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- [Simon] Ready made energy bars, a fantastic fuel for cycling, but
if you want to make your own, however, you could try this secret
GCN recipe. Now, it's based around oats which are fantastic fuel for cycling
that's why everyone seemingly uses them in their energy bars. Now,
there are reasons for that, partly because they're a great source of slow-release
carbohydrate. They've also got quite a high proportion of protein in there and
fat as well, so it's a really good all around source. And then finally,
they're also really robust so that they travel well, so they're not going to
come apart or get squished in your pocket. Now, first of all, we start by making a
mixture that's going to bind our energy bars together. So, take a medium sized pan
and put it over low heat. Then we need to start with adding some oil.
I'm using sunflower oil because it's relatively flavorless, and it's also
cheap, but you can use whatever oil you want. I know everyone has their different
preferences regarding health and whatever else. Then we need to add some sweetness
because obviously oats have got good slow-release carbohydrates, but they're
not very sweet, so we're going to add some soft dark brown sugar, nice kind of
caramelly kind of flavor. Then we're going to add two tablespoons of golden syrup.
Now this is mega sweet, this stuff, and it's not terribly good for you, but it's
really good at sticking the bars together which is quite an important consideration.
So two tablespoons of that go in, nice. You need to give it a good stir to mix
this all in. It won't come together straight away, but it looks seriously good
even now. Now, we also need to add what I think is the piece de resistance
which is some peanut butter. It stops the energy bars being too sweet
sweet and cloying, so stick about a tablespoon in. It's got like a real nice
kind of salty edge to it, so the bars have just got a little bit of extra something
there that tastes good. This peanut butter hasn't got any sugar added actually.
It's good quality stuff, so I think that helps. Cheap peanut butter has loads
of sugar in it, not feeling that. Right, so stick that in, melt it all up. Then
we've got like a base for the energy bars. We'll also add in just half a
teaspoon of vanilla extract, throw that in as well. So that's our binding mixture.
Now I'm going to start throwing some extra stuff in there. I'll start with the
sultanas, cheap good source of simple carbohydrate and it also tastes pretty
good. Also, add some flaked almonds, good source of high quality fat,
a bit of protein. Likewise, we got a mixture of sesame seeds and sunflower
seeds there. So we'll throw those in, making sure we keep mixing that together.
Add in some chopped dates which I prepared early on. This is seriously good great
ingredient. We're almost ready for oats now. That's coming together nicely.,
and then finally, we start adding the oats, so just a little bit at a time so
that it doesn't become unworkable, because it gets quite stiff.
And for me, that's just too much for my little puny cycling arms to deal with.
And if you really struggle with puny cycling arms, you can always get a friend
to help you out. A little bit more. The other problem is stirring this for too
long, because it gets really difficult not as you just start eating it, because right
now, it tastes bloody good. Okay, so that's all blended together now.
We're just going to add the mixture to a baking tin which
is like a brownie tin. Outline it with a paper baking parchment, so we can get it
out easily. Now, this next bit is really important, okay, because you need to press
it down really thoroughly. Otherwise, your energy bars are going to disintegrate,
so you need to pack it down with a metal fork I find is the best implement.
Right, let's throw this in the oven now. Gas mark four which is about 180
degrees Centigrade which is about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. So we just
throw that into the oven, and we need to keep our eye on it, but it's going to be
10 to 15 minutes really depending on how hot your oven is. We want it to look kind
of golden brown on top. We don't want it underdone because then it's going to
disintegrate. We don't want it overdone because then it gets chewy or burnt,
so now we'll just have to sit and wait. In the meantime, you can maybe just lick
the spoon. Yeah, those are looking good. There they are finished product,
well, nearly finished. Obviously they have to be left to cool now.
They're pretty much stuck in there right now. They're also quite fragile still,
so when they're cool, they'll harden, and then we can cut them into our energy bars
but it is a long wait. They look really good. Right, so, these are now cooled.
You just need to take them out, and then they're ready to get sliced up.
You can obviously make them as big or small as you want. Okay.
Don't exactly know how many calories are in this, so if you're calorie counting,
it's pretty best to go steady, because look at the ingredients,
there's a lot in there. The other thing to bear in mind, it tastes good,
is that because they taste so good, it's a danger that you're going to have to ride
for 30 hours a week just to actually satisfy your desire for eating these
things. For more cycling related recipes, subscribe to GCN. That is actually really
good, like genuinely really good.
- [Woman] Anything that's bad, and with all fruits that has a stone inside, you
can, like, twist them. This one is very ripe. You can open them, and then you can
basically just peel it out like that.