Cook for America's Recipe for Aspen Power Bars

Jan 24, 2012— -- Cook for America founders Kate Adamick and Andrea Martin have worked with school districts to make school lunches healthier and even provide a culinary "boot camp" for food service personnel.

Their story was told on a recent "Nightline" segment, airing on Jan. 24, 2012.

Below, they offer one of their favorite recipes.

Recipe for Aspen Power Bars

Serving: Up to 40 bars, each 2.2 ounces.

Dry Ingredients:

6 cups of dry, old fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 1/4 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt

3 cups of raw nuts or sunflower seeds

3 cups of powdered dry milk (optional: replace half of powdered milk with vanilla protein powder)

1 1/2 cups raisins

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup and 2 tbsp of honey

2 1/4 cups of peanut butter (or soy butter for peanut allergy)

3/4 cups of butter

1 tbsp and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cups of raspberry jam

Instructions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl or the bowl of a Hobart mixer.

2. In a saucepan, melt butter, and then add honey, peanut butter, vanilla extract and jam. Stir until all items melt and are combined.

3. Pour melted ingredients over dry ingredients. Using gloved hands, mix ingredients well. If working on a larger batch in the Hobart mixer, use the paddle attachment to mix ingredients well.

4. Press firmly into a greased full-sized sheet pan; you can use a rolling pin to compress the mixture as much as possible. Bake at 400ºF (350ºF for convection oven) for 10-15 minutes.

5. Cool overnight and cut into bars, 8x5.