Replace your energy bar with a Cookie!

Still not as good as Lembas.

"They are insanely calorie dense at 150-160 per ounce. (Typically 3-4 oz cookies)"

Not if you add up the calories ingredient by ingredient, unfortunately. The first cookie come out to about 130 calories/oz. The rest were also off by ~30 calories/bar/oz. It is always wise to add up the calories ingredient by ingredient, as inaccuracies are rife throughout the entire food industry. It is an area crying out for regulation by the Feds. Good luck with that!

They are insanely calorie dense at 150-160 per ounce

That would put them right up there with Girl Scout cookies! (all except Tagalongs (sp?))

Tom,

Thanks for pointing out their error or deception in adding up their calorie count.

That said, I do find that they work for me as an alternative to just eating bars.

-Tony

Ooh, I like! The gluten0free and vegan ones, there are some it looks like my youngest son could eat (nut/pb free as well). The bean flours add a lot of fiber as well.

I'd rather eat these kinds of things than Girl Scout Cookies…gag. Those things are nasty!!!!!

Sarah, I will always pick your Cran-Mac recipe.

–B.G.–

Oh man…I love those bars.
http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/cran-mac-caramel-bars

I think I'll stick with BG's Logan Bread recipe – or as we call it, Gross Bars.

These two creations are usually well received:
monster cookies: http://www.cooks.com/recipe/d51lm4qp/monster-cookies.html
Hudsons Bay Bread: http://www.holry.org/essays/baybread.html

and I'll be trying this granola recipe soon:
http://www.deliciousasitlooks.com/2012/10/recipe-for-french-vanilla-almond-granola.html

as well as Sarah's cran-macs

Way too much processed crap in there for me. I've pretty much quit all store-bought bars except the Lara variety that have minimal ingredients (usually dates, nuts, and maybe some other fruit).

Chris, the ingredients are not overly processed as it goes for "processed foods". If anything, they are different flours and gums – which one would use at home if they made it.

Be wary of Larabars. They are not the small company they used to be. It is why the bars don't taste as good anymore. They are owned by General Mills.

If you want to be scared…look at this flow chart:
https://www.msu.edu/~howardp/OrganicMay2013zoom.png

All of those grain flours are no bueno. We don't use any of that stuff at home personally. If we use "flour" it's coconut or almond.

I'm not really worried so much about who makes the Lara bars, as long as the ingredients are real foods, minimally processed, and limited in number. I'd prefer to make them myself, but that's time I can't spend doing other things I love. :-)

FWIW – I did notice a new type of Lara bar recently (while visiting family near Atlanta) that is full of crap I have no interest in. Interestingly, our local stores don't carry them. I do live in a "foodtopia" though with a lot of hippies.

Looking at the vegan cookies:

unbleached enriched wheat flour (enzyme added for improved baking, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin), organic evaporated cane juice, fruit juice, natural grain dextrins (brown rice syrup [not barley derived], grape juice concentrate), expeller pressed canola oil, xanthan and guar gums, potato starch, tapioca flour, leavening (calcium carbonate, calcium lactate [not dairy derived], citric acid), carbohydrate gum, pure vanilla extract, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, soy lecithin, natural chocolate and vanilla flavors

So we have grain flour, then processed sugar, then fruit juice (ok), then more processed sugar, then corn oil…. beyond that is mostly ok until you get to the "natural" flavors which are anything but and usually quite scary in chemical makeup.

I usually make these. Slightly modified version of oatmeal cookies from "King Arthur Whole Grain Baking"

3 ounces butter
10 ounces peanut butter
1 1/4 cup (9 3/8 ounces) dark brown sugar
3 Tbs (2 ounces) dark corn syrup or molasses
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbs cider vinegar
1 Tbs Vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cup (4 5/8 ounces) old fashioned rolled oats
4 ounces chopped nuts (peanut, pecan, or walnut, or…)
6 ounces raisins (or other dried fruit – dates, figs, cranberries,… chopped into raisin sized pieces)
6 ounces chocolate chips (I prefer the 60% Cacao chips because other chips consist of mostly sugar)

I make it into 48 cookies. Bake at 350 F for 14 minutes. I put the chocolate chips on top of each cookies and let them melt onto it as it bakes.

Per cookie:
1.1 oz
181.5 cals
9.8 g fat
17.0 g carb
6.4 g protein

Chris…I was a nut and fruit person until we found out our youngest son is anaphylaxis to all nuts. Yeah, not fun.

That means we had to eradicate ALL nut flours out of our diets overnight (I can say that 2 ER visits in one month gets pricey – first for peanuts, second for cashews). He is also allergic to gluten, eggs and dairy.

So fore me…..I had a 180 rotation on how I packed for hikes and how we eat at home. We use a lot of brown rice flour, sweet sorghum flour, tapioca flour – and keep it vegan to avoid eggs.

All it takes is one time of watching your child at 16 months react so violently, to realize that nuts are not exactly friendly to everyone.

I am pretty well known for how we eat – it is as unprocessed as can be – but no, I don't see all grains as evil. I never have. Everything in moderation. Sure, almond flour bakes great with eggs….but not until another say 17 years has gone by will I be enjoying that again……

you SHOULD worry about General Mills owning so many companies. Want to talk about GMO crap? They are behind blocking consumers knowing.

"That said, I do find that they work for me as an alternative to just eating bars."

I don't doubt that for a minute, Tony. My only purpose in posting was to alert you, and potentially others, to the misinformation. Choice of food is always a strictly personal decision that I would never seek to influence. The good news is that the cookies' high carb count means you will have a robust flame in which to roast your fats. ;0)

Another great looking cookie recipe! Thanks Jerry.

Hard to have too many of these, I find variety an important element of backcountry eating satisfaction.

Make a batch of something, vacuum seal them in packages of 3-4, store in the freezer. For the next outing, grab some of each kind and you are ready to go!

Hmm…was he allergy tested for all nuts? The reason I ask is technically neither peanuts or cashews are nuts. Both of those are legumes and a common allergy. I don't think (haven't researched it heavily) true nut allergies are quite as common and can be misdiagnosed due to cross contamination. I'm ok with some raw grain-type foods (ex. steel cut or rolled oats and quinoa). Unfortunately, most of the preground or processed stuff sold in the store isn't what it says it is.

I'm starting to really wish I lived a few generations ago before all this crap existed. When gas was cheap and food was real.

"I'm starting to really wish I lived a few generations ago before all this crap existed. When gas was cheap and food was real."

Before the internets and sites like this existed

When we spent all our time farming in order to barely survive the coming winter.

When half of us would have died while we were children : )

"Before the internets and sites like this existed

When we spent all our time farming in order to barely survive the coming winter.

When half of us would have died while we were children : )"

Well, my family members of the time lived in to their 80s, but maybe I just have good genes. :-)

Um yes. He has had extensive testing with an allergist doctor. He has life-threatening allergies. Considering I have had to use an Epi-Pen on him already once, it is real for us.
Cashew allergies are actually more common than peanut ones.
It has nothing to do with cross contamination – his numbers are extremely high.

I trust Bob's Red Mill for their products. They are a good company, and hey, I have met Bob himself.

This "crap" always existed. People just died back then. Food wasn't anymore real, unless you were growing your own – if anything canning and freezing methods of preservation has made food safer.

Tom,

No worries at all….always glad to get your advice or simply pointing out the "deceptive" calorie count on their packaging.

I should say that at lunch time I also eat two slices of salami and take a shot of olive oil. (Yeah, it is kinda disgusting, but I have a very poor sense of smell and taste and can eat stuff that might make others sick).

After my JMT trip in 2011, I just could not bear the thought of chewing on a rock hard Cliff bar every again.

The Power Bars are disgusting in their own way….I call it baby poo taffy, but on the upside, not much chewing needed and I can eat them on the go without stopping on the trail.

-Tony

My now retired neighbor used to stay out for weeks he said back in the 70's. 80's, eating pasta and olive oil. No re-supply for weeks. He is a little short, but a big guy.
Duane

When I make Sarah's cran bars, which is pretty much constantly, I always double the craisins and walnuts, and I usually use homemade granola without the sweetening for the cereal, because the recipe itself has plenty of sweetening. Sometimes I use corn flakes. One of those bars is my breakfast on the trail. We get up, pack up, and head out munching on the bars. They power me for hours. I love those things.