Outdoorsmen Bars

Submitted by Sherrybeth

"These have everything in them but a kitchen sink. I send them out with my hunter's every year to the camp and they come back with an empty dish asking for more."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Yields: 30 bars

ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1⁄2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup wheat germ
• 4 teaspoons orange peel
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1⁄2 cup dates, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup dried apricot, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup coconut

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter with 1 cup brown sugar in a large bowl until well blended.
3. Stir in the oats, flours, wheat germ and orange peel and mix well.
4. Spread this mixture evenly in the bottom of a well-greased 13 X 9 inch baking dish. Once spread into the pan, MASH it all down until it forms a solid crust.
5. Combine eggs, pecans, chocolate chips, dates, apricots, coconut and remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar in a separate large bowl.
6. Mix gently but thoroughly.
7. Pour this mixture over the "crust" mixture and spread evenly.
8. Bake at 300 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until browned on top.
9. Allow to cool completely and cut into bars.
10. Store in airtight container.

Reviews

[CoolMonday]

Final outcome is wonderful.. I used Splenda brown sugar and it was fine in the crust but a little sweet for my taste in the topping. I will cut that to 1/3 cup. I didn't have wheat germ so I used wheat bran, same amount. the orange zest gave a lovely flavor. Also I didn't have choc chips but I did have premelted chocolate which I spread over the crust. That was a good choice lol.. I pressed the crust ingredients pretty firmly into the baking dish. I used raisins instead of date, because that's what I had. And used almost a full cup of the apricots. All in all, it worked out very well and will make it again.

 

[A Good Thing]

I saved this recipe quite a few years ago... and finally made them today. Let me say, it's a labor of love and so very worth it! They are AWESOME and any outdoorsmen would feel blessed to be sent out for the day with these in his lunch. Thanks for sharing, Sherrybeth!

 

[averybird]

These bars are very dense and filling. Perfect for camping or hiking on the trail. I brought a batch to Yellowstone and whenever we were hungry we snacked on one of these until our next meal. They worked out great.