Made a new version today inspired by a bag of mini chocolate chips. I’m trying to make the recipe less sweet by cutting back on the honey. These are really good – it’s hard to stop eating them.
So for this batch I used;
We shear our own sheep to ensures we are getting the best possible hand spinning fiber. It allows us to examine the health of our sheep up close. And when else do you get to hug your sheep? It’s hard work and I admire our local shearers who do this for a living. A small mixed hand spinners flock is about all I can imagine handling at shearing time.
This Moment - a photo, a glimpse, a moment from my week.
Every spring we look forward to the wild edibles of our area; fiddleheads, dandelions, mustard greens, ramps (wild leeks), and many more. I’m so thankful for when these nutritious foods start appearing in our daily diet. Not only are the ramps delicious but harvesting them takes us to beautiful places. 
Come see us at the Annual Fleece Market at Webs in downtown Northampton Mass. On Saturday May 18th from 10am – 5pm, Webs will be hosting local fiber artists at their Annual Tent Sale. It’s a fun day out and I hope you’ll come say hi to us. We’ll have lots of handspun yarn and dyed fiber for sale.
These bars don’t require baking, they have good for you ingredients, and you can substitute the nuts with what you have in your pantry. So use this recipe as a guideline and experiment for what your family likes. I’ve never made two batches the same. I’ve loved these bars ever since my friend Margaret brought them to a potluck. Ohhhhh my are they good. She sent me the recipe she uses and I’ve searched the internet for other recipes. Her’s is the best. 
Dry Ingredients: 1 cup almonds, 1 cup peanuts, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1 cup oats, and 4 tbls chocolate covered sunflower seeds.
Pulse the dry ingredients in a food processor. This makes all the pieces smaller. Don’t chop them for to long as we’re not making nut butter. Put them in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Don’t add the sunflower seeds yet or anything chocolate as it will melt when the wet ingredients are added. If your like me and forget on occasion it’s o.k., you’ll have really yummy chocolate granola bars.
Wet Ingredients: 3 tbls coconut oil, 6 tbls honey, 1/2 tsp salt, dash of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp vanilla
Heat the coconut oil, honey, salt, and cinnamon in a pan till it starts to foam. Let simmer for one minute and remove from the heat. Add vanilla and pour over the dry ingredients. Mix it all up really good so all the dry ingredients are coated. Add the sunflower seeds and mix some more.
Cover a 8×8 pan with saran wrap so the bars won’t stick.
Pour the mix into the pan and press it all down. I use a large metal spoon to press it down with.
Cover the top with more saran wrap. Refrigerate for two hours.
Remove the top layer of saran wrap and cut into bars while still in the ban. Remove and store in a covered container. They’ll last for a week or more in the refrigerator. They great for breakfast on the go, pop a few in your mouth for a late afternoon engergy boost, take some on a hike, put them in the kids lunches, enjoy them as they won’t last long.
This week we sheared our llama, named `Bear’. Camelids are sheared differently than sheep so we hire Marc to come and shear ours. He has the right stand to hold them securely in place so they can’t cush, lie down. Also having a shearer come who is so knowledgeable about Camelids is great. Every year we learn so much and I’m assured Bear is in good health.
Before shearing starts we use flicker brushes to clean out the fiber and debris from Bear’s fleece. Since I use this fiber for spinning, and Bear doesn’t have tough guard hairs, this step saves me time later when carding his fleece.
Marc uses hand shears because they are quiet and less likely to spook the animal being sheared. It also gives you time to look an animal over and make sure they are healthy. Bear’s weight was perfect this year. We give him a little sweet grain everyday as a treat.
Once Marc has all the fiber off Bear, he trims his feet and gives him his shots.
Bear’s fiber is bagged up and our groomed llama is walked back to the pasture by Fayley. With his fiber all off he looks so small and all long neck and legs. Amazing animals they are indeed.
My daughter and niece put together a store on our front porch of things they’d made by collecting a bit of this and that from around the yard.. This little guy cost me fifty cents. A happy transaction all around.
Farm to Fiber fair is this weekend, April 20-21, at the Little e. We will be there in the round house barn selling our handspun yarn, dyed fleeces, wool bags and potholders. Look for us on the second floor level. Hope to see you there!