Pumpkin Protein Bars
I finally made Jamie Eason's Pumpkin Protein Bars! These little tender bars are almost cake-like and they taste like that first skinny sliver of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, sans the whipped cream.
Gathering all the ingredients delayed my fun; the Xylitol sweetener and the baby food (which Jamie frequently uses in her recipes) were finally in my pantry.
They babies are super moist, unlike the usual protein bar texture (the kind with too much flaxseed meal). I give credit to the Xylitol sweetener! Xylitol has hygroscopicity (ability to attact and maintain water molecules);it maintains softness better than sucrose!
It is just as sweet as sucrose/sugar with only 2/3 its calories.
In addition, this sweetetner has a glycemic index of 7!! This is because it does not require insulin for its uptake into the cell. I know, it sounds crazy, that is exactly what I was thinking. I did some research however, in order to understand how this is possible. Turns out instead of going through glycolysis, the pathway of choice is the hexose monophosphate shunt which is NAPD dependent. Xylitol is also a normal intermediate in human metabolism; we produce 5-15g per day.
More fun facts (from Longlivegroup.com):
1.Structurally, xylitol has no aldehyde group and ketone group, so it will not produce “Maillard” browning reaction while heating and may be made into bakery food of different flavors.
2. Xylitol is capable of promoting proliferation of bifidobacterium as well as beneficial flora in intestinal tract and improving gastrointestinal function; with high activity, it is a promising functional additive. 3. As xylitol can hardly be fermented by yeast, it is a poor medium for microorganisms.
4. Cool feeling of xylitol can increase flavor of mint, spearmint and other food.
Here is a link to Jamie Eason's fabulous protein bars:
I used pear puree instead of apple and I used an oat flour/white whole wheat flour combo.
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| Vitamix; turns any grain into flour! Jamie Eason likes to use oat flour since it is more nutritious than wheat flour. Oat flour has more protein than whole wheat flour too! I made my own oat flour in the Vitamix:) |
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| Pumpkin Protein Bars; THANKS JAMIE EASON!! |
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| So yummy! Note-eat these in moderation; Xylitol is a sugar alcohol and may cause some GI distress! |
References:
From the issue entitled "Special Issue: Bioenergy"
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