinnamon
1/2 t salt
Blend together wet ingredients (best done in a blender, but doesn't have to be a Vitamix):
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup irish moss gel
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and gradually add water, up to about 1/2 cup, until a stiff dough forms.
Stir in
1 cup homemade carob chocolate, cut into chunks  (Of course you can use chocolate chips instead, but my good angel is trying to keep me off the chocolate that feeds the bad angel.)
1 cup chopped dried unsulphured apricots

Spread the batter out on a teflex sheet uniformly, about a half inch thick. Dehydrate at 145 for an hour, then turn down to 115. After 2-3 hours, you should be able to flip the whole thing and cut into bars. It's then up to your taste whether to dehydrate until it's dry and firm or to leave some moisture.You could probably bake this too, at 325 for about an hour, maybe also flipping halfway through. I haven't tried that, so it's a guess.

Either way, these are delicious. Some might prefer them sweeter, easily accomplished with more maple syrup and erythritol, but I enjoy that the basic crumb (with its lovely texture from even that small amount of coconut oil) is not super-sweet, highlighting the sweetness of the apricot and carob moments. And the chunky crunch of the carob pieces and the gooey tang of the apricots are great too. Not being super-sweet, these are also very satisfying.

Another backyard shot. I love watching those gyres of sea ice floating out toward the icebergs.

Hope you enjoy the recipe!